Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada
Road Salt Management
Introduction
Cape Breton Highlands National Park is modernizing the way it stores and applies road salt. Next winter (2007/2008), CBHNP will become the first national park in Canada to fully implement the Environment Canada code of practice for road salt. So why are we doing this?
Salt is known to have negative effects on ground water and wetlands. It is expected that changes in practices will reduce the amount of salt applied to road surfaces, resulting in better protection of the environment of northern Cape Breton. These changes will reduce contamination of ground water and help better protect sensitive habitats such as wetlands.
Public safety remains the number one objective of the winter road maintenance program. Changes in road salt management include the construction of state-of-the art salt storage and vehicle wash facilities and best management practices such as pre-wetting of salt and the use of remote weather information stations to help determine how much salt to apply.
CBHNP will follow best practices consistent with those used across North America and employ the latest winter maintenance technologies. All salt spreading trucks will be equipped with Electronic Spreader Controls (ESC). The ESC allows the operator to control the amount and location of salt placed on the road, resulting in more efficient salt usage.
The winter road salt management plan will also see the implementation of ‘pre-wetted' salt applied to the roads of CBHNP. Brine, a salt-water solution, will be sprayed on the salt as it is placed on the road. Pre-wetted salt stays on the road better and works faster than dry salt. Brine spraying equipment will be installed on all salt spreaders.
The brine used by the salt spreaders will be a bi-product of the new vehicle wash facilities, which will be located in the Ingonish and Cheticamp park maintenance compounds. These facilities will re-use the water washed from the trucks, separate the contents of the wash and store the brine until it is required for use by the salt spreaders. New salt storage facilities at the Ingonish and Grande Anse compounds, similar to the provincial facilities in Cheticamp, will allow loading directly onto trucks inside the building, thus minimizing leaching into the environment.
To further ensure the protection of the environment and the safety of travelers, road weather information stations (RWIS) will be installed at French Mountain and South Mountain. The RWISs will provide real-time road conditions via the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation website and will help Parks Canada better manage the use of road salt. The RWISs will provide real-time images of the highway as well as information such as precipitation, air and pavement temperature, moisture readings and wind direction and speed.
If you would like more information on the salt management plan, please contact (902) 285-2270 or email cbhnp.info@pc.gc.ca.
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