Beet juice? Why Missouri road crews use this secret ingredient to melt ice on highways
When it’s this cold, Missouri roads stay clear thanks in part to an unexpected secret ingredient.
Beet juice.
That’s because while salt is useful for melting ice, it becomes less effective below 25 degrees. So when temperatures drop lower, the Missouri Department of Transportation mixes its salt water with beet juice to clear roads.
And Kansas City this weekend will be dealing with temperatures at or near or below zero. As of Friday, temperatures at Kansas City International Airport have fallen from 27 degrees shortly after midnight to 10 degrees as of 1 p.m. The wind chill was minus 7 degrees.
The beet juice used by Missouri road crews is from sugar beets, which are used to make table sugar and as feed for cattle.
A by-product of the sugar-making process, beet juice helps salt brine melt ice between 25 degrees and 5 degrees, according to the MoDOT website. This is because the sugary juice makes salt stick to the roads longer.
The agency keeps about 6,000 gallons of the stuff on hand, mixed with 24,000 gallons of salt brine.
While beet juice doesn’t corrode roads as much as just salt, it is more expensive, so MoDOT uses it only when necessary. When temperatures drop below 5 degrees, MoDOT switches to calcium chloride to melt ice on highways.
Next time you see a truck spraying liquid on an icy Missouri road, know it might be beet juice they’re using.
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton contributed.
