One of the communities around here uses beet juice instead of straight brine.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008...ice_beats.html
Road crews have spread tens of thousands of gallons of beet juice on Ohio roads this winter as a less corrosive way to keep ice and snow away. Results have been mostly positive so far.
Akron ordered 4,000 gallons of the juice, called Geomelt, last year and used all of it in the past month. The city anticipates ordering another 4,000 gallons soon.
"It's doing what the sales people said it would," Public Works Manager Paul Barnett said.
When combined with rock salt brine and calcium chloride, the juice blocks ice from forming on pavement even at extremely low temperatures.
The concoction is supposed to stick to the road better than traditional treatments. And adding beet juice lessens the use and effect of calcium chloride, which corrodes cars, concrete and steel.
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