Blog: a web log
01/30/2004: "Mag vs. sand: What's better?"
Basalt isn't buying the Colorado Department of Transportation's slick new campaign touting the use of magnesium chloride.
In its first winter as owner of Two Rivers Road, Basalt has expanded its ban of mag chloride to the sensitive roadway. The council ruled in the late 1990s to stop using the liquid deicer on its streets.
The mag chloride vs. sand and gravel debate is perhaps as revelent to the Two Rivers Road as it is on Vail Pass. The Basalt road is perched over the Roaring Fork River for most of its three-mile distance. Any substance used to treat ice is certain to make its way down an embankment and into the river. Sand and gravel will get kicked off the shoulder just as easily as mag chloride will slop over the edge. Full Story
