Iqaluit snow clearing - grit or not to grit?

MariaL · Oct 22, 2011

I need to know if Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Canada uses grit, rock salt or something else, in particular to keep hospital carparks approach roads clear.

Googling is not getting me anywhere and although I have the number for the hospital, I can't quite bring myself to call them just to ask if they use grit for a novel.

If anyone just happens to know...

Thank you!

jennontheisland · Oct 22, 2011

Rock salt is rarely used on roads any more. Too many environmental concerns with salination.

If you don't want to call the hospital, you could always call the city's public works dept.
http://www.city.iqaluit.nu.ca/i18n/english/publicworks.html

"Sanding" is common in the rest of Canada, so I'd assume they do it too. The name is misleading though, since it's not fine sand at all and you're likely to get chunks of gravel up to 1 cm in diameter.

Maryn · Oct 22, 2011

Where I live (western NY), rock salt is still in wide use except where it will drain into protected areas like estuaries. The things which border typical roads--lawns, decorative plantings, parking lots, sometimes curbs or sidewalks--can withstand salting well enough. Salt melts snow and therefore affords much better traction, until the temperature drops below 20F and stays there. When we have fresh snowfall and it's going to be really cold, a combination of salt and sand is generally applied.

Maryn, winter woman

Drachen Jager · Oct 22, 2011

They don't use salt many places in Canada because it only works down to -10 to -20 or so. If the weather gets below that you're just creating a layer of ice that way. I lived in Calgary for years, and Winnipeg for one winter, and they just didn't bother. When the snow is cold enough it packs and forms a decent grip layer. People drive carefully and everyone has good winter tires.

jennontheisland · Oct 22, 2011

Snowmobiles are also a common form of transportation in some more rural areas.

mirandashell · Oct 22, 2011

It gets below -20 in Canada? Good lord...... I think I would die.

Drachen Jager · Oct 22, 2011

mirandashell said:
It gets below -20 in Canada? Good lord...... I think I would die.

There's a song by a Canadian band, "Portage and Main, 40 Below", about an intersection in Winnipeg where it gets so cold, between ambient and wind-chill that had to install a pedestrian tunnel underneath. Too many people were getting frostbite while waiting for the light to change.

FYI the average daily HIGH temperature in Iqaluit in January is -22, average low is -30.

Paul · Oct 22, 2011

Drachen Jager said:
There's a song by a Canadian band, "Portage and Main, 40 Below", about an intersection in Winnipeg where it gets so cold, between ambient and wind-chill that had to install a pedestrian tunnel underneath. Too many people were getting frostbite while waiting for the light to change.

FYI the average daily HIGH temperature in Iqaluit in January is -22, average low is -30.

infuckingsane.

that's Canada off my Retirement option list. whoa.

mirandashell · Oct 22, 2011

And mine!

Drachen Jager · Oct 22, 2011

Canada is a big country. Vancouver rarely gets below 0 during the day, and Victoria B.C. only gets snow every second or third year.

As for Portage and Main, I only went there twice in the winter, and yeah, you would not believe how cold it is. The buildings somehow funnel the north wind exactly to that point, creating a constant blow that sucks the heat right out of you. I've been much farther north, but never as cold as Winnipeg.

jennontheisland · Oct 22, 2011

Winnipeg fucking sucks.

MariaL · Oct 22, 2011

jennontheisland said:
Rock salt is rarely used on roads any more. Too many environmental concerns with salination.

If you don't want to call the hospital, you could always call the city's public works dept.
http://www.city.iqaluit.nu.ca/i18n/english/publicworks.html

"Sanding" is common in the rest of Canada, so I'd assume they do it too. The name is misleading though, since it's not fine sand at all and you're likely to get chunks of gravel up to 1 cm in diameter.

Thank you everyone that answered this! So quickly too. I've contacted the website given above - thanks jenn!

Bushrat · Oct 22, 2011

And one more thing - it's spelled "Iqaluit" (pronounced Ee-kah-lou-it), not "Iqualit".

LJD · Oct 22, 2011

Drachen Jager said:
They don't use salt many places in Canada because it only works down to -10 to -20 or so. If the weather gets below that you're just creating a layer of ice that way. I lived in Calgary for years, and Winnipeg for one winger, and they just didn't bother. When the snow is cold enough it packs and forms a decent grip layer. People drive carefully and everyone has good winter tires.

This. Salt wouldn't work in Iqaluit most of the time.
I live in Toronto and salt is used here but it's not as cold.

Bushrat · Oct 22, 2011

LJD said:
This. Salt wouldn't work in Iqaluit most of the time.
I live in Toronto and salt is used here but it's not as cold.

I live in the Yukon and salt is used in early winter and spring, I think in above -10°C temps. After that, they sand, whatever exactly the ingredients are, which helps with traction but doesn't melt anything. I'd guess the same would apply over in Iqaluit. It's not like they're sitting at fifty below for eight months of the year.

Aaah, you Southerners :tongue

Captcha · Oct 23, 2011

Remember to convert to Celsius for these numbers, Americans.

When someone says Vancouver rarely has highs below 0, that's 0 Celsius - the freezing point. So Vancouver rarely fails to reach at least 32 Fahrenheit during a winter day.

Minus 40 is the same in both scales, but minus 20 Celsius is only about minus 4 Fahrenheit. Still cold, but not quite as brutal.

MariaL · Oct 23, 2011

Bushrat said:
And one more thing - it's spelled "Iqaluit" (pronounced Ee-kah-lou-it), not "Iqualit".

Gosh, sorry. Thanks for picking me up on that - and the pronounciation!

Iqaluit snow clearing - grit or not to grit?

MariaL

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

Maryn

Baaa!

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

mirandashell

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

Paul

mirandashell

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

MariaL

Bushrat

reaching for the sun

LJD

Bushrat

reaching for the sun

Captcha

MariaL