Originally published in Clear Roads News April 7, 2025

Combining road salt with common additives such as corrosion inhibitors, anticaking agents, cold temperature modifiers, thickeners and friction enhancers can increase the effectiveness of the deicer, allowing it to work more quickly or remain on the pavement longer.

To determine how well mixed salt products perform at lower temperatures and inform transportation agencies’ winter maintenance decisions, this Clear Roads project tested eight solids and prewet solids to evaluate the influence of additives on chloride-based deicer performance, including the freezing point or eutectic temperature, ice-melting capacity using the rocker test and pavement friction.

Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 22-03 – Effects of Additives in Deicing Salts at Lower Temperatures, February 2025.