Salt Barns
Salt barns are generally constructed using concrete walls capable of retaining the weight of the salt grit which is then covered by a stretched canvas roof or steel framed building. These salt storage buildings usually have precast concrete retaining walls of up to 4m in height around the perimeter and a pitched or domed roof covering to enable maximum use of space and protect the salt from the elements.
The construction of the walls for salt barns is commonly an L-shape retaining wall unit which is precast off-site and delivered to site for fast installation and construction. These units can be cast into a new concrete floor slab, or bolted to an existing concrete base. The other favoured option is using prestressed concrete panels which are attached to the internal faces of steel columns of a steel framed building.
Please get in touch for more information on suitable products for the construction of salt barns and bulk salt storage areas or see our cast-in retaining wall, bolt-down retaining wall or concrete panel pages for more information.
The construction of the walls for salt barns is commonly an L-shape retaining wall unit which is precast off-site and delivered to site for fast installation and construction. These units can be cast into a new concrete floor slab, or bolted to an existing concrete base. The other favoured option is using prestressed concrete panels which are attached to the internal faces of steel columns of a steel framed building.
Please get in touch for more information on suitable products for the construction of salt barns and bulk salt storage areas or see our cast-in retaining wall, bolt-down retaining wall or concrete panel pages for more information.
The precast concrete retaining wall units are designed to BS 8110-1:1997 and are manufactured using a concrete mix grade of C40/C50. Standard cover to reinforcement is 30mm, suitable for ‘very severe’ exposure. The units are designed to retain adequately drained material with a density of 18Kn/m³ on one or both sides, and depending on the height of the unit, an additional surcharge can be applied; please ask for specific loading details.
Due to the high volumes of salt and grit used for the treatment of roads in winter months, local councils are required to store large quantities of salt for collection and distribution by the gritters. These storage areas are more commonly referred to as a salt barn and is usually situated in the highways agencies depots or local waste and recycling centres.
The first motorised snow-ploughs were developed in 1913, consisting of a truck and tractor. These machines allowed the mechanisation of the snow clearing process, reducing the labour required for snow removal and increasing the speed and efficiency of the process.
Due to the high volumes of salt and grit used for the treatment of roads in winter months, local councils are required to store large quantities of salt for collection and distribution by the gritters. These storage areas are more commonly referred to as a salt barn and is usually situated in the highways agencies depots or local waste and recycling centres.
The first motorised snow-ploughs were developed in 1913, consisting of a truck and tractor. These machines allowed the mechanisation of the snow clearing process, reducing the labour required for snow removal and increasing the speed and efficiency of the process.
Due to the popularity of the motor car, it was clear that ploughing roads alone was insufficient for removing all snow and ice from the roadway, which subsequently led to the development of gritting vehicles, using sodium chloride to accelerate the melting of the snow.
Early attempts at road gritting were resisted, as the salt used encouraged rusting, causing damage to the metal structures of bridges and the shoes of pedestrians. However, as the number of motoring accidents increased, the protests subsided and by the end of the 1920s, many cities were using salt and sand to clear the roads and increase road safety. As environmental awareness increased through the 1960s and 1970s, gritting once again came under criticism due to its environmental impact, leading to the development of alternative de-icing chemicals and more efficient spreading systems.
The road gritter is found on most winter service vehicles. Gritters are used to spread grit, a mixture of sand and rock salt, onto roads. The grit is stored in the large hopper on the rear of the vehicle, with a wire mesh over the top to prevent foreign objects from entering the spreading mechanism and becoming jammed.
Early attempts at road gritting were resisted, as the salt used encouraged rusting, causing damage to the metal structures of bridges and the shoes of pedestrians. However, as the number of motoring accidents increased, the protests subsided and by the end of the 1920s, many cities were using salt and sand to clear the roads and increase road safety. As environmental awareness increased through the 1960s and 1970s, gritting once again came under criticism due to its environmental impact, leading to the development of alternative de-icing chemicals and more efficient spreading systems.
The road gritter is found on most winter service vehicles. Gritters are used to spread grit, a mixture of sand and rock salt, onto roads. The grit is stored in the large hopper on the rear of the vehicle, with a wire mesh over the top to prevent foreign objects from entering the spreading mechanism and becoming jammed.
Salt reduces the melting point of ice by freezing-point depression, causing it to melt at lower temperatures and run off to the edge of the road, while sand increases traction by increasing friction between car tyres and roadways.
Gritters are unable to use sea-salt as it is too fine and dissolves too quickly, so all salt used in road gritting comes from salt mines, a non-renewable source.
The salt dropped is eventually washed away and lost, so it cannot be reused or collected after gritting runs, although the insoluble sand can be collected and recycled by street sweeping vehicles and mixed with new salt crystals to be reused in later batches of grit. As a result, operators must regularly purchase large quantities of rock salt and provide means of mass storage.
While salt was once a scarce commodity, mass production has now made salt a plentiful resource. Approximately half of world’s output is now used by cold countries to de-ice roads in winter, from grit bins and spread by winter service vehicles which are filled from Salt barns.
Calcium chloride is preferred for road gritting over sodium chloride, as CaCl2 releases energy upon forming a solution with water; heating the ice or snow it comes into contact with. It also lowers the freezing point, depending on the concentration. NaCl does not release heat upon solution, but it does lower the freezing point.
