The Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) is gearing up for winter and treating icy roadways with a new product that contains corn.
“We added another road treatment option to our winter operations,” says MODOT St. Louis Maintenance Engineer, Mark Croarkin. “The corn-based portion of the product is a carrier for Magnesium Chloride. There are similar products that result in an approximately 2 percent Magnesium Chloride treated salt that use other base materials. These products typically cost a little more to mix, but they can be more effective.”
Croarkin says the corn-based product MODOT started using goes by IceBan M20 or IceBan 300.
“If I was trying to quantify I would estimate the IceBan treated material is about 25 percent more effective overall,” says Croarkin. “The benefits we have seen depend on the temperature; the colder the storm the better results.”
According to AJP Corporations website, “Ice Ban is a natural liquid concentrate residue from the wet milling of corn and the production of alcohol. Ice Ban is environmentally friendly, non-toxic to vegetation, and actually delivers valuable nutrients to the soil and may enhance vegetation growth. Ice Ban freezes at temperatures lower than most other ice melters. Ice Ban contains more molecules than other ice melters and has the potential to melt more ice.”
The corn-based compound is designed to keep roads ice-free longer.
“For us, this is another tool in our toolbox to treat roadways,” Croarkin said.
