Freezing-point depression
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Freezing-point depression is a drop in the maximum temperature at which a substance freezes, caused when a smaller amount of another, non-volatile substance is added. Examples include adding salt into
Workers spreading salt from a salt truck for deicing the road
Freezing point depression is responsible for keeping ice cream soft below 0 °C.
Pre-treating roads with salt relies on the warmer road surface to initially melt the snow and make a solution; Pre-treatment of bridges (which are colder than roads) does not typically work.
Dissolved solutes prevent sap and other fluids in trees from freezing in winter.
Snow removal
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Snow removal or snow clearing is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done both by individual households and by governments institutions, and commercial b
A sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Snowblower in Rocky Mountain National Park, 1933
Salt brine sprayed and dried on a road surface for anti-icing before a snow storm
A Japanese road sprinkler system. This system combines the water's mechanical action and temperature to melt the snow. This system can only be used where ground temperatures do not regularly drop below 0 °C; otherwise, sheet ice formation could result (although a continuous water flow would act as an impediment to this).