Finland recycles sand to keep winter roads clean

Winter road maintenance is no easy thing. Every northern country can prove it. For example, Finland is covered with snow, on average, from November to March, and in Lapland the snow stays until June. However, this country knows how to cope with frost and snow, and even blizzards do not often cause serious trouble.

Grit – a mixture of sand and rock salt – helps a lot to keep roads clean. Gritters – also known as sanders or salt trucks – are used to spread grit onto roads. Salt makes ice melt at lower temperature and run off to the edge of the road, and sand helps to increase friction between car tires and the road surface. Though the salt eventually gets washed away, the insoluble sand is collected, recycled and kept for the next winter.

Annual cost of winter road maintenance is about €100 mln, which is definitely a lot. But everybody who drives in Finland in wintertime is grateful to the guys who managed to keep the roads that perfect.