One of the main critisisms of local authorities in the recent snowy weather in the southern UK has been the non-appearance of gritters, leading to icy roads and gridlock, thus preventing the gritters being sent out.

I propose that the streetlights on major routes are fitted with nozzles to spray de-icing fluid over the road surface upon command from a central control room. This should ensure that long stretches of road can all be de-iced simultaneously and you don't have to drive behind a gritter, getting your car sand blasted.

Admittedly this my not be a very environmentally friendly solution.
-- oneoffdave, Jan 31 2003

If you used Urea instead of salt, and used high pressure air to disperse it, this would work. Urea is used on many airports these days because it's non-corrosive.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 31 2003


Urea is also negative for the environment because of nitrogen runoff, and acetate-based de-icers are being introduced.
-- FarmerJohn, Jan 31 2003


Just don't walk underneath when they're spraying.
-- kropotkin, Jan 31 2003


I was thinking of them primarily for motorways and other fairly pededstrian free areas. A clear plastic dome could be mounted umbrella-like on each pole to protect passing foot traffic.
-- oneoffdave, Jan 31 2003


one council today sent out the road sweeping van instead of the gritter, the little brushes smoothed off the ice really well making a complete ice rink of the road.
-- po, Jan 31 2003


No, just a passive infra-red detector that disarms the spray when a pedestrian or vehicle is nearby. Since the system only comes into play when temperatures are low, targets are likely to be substantially hotter than the local background and hence very easy to spot.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 31 2003



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