WINNIPEG — It’s not what you usually see coming out of a salting truck — a mix of water, salt and beet juice. In La Broquerie, it’s how they’ve been combating their icy roads.
The mix is called Fusion, and it’s 60 per cent beet juice, and 40 per cent water and sodium.
“It’s a non-corrosive, environmentally friendly de-icer. It’s new to Southeast Manitoba,” Jeff Friesen with Unger Excavating said.
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It might sound odd, but the mix has been a successful alternative to regular road salt.
“It looks like coffee, and it smells like molasses, a little bit tacky a little bit sticky, but it won’t stain anything,” Friesen said.
The cost is slightly higher than regular road salt, but the city said it’s worth it for the long term savings.
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“With the high cost of maintaining the roads and building roads, you really want to look after the infrastructure and this seems to do that successfully,” Ron Kowalchuk with Public Works said.
The RM has been happy with the product so far, and thinks it will catch on in other towns.