EFFECT OF SODIUM CHLORIDE ON GRASSES FOR ROADSIDE USE

ON SOME SECTIONS OF IOWA I 80 OVER 24,000 LB OF SODIUM CHLORIDE PER MILE OF FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY PER YEAR HAVE BEEN USED FOR ICE REMOVAL. SALT APPLIED AT THIS RATE DURING WINTERS OF 1963-1964 AND 1964-1965 AFFECTED MEDIAN AND FORESLOPE SOIL STRUCTURE AND PREVENTED SATISFACTORY ESTABLISHMENT OF GRASS COVER. INJURY TO BOTH GRASS SEEDLINGS AND TO ESTABLISHED TURF HAS BEEN GREATER WHERE SOILS WERE HEAVY AND LOW IN ORGANIC MATTER, I.E., GLACIAL TILL. SOLUBLE SALT DETERMINATIONS MADE ON SOIL SAMPLES TAKEN ALONG I 80 INDICATE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF SODIUM CHLORIDE TO RESTRICT GRASS GROWTH UP TO 10 FT FROM THE PAVEMENT. WHEATGRASS, WESTERN WHEATGRASS, RUSSIAN WILD-RYE AND REED CANARYGRASS POSSES SUFFICIENT SEEDLING VIGOR FOR RAPID ESTABLISHMENT AND INDICATE ADEQUATE TOLERANCE TO CLIPPING AT A 3-IN. HEIGHT TO BE USED EFFECTIVELY ON ROADSIDES. OF THESE GRASSES KENTUCKY 31 FESCUE AND WESTERN WHEATGRASS WERE MOST SALT TOLERANT. UP TO ABOUT 600 PPM SODIUM CHLORIDE STIMULATED GROWTH OF ALL GRASSES TESTED. INJURY BECAME PROGRESSIVELY MORE PRONOUNCED AS SALT LEVELS INCREASED FROM 1000 TO 5000 PPM. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT OF THE 10 GRASSES STUDIED, KENTUCKY 31 FESCUE WAS BEST SUITED FOR USE WHERE ROADSIDE SOILS ARE SALT-CONTAMINATED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/193/193-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Roadside Development and presented at the 46th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Roberts, Eliot C
  • Zybura, Edward L
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 35-42
• Monograph Title: Environmental considerations in use of deicing chemicals
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 193
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Deicing; Engineering tolerance; Grasses; Highways; Roadside; Sampling; Sodium chloride; Sodium chloride; Soil structure; Soils; Testing; Urban growth
• Geographic Terms: Iowa
• Old TRIS Terms: Soil sampling; Tolerances
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204678
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 26 1994 12:00AM