(STATEWIDE) – The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) is using a by-product of North Dakota’s beet processing industry on its roadways during the winter season.
Mike Kisse, an Assistant Division Maintenance Engineer with the Department of Transportation, says the product comes from the Hillsboro factory district of the American Crystal Sugar Company. The product is a carbohydrate-based sugar that primarily has been used for cattle feed, but has now gone through patent pending experiments, which have allowed the use of the product on roadways.
“It lowers the freezing point of the liquid,” Kisse said.
The Department blends its liquids for road control using 80 percent salt brine and 20 percent beet juice, he said. The product is then applied to the road in multiple ways.
