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On Monday 28 October 2024, Luxembourg's National Roads Administration announced that it will begin carrying out its preventative "dry salting" tests on the Grand Duchy's roads in the coming days.
In order to prepare for the 2024/2025 winter season, the Roads Administration is carrying out its annual road salting tests towards the end of October/beginning of November.
In order not to disrupt morning rush hour traffic, the motorway service as well as each regional service will carry out these tests between 03:00 and 06:00. All units engaged in clearing and gritting operations on the state road network are involved in these tests.
The objective is to check the proper functioning of all equipment, particularly installations, vehicles and spreaders, as well as the correct execution of the various triggering procedures and salting rounds. It is also a matter of familiarising new Roads Administration employees with salting interventions. These preparatory tests make it possible to detect possible technical and functional problems.
To preserve the environment as much as possible, the Roads Administration noted that in the case of dry roads, a "minimum" amount of salt (5 grams per m2) is spread over a maximum distance of 5 kilometres of a complete round. The test is done without a snow plough. If there is a risk of black ice, salting is done with the "appropriate" weight of salt.
The Roads Administration confirmed it will provide normal winter service during the months of November 2024 to March 2025. Outside of this period, it will only provide a reduced service with regard to salting operations.
Moreover, the Roads Administration recalled that the use of winter tyres is mandatory when weather conditions require it.
