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We don't get snow here. It just doesn't get that cold, so this idea is for you folks who live in much colder places.
When winter breathes its icy blasts and snow falls on your driveway in abundance, just add this gelling agent to the snowpack. It causes the snow to become a jelly, similar to that
in certain sweet iceblocks.
The result is a frozen, viscous jelly glacier that oozes slowly down your driveway and into the gutter, leaving your driveway free of snow within 24 hours.
SnowMowChipNBlow
SnowMowChipNBlow
The gadget every red-blooded man needs. [UnaBubba, Dec 23 2007]
[link]
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But...it just keeps snowing. |
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I think we got five of six inches of the stuff last night and the whole drive was covered in a good centimeter or so by the time I finished shoveling this morning. |
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It's enough to make a guy flip randomly between imperial and metric I tell ya. |
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umm... I think you're missing some of the basic concepts of winter and snow; f'rinstance a couple weeks ago we got a couple *feet* (not centimetres) of snow... and that's not rare... gonna need pretty big gutters... local shopping malls have their parking space cut down by 1/4 to 1/3 because of the mountains of snow created by clearing the parking lot.
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That being said, I like the idea of a self-clearing driveway; something that would unstick water-molecules (in whatever phase) from cement. |
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// something that would unstick water-molecules (in whatever phase) from cement // |
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C-4 will do that for you .... |
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Coat the driveway with Vaseline? I'm not one, but I bet there are a few halfbakers who keep that much on hand. |
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If you're getting feet, err... increments of 30 centimetres... of snow at a time then might I suggest [link]? |
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phoenix, that would, if anything, be worse that compacted snow for traction. |
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Enough vaseline to coat a driveway? Whatever for? Anybody that uses more than a jar at a time has a promising career in something other than halfbaking. |
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The answer, during the snow season, would be something akin to one of the poly-tunnels market gardeners use, but pointed like a gothic arch. The shape would shed snow from the top which woudl build up at the sides, anchoring the construction; as the snow "walls" grew thicker they would become self-supporting, until the whole thing was covered. |
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And you could drive in and out without a single flake. |
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Just hope the road is clear ... |
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While I love any idea involving glaciers (can't have too many of those!) and oozing masses of gel (ditto)... |
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Getting the snow off your driveway is only half the problem - all that does is simply move the snow some place else. As your gel does - now you have a perfectly clear (though I suspect slippery) drive, leading to a big blob of gel blocking your exit to the street.... |
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[Oh, wait, Flying Toaster said much the same thing already.] |
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<Slowly, loudly and patiently>
Well, if your roads are actually designed like roads usually seem to be, there will be a grade in the gutter to the nearest stormwater inlet, facilitating the drainage of the gel to the stormwater sewers, and away from your driveway.
</s,l&p> |
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I'm afraid your lack of experience with both roads and conditions in wintry areas is still showing. |
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What, liquids don't flow downhill in areas where it gets cold? |
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Not if their path thereto is blocked by more snow and/or ice. |
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I could speak loudly and slowly, but even you're not *that* stupid. The problem consists not just of clearing your driveway without leaving a layer of ice for you to slip on. You also have to deal with the municipal snow plows happily shoveling the snow from the main road back onto your driveway. The gutters and drains of the main road, meanwhile, are under the huge piles of snow left by the snow plows. There's really no place for the stuff to go. That's why everyone generally pushes it off to the side, killing the wayside plants and trees with salt, grit and jello. |
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In the meantime, you still get my vote for a regular old glacier, or even just a mass of jello, oozing down the driveway. Especially if it crushes the neighbor's ugly shed. |
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