Scientists Create New Salt-Resistant Concrete

File photo: A truck spreads salt on a road in Sterrebeek February 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet)
File photo: A truck spreads salt on a road in Sterrebeek February 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet)
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Scientists Create New Salt-Resistant Concrete

File photo: A truck spreads salt on a road in Sterrebeek February 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet)
File photo: A truck spreads salt on a road in Sterrebeek February 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet)

Researchers at the Brunel University London have created a mix that can be added to concrete to protect it from the harms of the salt sprinkled on streets and pavements during the winter in Europe and many other countries.

Every year, specializing cars spread the salt, known as sodium chloride, in vast quantities on roads and pavements to stop them freezing. Water usually freezes at 0C, but when salt is added, the freezing temperature drops below this level, and the salt prevents water particles from creating solid ice crystals.

Most of this salt is ultimately washed away, but large quantities are absorbed as salty water, which causes the concrete to deteriorate and steel within to rust and corrode.

In the study recently published in the JOM journal, the researcher team led by the Jordanian Mazen Al-Kheetan, from the Brunel's department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, announced it has devised a new concrete mix -mainly composed of sodium acetate compound- that absorbs 64% less water and 90% less salt than normal concrete. It's hoped the new mix could lead to pavements that are best placed to withstand their annual dousing of salt.

"Incorporation of a sodium acetate compound into concrete, at the mixing stage, works on absorbing some of the water to form crystals that line the walls of the pores in the concrete. These crystals increase the hydrophobicity of the concrete (the amount concrete repels the water), which ensures the reduction of water uptake through the pores. Also, when applying de-icing salt to pavements made from this concrete mix, the presence of the protective compound within the pores work on fending off the water and the waterborne chlorides," Al-Kheetan told Asharq Al-Awsat via email.

"During our three-year study, we added different quantities of the sodium acetate compound to different concrete mixes, until we achieved the perfect mix providing these benefits," he added.

According to Kheetan, the new concrete mix still needs more long term tests in cold and warm weathers, before it becomes available for the industrial use, noting that "we still need two to three years of experiments before we can use the new mix on the roads."

Speaking about the possibility of using this concrete mix in regions other than Europe, Dr. Moujib Rahman, co-author of the study, told Asharq Al-Awsat: "This concrete can be used in the making of bridges, pavements, highways, houses, ports, and infrastructures or any surface that usually sees heavy rainfalls or salt precipitations."



Smoke From Canadian Fires Reaches Europe, Says EU Climate Monitor

 This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)
This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)
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Smoke From Canadian Fires Reaches Europe, Says EU Climate Monitor

 This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)
This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)

Heavy smoke from intense wildfires in Canada has reached northwestern Europe, the European Union's climate monitoring service said on Tuesday.

The huge plumes are at very high altitude and do not pose an immediate health risk, it said in a statement.

"Smoke originating from the wildfires in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan has been transported across the Atlantic," the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said.

Satellites tracked the smoke in mid-May, with some plumes reaching as far east as Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.

"A second, much larger, smoke plume crossed the Atlantic during the last week of May, reaching northwestern parts of Europe on June 1," CAMS said.

Additional plumes are expected to shade the continent in the coming days.

Wildfire smoke is comprised of gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, along with water vapor and particle pollution, which can be particularly hazardous to health.

A high concentration of carbon monoxide is expected to pass over northwestern France, including the Paris Basin, on Tuesday.

The high-altitude smoke headed for Europe is not expected to have a significant impact on surface air quality, but is likely to result in hazy skies and reddish-orange sunsets.

Manitoba in central Canada is experiencing its worst start to the fire season in years due to drought, and Saskatchewan to the west declared a state of emergency at the end of May, evacuating thousands of residents.

"Central regions of Canada have experienced a very intense few weeks in terms of wildfire emissions," said Mark Parrington, scientific director at CAMS.

Canadian authorities have forecast a more intense fire season than usual this summer in central and western Canada, due in particular to severe or extreme drought.

Elsewhere, extensive forest fires have been raging in Russia's Far Eastern Federal District since early April, particularly east of Lake Baikal, generating carbon emissions of around 35 million tons, Copernicus reported.