Rustam Gilfanov: Russian Traffic Authorities Agree That Using Sand To Treat Winter Slippery Conditions Unsafe

This conclusion has been announced at a yearly forum, organized by the National Association of Winter Road Maintenance, entitled Winter Season: Clean and Safe, which gathered together country’s top road administration and maintenance crews, experts, suppliers and scientists. Russia just adopted a new Federal Standard on roadway deicers in use in urban territories. Experts say it is a much-needed update to the federal regulation dating back to 2003, in the largest most northerly country in the world.

The goal of the new Standard is to define winter maintenance further and bar substances that may be potentially unsafe or dangerous for people, such as heavy metals, particles smaller than 1 mm in diameter, highly corrosive salts.

Professor Alikbaeva, MD, says: “For decades we’ve been watching the harmful effects of sand applied on motor roadways during winter time as a traction additive. With the traffic volumes on the consistent rise throughout the country, the harmful effects of sand is multiplying. We call it the grinding effect, when the sand particles are reduced in size by the wheels they become dust, and that poses grave dangers to our people, as sand dust is a major carcinogen. As a medical practitioner, I am very concerned that the sand application on motorways in Russia is not yet completely outlawed or restricted to be applied only on the roads with the lowest traffic.”

Aside from the mounting health threats associated with the sand dust, sand application lead to economic losses with very little practical effect to sustain traction on slippery roads to a safety standard. Economic models showed that 1 square meter of roadway treated with sand cost 30% over the same area treated with deicers, where the latter is more reliable in terms of maintaining safe traction.

As the traffic volumes keep steadily rising in the cities, and with the climate change making winters more challenging, there is a stronger demand for deicers working at lower temperatures and for longer periods of time.

Rustam Gilfanov, entrepreneur and founder of Winter Technologies Group: “Finding a working and efficient solution for icy and slippery roadways and walkways in winter road maintenance is not just about convenience: foremost, is about safety and saving people’s lives. At WTG, in our relentless pursuit of ensuring people’s safety on roadways reliably, we have developed world-class deicers that are the most reliable in any conditions, down to -30C, they also take people’s health and the environment preservation front and center. We’ve been supplying these deicers to over 50 cities and regions in Russia and abroad, and statistics prove that they have no harmful effect on the environment, unlike sand.”

In addition, Russia’s Traffic Patrol’s accident statistics show a considerable decline in both, accidents and fatalities in the cities and regions where modern deicers are applied during winter seasons, which includes deicers like Bionord from UZPM deicers plant, a member of WTG.

About UZPM

UZPM was founded in 2007 in the city of Perm, by Rustam Gilfanov, a Russian entrepreneur, who is now a recognized expert in the field of winter road maintenance. Today UZPM is the largest ESG compliant producer of modern multicomponent eco-friendly deicing and anti-icing materials in Russia. UZPM products are intended for winter and off-season maintenance of city roads and sidewalks, airports, and other infrastructure facilities.