A grit bin, salt bin or sand bin is an item of

street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes bench (furniture), benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic ...

, commonly found in countries where freezing temperatures and snowfall occur, which holds a mixture of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and grit that is spread over

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s if they have

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

on them. Spreading rock salt over roads and pathways is commonly done either by hand or with a

winter service vehicle A winter service vehicle (WSV), or snow removal vehicle, is a vehicle specially designed or adapted to clear thoroughfares of ice and snow. Winter service vehicles are usually based on a dump truck chassis, with adaptations allowing them to car ...

and helps improve

road safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...

in frosty conditions. The salt helps reduce the freezing temperature of the ice, which can be effective in temperatures of up to -9°C (16°F). Roads that are not gritted during winter are much more dangerous for vehicles and foot traffic, so busy routes can be gritted several times per day under harsh snowy conditions.

How it works

Anyone may use a grit bin to clear a public path or road, though they are generally not intended for personal use. Typically, a

spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

shovel A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made ...

is used to spread a thin layer of grit onto the road surface, covering any snow or ice. The salt lowers the

melting point The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state of matter, state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase (matter), phase exist in Thermodynamic equilib ...

of the snow causing it to melt (see

sodium chloride Sodium chloride , commonly known as Salt#Edible salt, edible salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. It is transparent or translucent, brittle, hygroscopic, and occurs a ...

). The grit component improves the friction between a vehicle's

tire A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...

s and the road. Some grit bins have a small compartment, which could be used for storing a spade or shovel. The one featured in the photograph at the top of the page is filled through the top hatch. The salt boxes of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, have been in use since at least 1969, and have attracted attention on social media as a symbol of Baltimore culture. In Sweden, the bins contain mainly sand and sometimes sand mixed with salt. The construction and appearance of the bins are similar to bins in other countries.

Construction of grit bins

Grit bins were originally made of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

, wood or even stone, though these are now increasingly being replaced by models constructed from plastic partly from safety concerns: vehicles/people hitting a plastic grit bin will suffer less damage. However, the lower weight of plastic makes grit bins easier to steal or tip over.

Problems

Grit bins can be subjected to

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

, such as

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. The lid can also be left open, leaving rain to dilute the rock salt in the mixture, leaving it much less effective than dry rock salt. In the United Kingdom, the local

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

is usually responsible for maintaining and refilling grit bins as well as spreading rock salt on the roads.Derbyshire council
In Norway, the problem with tipping grit bins over has been solved by making them large enough to hold about of grit, and to continually keep it topped up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grit Bin Automotive safety Road transport Street furniture Snow removal