Salt trucks cover 30,000 KM of Dutch roads; Ice breakers ready

Since Tuesday nights salt trucks covered over 31 thousand kilometers of roads throughout the Netherlands with around 2 million kilograms of salt. Ice breakers are also on standby, to help any ships that get into trouble on freezing water, Dutch public works department Rijkswaterstaat said. 

Throughout the winter, the Rijkswaterstaat already sprinkled some 80 million kilograms of salt on the roads to combat slickness and iciness and thereby keep the roads accessible and safe. "We drove around the world about 33 times this winter", the department said on Twitter.

Rijkswaterstaat has ice breakers on standby, to also keep the Dutch waterways accessible. Especially on still standing water, where ice forms more quickly than on running water. "The ice breakers are ready on and around the IJsselmeer, Markermeer and peripheral lakes. We're also keeping an eye on the Twente Canal and main waterway Lemmer-Delfzijl", the department said in a statement. Ice breakers are there to assist ships that, for example, have difficulty getting away from their docking point due to frozen water around them.