Fatty acid on R4 around Ghent will hinder rush hour traffic

The fatty acid that leaked from a truck in Zelzate and Ghent on Friday morning will hinder traffic during the evening rush hour because the fire service cannot find a way to clean it up, they said in a Tweet. On the John F Kennedy and the Dwight Eisenhower roads close to Ghent, the fire service blocked the roads at several places to clean up fatty acid. Removing it seemed to be more difficult than first expected and the evening rush hour will still be affected by the process. The Flemish Traffic Center and the fire service asked commuters to avoid the environment via Twitter.

Update: Het reinigen gaat traag en we zoeken alternatieve oplossingen. Het spoor zal zeker een impact hebben op de avondspits. Van Zelzate naar de E40 rij je best langs de westelijke R4 (via Evergem & Drongen). pic.twitter.com/TJCyPpZBLG

— Brandweerzone Centrum (@bzcentrum) May 3, 2019

Drivers who want to go from Zelzate to the E40 are better off taking an alternative route. The Flemish Traffic Center advises motorcyclists to definitely avoid the route and also asks cars to follow the detours via the R4 West.

Fatty acid is one of the base ingredients to make soap, which makes it extremely difficult to clean up without leaving the road slippery. The fire service has been on the scene since Friday morning. "We are now spraying a mixture of hot water and a product around the slippery places to see if that works," the fire service said around noon. "If that does not work, we will have to look for a different solution. Specialist firms have already been involved," they added.

Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times