Concrete That Melts Ice Could Improve Roadway Safety

Megalith

Megalith

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An interesting development that would be useful for those of us on the east coast who are in the thick of it.

…as the minutes pass and the snow begins melting from only its surface, the slab reveals its secret: Like razors, stoves and guitars before it, this concrete has gone electric. Its designer, UNL professor of civil engineering Chris Tuan, has added a pinch of steel shavings and a dash of carbon particles to a recipe that has literally been set in concrete for centuries. Though the newest ingredients constitute just 20 percent of Tuan's otherwise standard concrete mixture, they conduct enough electricity to melt ice and snow in the worst winter storms while remaining safe to the touch.
 
Wow and then they complain about climate change. Heated roads... lol.
 
This isn't a perfect solution. The laying of concrete wound have to be perfect for it to be safe and the cost is rarely justified.
 
That is a lot of current to pump through a road system with a questionable maintenance schedule.
 
So why is this getting news? Even in the article it mentions a bridge project that was built in 2002, so this is old technology.
 
B00nie said:
Wow and then they complain about climate change. Heated roads... lol.
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Yeah and some senator had a snowball in the Whitehouse.... Here I thought those belonged in a museum... Alas weather is not climate.
 
Interesting, it is acknowledged that the use is limited but hey sounds good if equally durable.
 
Eeesh, conductive concrete is a 1950's idea, maybe earlier. Pretty much every university engineering department on Earth has mixed various materials with concrete to impart electrical properties that can be used to measure compression and track structural integrity, etc. A heated slab is probably the most mundane possibility.
 
ymer said:
Hmmm no, concrete slabs doesn't have "coats". It needs to be a single pour.
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That's not true at all, and that's not really how you build a bridge anyway. A typical bridge will have steel pilings set in concrete for the vertical part of the structure, and the precast girders that span the pilings and abutments. The precast is made with deliberate voids in it to reduce weight, and prestressed cables set in it to give it the flexibility it needs to build a resilient structure. Once you've set the girders, you need to lay a wearing surface. Pavement is smoother, but is a dead load, it doesn't add strength and reduces the bridge capacity. Concrete is used because it's hard wearing and does add strength. The concrete is set by a decking screed/bridge deck finisher. The concrete in this final finish could certainly have different mechanical and electrical properties from the rest of the bridge.

Another example; if they poured the Hoover Dam in one continuous pour, it still wouldn't be fully cured today. Engineers estimated it would take 125 years for the dam to cure, and the heat and stress from the process would damage the dam.

TMYK.
 
It takes x amount of energy to melt a layer of snow. If it was economical to do it that way we would have had huge trucks with furnaces drive back and forth over the snow, too. Using a heat source to generate electricity and transmitting it is horrifically inefficient compared to using the heat source directly. Since I've never heard of any widespread direct heat roads, this will even be less likely.
 
any studies on how it favors to snow plowing? or is this like an added featre to the robust road features
 
Methos said:
That's not true at all, and that's not really how you build a bridge anyway. A typical bridge will have steel pilings set in concrete for the vertical part of the structure, and the precast girders that span the pilings and abutments. The precast is made with deliberate voids in it to reduce weight, and prestressed cables set in it to give it the flexibility it needs to build a resilient structure. Once you've set the girders, you need to lay a wearing surface. Pavement is smoother, but is a dead load, it doesn't add strength and reduces the bridge capacity. Concrete is used because it's hard wearing and does add strength. The concrete is set by a decking screed/bridge deck finisher. The concrete in this final finish could certainly have different mechanical and electrical properties from the rest of the bridge.

Another example; if they poured the Hoover Dam in one continuous pour, it still wouldn't be fully cured today. Engineers estimated it would take 125 years for the dam to cure, and the heat and stress from the process would damage the dam.

TMYK.
Click to expand...


Dude... you can't make a street slab in layers, stop pretending you know chit.
 
Uvaman2 said:
Yeah and some senator had a snowball in the Whitehouse.... Here I thought those belonged in a museum... Alas weather is not climate.
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I was obviously referring to the insane amounts of electricity that would be required to melt the tons of snow that accumulate on a few miles strectch of road.
 
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