Novel Heating Technologies to Control the Surface Conditions of Pavements

In winter roads become slippery due to the influence of snow and ice. Despite traditional snow ploughs and salt sprink ling, statistics show that this results in the loss of many lives each year and causes severe material damage. Furthermore it disrupts traffic, causing significant economic damage. Winter conditions also accelerate the deterioration of asphalt, especially open structured surface layers, resulting in extra maintenance costs for road authorities. Dutch based GFSC Consultants and Engineers, Grontmij, Reef-Infra and AHT Netherlands, united in the Heated Roads consortium, therefore have developed an alternative for combating the adverse effects of ice and snow on roads. It uses an innovative electric infra-red heating system that consists of a very thin coated metal alloy strip that is placed under the top asphalt layer (or binder). Due to its special amorphous molecular structure, it heats up the asphalt monolith structure very rapidly and is also energy effective. Several test sections were built in Germany, Italy (in cooperation with the University of Bologna) and The Netherlands in order to study the effect of the ribbons on the deicing of the surface as well as on the extension of the lifetime of the asphalt structure. Several parameters were varied such as the distance between and depth of the ribbons, the use of insulation material and the generated power by the ribbons. Also test were done related to the application procedure, lik e prefixing the ribbons onto asphalt grids in order to speed up the application process. The research was supported by the Dutch Provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel and rewarded a subsidy by the European Union as this innovation is as a new way to secure the safety on roads, to guarantee traffic flow and to extend the lifetime of asphalt (and thus reducing maintenance costs).