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Heated roads eliminate need for salt?


zeitgeist57

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I love the idea. However the tech cost for the new road surface, as well as the electricity to power the roads, makes me cringe.

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/newscientist-investigates-emerging-road-heating-technolog/

 

Another reason why we need an updated power grid in this country, that integrates alternative sources of power (wind, solar, etc...)

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Yikes. Cool idea, but who wants to pay the taxes necessary to fund that project? Our current roadway system is already years and years out of date in most urban areas, maybe we should just tear up the main roadways and put this stuff in. Obama can just pass another bajillion dollar spending bill, and we'll all have jobs for the next 10 years.
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How the hell does that work? Doesn't it turn into ice? I've been to Seattle a bunch of times, and making up those hills with snow on them isn't going to happen.

 

No it just becomes packed snow, maybe they rough it up a bit on hills. I just read an article about it last year, they can't use Salt because of the fresh water lakes or something. I don't quite remember.

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In Seattle? Hmm. I didn't think they salted, because there are so many rust-free older japanese cars that don't last in the midwest. I saw some people having a hard time making it up the hills there in the rain. I can't imagine that working in the snow. Lots of burnouts, haha.
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In Seattle? Hmm. I didn't think they salted, because there are so many rust-free older japanese cars that don't last in the midwest. I saw some people having a hard time making it up the hills there in the rain. I can't imagine that working in the snow. Lots of burnouts, haha.

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008553820_edit24icy.html

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I remember while visiting the Twin Cities, they were talking about in some very hilly areas in the town had the heated roads so the salt trucks didn't have to hit them. Seemed like it was the higher end areas of the city.

 

But if I remember correctly, they didn't use electricity to heat them, something like recirculated heated water.

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I love the idea. However the tech cost for the new road surface, as well as the electricity to power the roads, makes me cringe.

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/newscientist-investigates-emerging-road-heating-technolog/

 

Another reason why we need an updated power grid in this country, that integrates alternative sources of power (wind, solar, etc...)

 

Howabout we just switch to flying cars, no more roads.

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What a patently stupid idea. Go take a look at any stretch of pavement in Columbus and tell me if you can find a section more than twenty feet long that doesn't have a long crack in it. Pavement cracks, carbon nano-tube paper tears along crack, no more electrical circuit, no more heat. The only way this is gonna work is if they repave the heated section every single year. Concrete might last longer, but the difference in price makes the idea ridiculous.
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You're not going to be able to control the expansion and contraction of the pavement, whether its concrete or asphalt, to keep the pipes from splitting. Not only is there expansion and contraction, but there is upheaval and sagging to contend with too. So you have movement in X, Y, and Z.

 

You could, theoretically keep the road a constant temp through out the year. But you'd have to keep it at the highest temp the road will ever see to control the shifting. So based on location that could change a lot in a matter or yards (mountainous regions).

 

Not only that... what's the cost in the winter time going to be to pump enough "geothermal" heat to keep the road at ~130*?

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