A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR DEICING OF BRIDGE DECKS

An experimental facility to study the use of gravity operated heat pipes to couple earth heat to a bridge deck for snow and ice control has been developed at a site in southeastern Wyoming. Fifteen heat pipes of three different designs were incorporated in the design and construction of a composite bridge deck. Nine standard heat pipes 24.4 m (80 ft.) long and 2.5 cm (1 in.) outside diameter were installed transverse to the direction of traffic flow 5 cm (2 in.) below the deck surface on 15 cm (6 in.) centers. These pipes extend from depths of 15 m (50 ft.) in the earth up through the earth surface and through the edge of the deck to the bridge centerline. The performance of the heat pipe system has been monitored and recorded continuously at one minute intervals for over one year using a variety of instrumentation transducers and a digital data acquisition system. In addition the surface conditions on the deck and the adjacent roadway were recorded photographically at five minute intervals during daylight hours. The results obtained demonstrate that heat pipes can be an effective means of snow and ice control on bridge decks. /Author/

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 189-197
  • Monograph Title: Bridge Engineering. Volume 1
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00183764
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309026962
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Dec 3 1978 12:00AM