MEASUREMENT AND PREDICTION OF PREFERENTIAL ICING POTENTIAL OF A BRIDGE DECK

Preferential icing, the tendency of a bridge deck to freeze before the adjacent roadway, was studied by the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Pennsylvania State University, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation from 1969 through 1973. A bridge deck on I-80 in Pennsylvania was instrumented, and complete data on the meteorological conditions and surface temperatures of both the bridge deck and the adjacent roadway were gathered during the winters of 1971-72 and 1972-73. This paper summarizes these experimental findings and suggests a method for determining an overall rating of the preferential icing potential of a bridge deck. A computer model was developed to determine the thermal response of both deck and adjacent roadway to ambient conditions. A method is described that, if one uses this model, can predict the possible formation of preferential icing on a bridge deck before it occurs and statistically determine an overall rating of the preferential icing potential of a bridge. A simple instrument package for surveying bridges for preferential icing is described.

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 47-53
  • Monograph Title: Maintenance management, the federal role, unionization, pavement maintenance, and ice control
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00153149
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309025672
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: May 31 1977 12:00AM