No Shovel Needed: Special Concrete Could Melt Mounds of Snow
Researchers have hit on a formula that electrifies pavement and could ease recovery from big storms.
Here’s a sight that will melt the heart of any post-blizzard commuter: Pavement that stays clear even as snow descends.
A special concrete mix, studded with electricity-conducting ingredients, could help airports and other places run on time during inclement weather — such as the weekend blizzard that paralyzed the U.S. Northeast.
So the Federal Aviation Administration is funding research to make this costly conductive concrete more affordable.
The new formula being tested at University of Nebraska-Lincoln uses byproducts from the coal and steel industries to reduce costs 60 percent compared to earlier trials, according to professor of civil engineering Chris Tuan. The 200-square-foot patch has embedded steel rods attached to electrodes, he says, that connect to a 120-volt AC
