Engineering Commons^™

Airfield Pavement Deicing With Conductive Concrete Overlay, Sherif Yehia, Christopher Tuan

Christopher Y. Tuan

Conductive concrete is a cementitious admixture containing a certain volumetric ratio of electrically conductive materials to attain high and stable electrical conductivity. Due to its electrical resistance, a thin overlay of conductive concrete can generate enough heat to prevent ice formation when energized by AC power. Under a research sponsored by Nebraska Department of Roads, Yehia and Tuan developed a mix specifically for concrete bridge deck deicing while meeting the ASTM and AASHTO strength specifications for overlay construction. An average thermal power of 591 W/m2 (55 W/ft2) with a heating rate of 0.56oC/min (1oF/min) was generated by a 1.2 m …

Implementation Of Conductive Concrete Overlay For Bridge Deck Deicing At Roca, Nebraska, Christopher Y. Tuan, Sherif A. Yehia

Christopher Y. Tuan

Conductive concrete is a relatively new material technology developed to achieve high electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength. In research sponsored by Nebraska Department of Roads, a conductive concrete mix specifically for bridge deck deicing was developed. In this application, a conductive concrete overlay is cast on top of a bridge deck for deicing and anti-icing.

This technology has been successfully implemented in a demonstration project at Roca, about 15 mi south of Lincoln, Nebraska. The Roca Spur Bridge has a 36-m (117-ft) long and 8.5- m (28-ft) wide conductive concrete inlay. Temperature sensors and a microprocessor-based controller system were …