Heated Pavement Technology Tested at Des Moines International Airport

We are living in future or future is dawning upon the humankind. The line is blur and the amount of scientific, technology advancement we are experiencing it will become highly difficult to pinpoint the moment we will step into the future. A team of researchers from the Iowa State University have been successful in deploying the fully functional electrically conductive concrete pavement installed on an America airport. The lead researcher going by the name Halil Ceylan has to simply run an app on his smartphone in order to begin the successful testing on the full scale heated pavement installed at Des Moines International Airport.

Winter season is round the corner the technology implemented by the Ceylan team will help in turning on heated pavement system which will allow snow and ice to melt away. All this is done through an app and it can be seen in real time due to its video capability.

How much it costs?

Most of the people are amazed by the technology and are hooked on learning about the cost incurred in developing it. Ceylan has clarified that the success of the heated pavement slabs has shown that benefits are far greater than the cost. Researchers have carefully calculated the number at the operating cost of just 19 cents per square meters which is unbelievably cheaper.

How the testing slabs were made?

The test slabs designed for the installation at the airport are made up of 1percent of the carbon fiber along with a special mix of the cement, rocks and sand. The use of carbon fiber in the heated pavement technology allows concrete to conduct electricity which ultimately helps in creating heat.

A team member has prepared hundreds of concrete samples in order to come up with the right combination of comprehensive strength, electrical conductivity, tensile strength and workability required for its success. The test slabs are wired with varied kind of sensors which includes strain gauges, temperature probes, humidity sensors as well as it has two surveillance camera mounted near it. These test slabs are powered by the hangar’s power supply which helps in its smooth functioning.

Why testing on an airport?

The reason which prompted Des Moines Airport for testing heated pavement because it’s a part of Federal Aviation Administration sustainability program. In a bid to boost the sustainability and a partnership was established way back in 2012 which brought together a number of credible researchers from the Purdue University as well as other core members from Iowa State. This brings together a number of FAA’s centres of excellence along with the federal government, universities and industry in an established one-of-a-kind cost-sharing research partnership.

This program is currently about $2.2 million for Iowa State to bring about a full scale demonstration of unique airfield d pavements as well as heated pavements for future usage. Earlier a prototype of the heated pavement was successfully placed at the campus lab which showed promising results and feasibility to integrate for the large scale studies.