(bright music)
(steam hissing)
- [Narrator] The geothermal energy,
heat coming from the earth,
may be able to offer the Texas Department of Transportation
another way to keep drivers safe.
The University of Texas at Arlington is working with TxDOT
to research the feasibility of this approach,
as well as recommending types of heating systems
and geothermal structures that can be used in the process.
- We all experience in a day,
we comes to the office relatively warm, like 70, 80s,
and then we will leave our office in the evening,
in the afternoon, it already drop below freezing.
So the bridges is easy to ice,
because there's no thermal insulation.
So these iced bridges with the rest of the pavement
is still free from ice,
that causes a very dangerous situation.
- So, we try to find a way how we can keep our bridges warm,
that way ice and snow won't accumulate on it,
and that way, keep the traveling public safe.
- [Xinbao] We use the geothermal energy for bridge de-icing
that we found is very effective.
We test different variations,
different versions, different scales.
- [Elijah] UT Arlington built a bridge closer,
on our right of way, closer to the railroad.
They put some sensors and monitors on it
and also the geothermal heating equipment on it,
which kept the bridge warm during the cold weather.
- We're using the closed plastic pipe,
the pipe filled with water.
One end of the pipe is inserted deeply into the ground.
The other side, we put it underneath the bridge.
So this waters inside the pipes is driven by water pump.
So we turn the water pump on.
The heat is being carried from the ground,
from the ground to the bridge where the heat is needed.
We investigated what kind of a working fluid,
working media, considering different type of the bridge,
different thickness with the bridge,
how this technology gonna be implemented on the bridge.
So we did laboratory scale. We do slab scale testing.
We did in the simulated environment,
also test the slab outside, outdoor environment
after we collecting a lot of good data.
The solution within this closed loop within the pipe
is a mixture of glyco and water.
It's very similar to where we put it in our windshield
that can keep it from freezing.
The major benefit of this research,
this using geothermal for bridge de-icing
of course is keep the bridge free from ice
and snow during winter events,
and also the associated other issues
with using the traditional de-icers that have chemical,
that can cause the environmental pollution,
corrode the bridges, so there's also associated
environmental benefits of using this technology.
- Which are preventative measures
over the icing on bridges rather than reactive,
and this is one of the steps that we're going forward.
- [Narrator] For more information
and to find the publication for this project,
please visit the TxDOT Research Library
at the link shown below.