BLIZZARD-bound motorists won't have to wait for a salting truck or snow plough to clear the way if a "self-heating" road takes off.

Hoping for an ice-free future (Image: Kent Knudson/PhotoLink/Getty)

While salting disperses ice and snow, the salty run-off corrodes the steel rods that reinforce roads and bridge decks, and also damages vehicles. With the US government striving to improve its road infrastructure after a fatal bridge collapse in Minnesota in 2007, new methods to clear snow without damaging structures are being sought.

One such method, being developed by Christiana Chang at the University of Houston, Texas, and colleagues is to incorporate electric heating elements into concrete roads or bridge decks. When cold weather is forecast, the element can be fired up to heat the road and prevent ice forming.

There are various methods to make a slab of concrete that can be heated electrically. One way is to pepper the mix with an electrically resistive material that will convert electric current into heat, like the element of a kettle.

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