Self-Heated Sidewalks
With the changing seasons, walking back home and enjoying the fresh breeze has been a blast with the warmer weather. All until I realize how wet and icy the sidewalks get and suddenly I’m fighting for my life just trying to get home. While I do acknowledge that heated sidewalks exist in busy areas of Edmonton, they are expensive and maintenance can be tricky since concrete is involved. As a result, I can’t help but wish for alternatives that can mitigate the problem of wet and icy sidewalks, especially since more people are taking public transit or choosing to walk.
The thumbnail image is just one of the examples of the icy and wet sidewalks I encounter on my way to class. Due to my reluctance to get my socks wet or incur a back injury, I have to resort to walking on the road alongside cars which greatly affects my commute comfortability.
The only positive thought running through my mind during my icy commutes is that researchers at Drexel University have been making great strides in developing a self-heating concrete that could be used to keep ice off sidewalks. Tests so far have been effective in keeping snow, sleet and ice at bay, even when the surrounding areas have been affected by them. This could have several positive implications for not just commuters but residents who have to shovel ice off sidewalks.
The sidewalks developed by the researchers uses a low-temperature liquid paraffin and is currently being tested on Drexel University's campus. Alternative methods such as salting sidewalks have side-effects such as potentially generating contamination into local waterways. One concrete slab used as research uses liquid paraffin incorporated directly into the concrete mix. The other slab uses an aggregate made up of small pebbles and stone pieces rather than concrete mixed with liquid paraffin.
While the long term durability of the slabs has yet to be thoroughly examined, the results released so far have been encouraging towards imagining a future where pedestrians do not need to fear wet and icy sidewalks in order to get to their destination.
-Written by Hussain Cochinwala