Citation

Birnie C. Transp. Res. Rec. 1976; 598: 47-53.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Preferential icing, the tendency of a bridge deck to freeze before the adjacent roadway, was studied by the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Pennsylvania State University, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation from 1969 through 1973. A bridge deck on I-80 in Pennsylvania was instrumented, and complete data on the meteorological conditions and surface temperatures of both the bridge deck and the adjacent roadway were gathered during the winters of 1971-72 and 1972-73. This paper summarizes these experimental findings and suggests a method for determining an overall rating of the preferential icing potential of a bridge deck. A computer model was developed to determine the thermal response of both deck and adjacent roadway to ambient conditions. A method is described that, if one uses this model, can predict the possible formation of preferential icing on a bridge deck before it occurs and statistically determine an overall rating of the preferential icing potential of a bridge. A simple instrument package for surveying bridges for preferential icing is described.