Installation of an automatic anti-icing system is to begin in November on a bridge being built near Erie, Pa., and state officials say they hope to access its sensors' data through the Internet to help manage ice on other roadways nearby.

(Photo courtesy of Boschung Co.)

Pavement sensors will track atmospheric, surface and traffic conditions and trigger the system, from Marcel Boschung Co. Ltd., Schmitten, Switzerland,

The 1,106-ft-long, four-lane concrete deck will be fitted with sensors, pumps, valves, fluid lines, control circuits and 51 spray discs supplied by three 1,700-gallon tanks. Traffic Solutions Inc., New Castle, Pa., has a $1-million contract for installation.

 

to spray anti-icing solutions. Several states have retrofitted bridges to test the system but Boschung says this is the first in North America designed to incorporate it.