After several years of research and development, an automatic road de-icing system, Project TMS 2000, has been installed in Lausanne, Switzerland. This article discusses what advantages it has over manual de-icing solutions. The project is based on a main salt solution storage system, located and managed by the Motorway Maintenance Centre at Blecherette. The station is equipped with four tanks, each with a capacity of 12,000 litres and pumps salt solution to eight 2000 litre substations along the motorway. Each substation has an electronic control, a monitoring system, and one or two electronically activated salt circulation pumps. These pumps supply chambers on or near the carriageways, which spray the salt solution in pulses on to de-icing plates in or near the road surface. Using data distributed by 27 ice detectors, the system spreads the salt solution exactly when and where it is required; it can also be controlled manually. To clarify some uncertainties about the system, a full-scale trial was conducted on a section of porous asphalt laid in 1994; as a result, it was decided to install de-icing plates every 12m along the right-hand edge of the fast lane. It activated before snowflakes start to fall, the system will prevent snow from adhering on the carriageway, and the formation of sheets of black ice.
Abstract