A study at the University of Surrey in the UK is evaluating if geothermal heating and cooling can help regulate the temperature of roads throughout the year, thus preventing their damage. Work has already began on a trial installation at the University’s Stag Hill campus, which will then be monitored over a number of years.
The Thermo-active Roads for Heat Harvesting and Pavement Temperature Regulation project aims to help roads better withstand extreme weather and temperatures, thus also reducing the cost and carbon footprint of highway maintenance, improving safety, and reducing the inconvenience of roadworks.
“Rather than reacting to potholes after they’ve formed, we’re asking how we can prevent them in the first place. Potholes are more than an inconvenience – they are a safety hazard; they disrupt journeys and are costly to repair. Our project will explore whether geothermal technology can help prevent that damage from happening at scale,” said Dr Benyi Cao, Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering and Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow.
A network of heat exchange pipes will be embedded under the road surface. This will absorb heat from the asphalt during the summer months and direct this feat to a 100-meter deep borehole. This heat will then be used to warm the road surface during winter. The goal is to prevent ice formation, which helps keep the roads safer and prevents damage caused by repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
By using mature technologies and readily available materials like plastic pipes and water circulation pumps, the future deployment of the heating and cooling system is both practical and affordable. Geothermal heating to prevent ice formation in roads during winter is already practiced in places like Iceland and Japan.
However, the proposed system in Surrey combines borehole thermal energy storage with heat exchange technology to make the system useful across different seasons. Through the trial deployment, researchers can gather real-world evidence of how the technology performs in UK conditions.
Source: University of Surrey
