Winter operations
Iowa faces some of the worst winters in the country, so it is vital that airports ensure operations run smoothly.
plough. And though the airport is yet to introduce the pavements more broadly, there is robust evidence for their financial viability too. Quite apart from consigning expensive ploughs to the scrapyard, conductive pavements can keep an airport open even in brutal conditions. Given a single delayed flight can cost over $90,000, that’s nothing to be sniffed at.
On a related note, Ceylan is keen to highlight the broader economic benefits of his system. “Major hubs have 50,000 light fixtures, but none of them actually complete their life as expected,” he says. “Most of them fail prematurely because of the corrosion associated with the use of the de-icing chemicals.” Together with the fact that asphalt loses 20% of its lifespan to the same chemicals, it doesn’t take a financial genius to understand how economical removing them from the equation could be. And though both experts agree that their pavements have great financial strengths, their invention makes them see green in other ways too. Without poisons to leak, and only needing to be a few degrees warmer than the freezing temperatures in the air, it’s understandable why Ceylan would describe his pavements as “a much smarter, efficient and safe system to deal with winter events”.
Midwest is best
$900,000 The cost of each of the ten snow ploughs operated by Des Moines International Airport.
We Are Iowa Local 5 News 34
Des Moines has so far dedicated a small corner of its airport to electrically conductive concrete heated pavements, but there are hints the technology could soon explode across Iowa and beyond. In the Hawkeye State itself, for instance, Ceylan is working with partners at the Iowa Department of Transportation to test the pavements on a larger scale. The trial’s already been going on for a couple of years, and Ceylan reports it’s “been performing really well”. Over in New Jersey, meanwhile, Brynick has started work perfecting the pavements, particularly when it comes
to using so-called ‘superhydrophobic’ coatings. In Brynick’s laconic telling, that’s a “big word for saying coatings which repel liquids” – and could one day herald a world where melted snow and ice is cleared from the runway even faster. This is shadowed by efforts to make the pavements more environmentally friendly, with Brynick and his colleagues working to add recycled asphalt to the mix.
At the same time, administrators are clearly eager to explore the practical utility of electrically conductive pavements. At Des Moines International, Bryan Belt, the airport’s director of engineering and planning, has suggested they could be helpful in clearing areas near the gates and terminal, where ground staff and equipment have to move around quickly. Brynick, for his part, hints they could improve conditions for the flying machines themselves. As long as a pavement is turned on early, giving it time to heat up, he suggests that “safety concerns” around sliding aircraft could soon be a thing of the past. It goes without saying, too, that electric pavements might yet proliferate far beyond the airport gates. As Ceylan’s work with Iowa’s Department of Transport implies, roads and bridges are just one focus. When it comes to airports, moreover, this flurry of activity clearly isn’t limited to Iowa or the Midwest. Ceylan, for instance, has received enthusiastic messages from Swedavia Airports in Scandinavia. The technology has also been picked up by organisations as varied as NBC’s Today Show and the American Concrete Paving Association. Ultimately, Ceylan claims interest in his technology can be understood by conducting a straightforward cost-benefit analysis. “The benefits associated with this technology definitely outweigh the costs,” he says. “The cost-benefit ratio is sometimes as high as 2.0.” Certainly, the days of the de-icer and the snow plough seem plundered, and the bitter Iowa winter might soon feel a little less cold. ●
Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com
Alexey Lesik /
Shutterstock.com
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