STUDY ON THE PREVENTION OF SNOW AND ICE ACCRETION ON ROAD STRUCTURES

Road structures include those parts that span the entire road width or cover traffic lanes, such as upper chord members of arch/truss bridges, and entrances of snow shed and tunnels. In cold and snowy Hokkaido, snow and ice accrete to these parts and, due to traffic vibration and/or a rise in temperature, may subsequently fall, potentially causing accidents and injuries. In recent years, various measures have been incorporated into the design of road structures to help prevent accident and injuries from occurring. Although snow removal operations are undertaken, snow that has accreted to the higher parts of bridges is extremely difficult to remove. In this paper, the findings of the observation of snow and ice accretion on bridges will be described and cases of measure to prevent snow and ice accretion on bridges attempted in the past and well as the results will be discussed. Also, important points for the prevention of snow and ice accretion will be proposed based on the results of outdoor experiments.