An area company is getting a chance to prove it might have a better idea for keeping ice and snow off bridges.
It says its product makes the roads safer, saves money on road maintenance and even contributes to the power grid.
The state is replacing hundreds of bridges considered old and getting unsafe. Pave Guard Technologies of Lee’s Summit has landed a $200,000 Missouri Department of Transportation contract to install its system next year on two of those new bridges, both on Missouri 10 in the Excelsior Springs area.
“It’s a big deal in terms of what it will do for the future,” said the company’s president and CEO, Corey McDonald. The federal government will be watching those two projects, and McDonald said some other states are showing interest, too.
Here’s how it works: The company installs a series of pipes beneath the pavement on a bridge. Solar energy is used to warm a liquid antifreeze, and that starts flowing when the temperature falls to 38 degrees. The liquid keeps the road surface above the freezing mark. Solar panels produce electricity, which powers the system.
But since the system is only needed to keep the bridge free of ice and snow for limited, specific times, most the electricity produced is sold to the area’s power grid, meaning the government actually pockets a few dollars. The system produces electricity from the sun every day, McDonald said.
“That’s what gives the system a payback,” he said.
Bridges, being more exposed to the cold air of winter, tend to ice up more quickly than other roadways, and that sometimes catches drivers off guard. Also, the chemicals and heavy equipment used to clear snow and ice take a toll on the pavement, so this system should reduce wear and tear.
Generating electricity and cutting wear and tear are both positives for the taxpayer, McDonald says, adding that if the system were in place now across the area, lives and money would be saved.
The company also can install the system for homes and businesses, clearing sidewalks, driveways and parking lots. With tax incentives and accelerated depreciation, a company can get 115 percent of its investment back in six years, McDonald said.
McDonald calls it “perfect timing” that his company is stepping up as interest in green technology is rising, backed by increased government incentives. He wants to be a player in this part of the country as those technologies take off.
