Abstract
Transportation infrastructures suffer major damage from ice and snow each year, negatively affecting the U.S. economy. Bridges, a key element of the transportation network, are the most vulnerable to impairment from ice and snow. The conventional snow and ice removal system (CSRS) is not a satisfactory solution, as it causes additional problems relating to the acceleration of bridge deck corrosion, motorist safety, travel delays, and environmental damages. In an attempt to provide a sustainable, economically viable alternative, this research performed a scenario-based life-cycle cost-benefit analysis (LCCBA) of the geothermal heat pump de-icing system (GHDS). The results of the analysis show that the benefits of the GHDS outweigh its cost. In addition, the output of a sensitivity analysis, using the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS), indicates that traffic flow enhancement is the most dominant variable affecting the overall result. For a daily traffic volume of 24,000 vehicles, the benefits are estimated to be 2.32 times greater than the costs, with 95% reliability. The analysis output demonstrates that the application of the GHDS is economically viable for bridges with a minimum daily traffic volume of 7000 vehicles.
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