A Real-time Warning System Empowered by Dielectric Ice Sensors for Bridges

More than 70 percent of the roadways in the United States are in areas affected by winter weather. Accidents on the roads because of winter weather account for over 7,000 fatalities and over 1 million accidents annually in the U.S. alone. Studies show that there is a significant increase in accidents due to icy road conditions.

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 239: A Real-time Warning System Empowered by Dielectric Ice Sensors for Bridges details a novel real-time active ice warning system for bridge decks. The system includes a sensor that uses the dielectric constant of the surface media to determine the pavement surface condition by time domain reflectometry (TDR).