Hydronic Pavement Systems for Sustainable Winter Road Maintenance in Sweden : A Study of Hamnbacken in Visby

Sammanfattning: In countries with harsh winter climates extensive winter road maintenance is necessary to achieve traffic accessibility and road safety. These measures have high economic and environmental costs as snow free roads and winter road maintenance in Sweden today is achieved by a combination of mechanical snow clearance and the spreading of salt to prevent ice formation. The salt ends up in the roadside environment and has negative effects on groundwater and vegetation. An alternative to traditional winter road maintenance to obtain non-skid winter roads is the use of hydronic pavement(HP) systems. Existing HP systems in Sweden are powered by district heating which limits the application to urban locations. The goal is to utilize renewable energy sources such as geoenergy which can be used in both rural and urban locations. This thesis suggests Hamnbacken in Visby as a pilot project for a full-scale application of the proposed HP system using surface water source heat.The weather related road surface conditions on Hamnbacken, and the potential of a renewable energysource have been examined in this study and the proposed location has been found favourable for a HP system.