Ground source heat pumps could prevent potholes
Ground source heat pumps are being proposed as a solution to roads that melt in the summer and potholes formed after freezing and thawing in the winter.
To this end, Surrey University’s Dr Benyi Cao has been awarded an £800,000 research fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering to lead a project that aims to improve how major UK roads are maintained and upgraded.
Dr Cao will work with National Highways to trial the use of ground source heat pumps to cool roads in summer and warm them in winter. The study will also support National Highways’ net zero plan, which aims to make road maintenance net zero by 2040.
In a statement, Dr Cao, a lecturer in the School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, said: “At the moment, a typical motorway or A-road surface lasts 20 years, but this is likely to reduce as extreme weather increases. However, by regulating the temperature of road surfaces, they should last significantly longer. Aside from the safety benefits and reduction to car damage, think of the reduction in expensive, inconvenient roadworks.”
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