And the first crack in the pavement causes the coil to break and fail and leaves you with an expensive repair bill or an icy road when you least expect it. . .

this is an idea I'm really in agreement with.

http://www.warmzone.com/SnowMelting.php

In addition to the cost of installing and maintaining the system, there is also the cost of supplying the energy to it. IMO it likely would be just as cheap to keep our existing winter road maintenance methods and equipment.

Well i have these kind of road, the cost in energy is small, because it cosumes 60W and in 15 min there is no more ice on a lenght of 5 meters.

Has for the problem regarding on cracks the coil is situated in an aluminium pipeline under 10 centimeters of tar and in case of malfunction can be pulled out and replaced in one hour, yes of course it can happen that there might be some problems.

So, Taurus, you are proposing an idea that has already been implemented some place on the planet???? Grand . . . Just what we need, people asking WHY we do NOT have something that has already been invented.

You and Pepindia need to share notes.

If the question is why it is not on every road on the face of the Earth the easy answer is "cost".

The harder question is, " Why do we need it?"

At the risk of sounding like a prick, I have to ask, "Have you ever heard the term, "Winter driving conditions?""

Where I am I see snow from October to May. That the roads ice up is , well, normal. That the roads are icy once in a while is, well, expected.

It ain't that big of deal . . .

Except for the cross section of the population that has a genetic deficiency that prevents them from observing that the road conditions aren't "July".Is this who we really want to save?