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Examples of further measures against snow accretion on bridges and communication cables

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Examples of application to bridges, etc.

Almost no snow accretion on the snow slabs of bridges coated with HIREC (see blue area)

As a countermeasure against snow accretion, the following two conditions are essential to cause self-weight falling snow.

  1. The inclination of the painting surface is necessary (preferably 50 degrees or more)
    Snow falling angle in snow falling test
  2. An unbalanced structure such as a snow cutting board is required.
    The diagram below shows that both a Super hydrophobic material and an unbalanced structure such as a snow cutting board are required.

Principle of self-weight falling snow

HIREC to the snow cutting board + steel frame and so falls in the state of small snow
If no countermeasures are taken, it will be difficult to avoid snow accretion because the weight of the snow will balance each other.

Examples of snow measures for communication lines

" Super hydrophobic cover" that can reduce snow buildup on communication lines
Snow adheres to communication lines in areas with heavy snowfall, and when the amount of snow increases, problems such as disconnection of communication lines and damage to communication line fasteners can occur. Additionally, it is not easy to prevent snow from accumulating on communication lines, as the lines are thin.
State of snow accretion on the communication line
Super hydrophobic cover attached to communication line
Therefore, we would like to introduce an example of a "Super hydrophobic cover"* that can reduce snow buildup on communication lines.

*The lower part of Super hydrophobic cover for communication lines (made of polypropylene) has a structure that opens into two parts, and a stopper is installed on the left and right sides.

Principle of “Super hydrophobic cover for communication lines”

In the case of Super hydrophobic cover + HIREC coating, the water-repellent cover shakes in the wind and snow falls from the HIREC-coated cable.
If no countermeasures are taken, the snow will connect to each other, making it difficult to avoid snow accretion.

Features of “Super hydrophobic cover for communication lines”

The following two functions reduce the amount of snow accretion.
  1. Since almost no snow accumulates on the Super hydrophobic cover for communication lines, there are breaks in snow accumulation.
  2. The Super hydrophobic cover for communication lines is affected by the wind, causing it to sway more than it would without the cover.

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