Winters in Edmonton are long and cold, and a road there has to cope with ground that freezes deep and then thaws unevenly in spring. Frozen soil under pavement can heave, and as it thaws, it loses strength, so engineers in cold regions look for ways to keep frost away from the soil that supports a road. Meanwhile, scrap tyres accumulate in large numbers, and burning coal for electricity leaves a residue called bottom ash that has to be put somewhere. Researchers at the University of Alberta set out to test whether both materials could go into a single road. They built one that reports its own condition through sensors embedded in the pavement.
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