# Experimental Study on Ice Melting of Bridge Tower Crossbeams under Different Conditions  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Civil Engineering and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China;  
1 [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Z.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (L.X. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (W.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Q.M.) [PERSON]  
1 College of Civil Engineering and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China;  
1 [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Z.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (L.X. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (W.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Q.M.) [PERSON]  
2 Institute of Foundation Engineering, China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013, China;  
2 [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Correspondence: [EMAIL_ADDRESS])  
[PERSON]  
1 College of Civil Engineering and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China;  
1 [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Z.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (L.X. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (W.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Q.M.) 2 Institute of Foundation Engineering, China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013, China;  
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[PERSON] from Chang'an University [4] conducted research on built-in carbon fiber ice-melting pavement. She used the method of built-in carbon fiber heating wires in this experiment and embedded the carbon fiber heating wires during the process of pouring pavement concrete. Subsequently, she analyzed the external environment's temperature and wind speed. Multiple factors were found to have an effect, such as laying spacing of the fibers affecting the surface temperature of the built-in carbon fiber ice-melting pavement. The built-in carbon fiber bridge pylon beam used in this study is not exactly the same as the heat transfer inside the concrete of the built-in carbon fiber pavement, and thus this study is different from others in the literature because the research objects are different, and it needs to be studied separately. At present, domestic and foreign research on bridge de-icing is mainly focused on the bridge deck and rarely applied to the bridge tower beams. This is due to the great height of the bridge tower beams, for which bridge deck salt or mechanical de-icing and other conventional methods are not feasible. Currently, the active bridge deck de-icing methods are conductive concrete, geothermal methods, electric heating methods, and various other ways. The conductive concrete method constitutes mixing steel fiber [5], carbon fiber [6; 7], graphene [8], and other conductive materials into the concrete so that the concrete has a certain conductivity. At the same time, due to its own resistance, the concrete can generate a certain amount of heat to melt the ice and snow after being energized. However, over time and with frequency of use, the steel fiber will rust, resulting in a decrease in electrical conductivity [9], which will consume more electrical energy in the heating process. In addition, the method has a limited effect when applied to bridge tower crossbeams. The geothermal method [10; 11; 12; 13] involves the installation of heat transfer tubes inside the road concrete, using liquid as the circulating medium, to transfer heat energy from the ground to the road surface for de-icing [14; 15]. However, the equipment and methods used to exploit geothermal energy are complex; furthermore, the bridge tower beams are high, and the heat loss from the heat transfer pipes leads to a significant compromise in ice melting [16]. The electric heating method is a simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly de-icing method that uses electricity as the energy source and a carbon fiber heating line [17] as the heat generator to convert electrical energy into thermal energy.