It's no secret that roads across the U.S. tend to crumble or form potholes, but there are innovative minds at work at Michigan State University.
Students may have found a solution, with the invention of a new type of concrete. This new concrete is not only self-heating, it's self-healing, which could solve a multitude of problems we see out on the roads.
“What can I say, I have to be out on it, but they are terrible," Southfield driver Harriet Perry said of the roads.
When describing Michigan roads, you'll hear drivers use a lot of adjectives that usually are not flattering.
"Awful, not very good," Kiden Lewis said of the roads.
"Michigan roads, they are terrible right now," said Kyle Johnson.
But imagine a world where this is all fixed.
"What if I told you at MSU they have created a bendable concrete that is self-heating and self-healing?" Scripps News Group Reporter Ali Hoxie asked Judi Graber.
"That is interesting," she replied. "I would be interested to see what it is or what it does."
The concrete's bendability is also what makes it self-healing. Dr. Bill Jin is an assistant professor at MSU, specializing in environmental engineering. He said this concrete is not only unlikely to see major cracks, but it can store energy.
“The concrete can absorb energy from the sun, and then when temperatures drops, near zero, the snow comes in, it will release the heat," Dr. Jin said.
That means eliminating the need for salt, which can create corrosion on cars and cracks in roads. It can also be harmful to the environment.
Dr. Jin said this concrete is more expensive than traditional concrete, but will payoff over time.
“In terms of cost, in 60 years or 100 years service of transportation, we are very confident that we could save a lot of money during the service life," Dr. Jin said.
When I told drivers about this concrete, they were excited at the possibilities.
“Ohh that would be nice, that way we don’t have to worry about salt messing up the cars, as you can see, so yeah that would be nice," said Chuck Taylor.
"That sounds like something out of like the movies are something," Kyle said.
The next step is to test this concrete out in the real world. Dr. Jin hopes this project will inspire young minds to think outside the box.
This story was originally published by Ali Hoxie at Scripps News Detroit.
