During the first five winters of operation, there have been five icing incidents on the Veteran’s Glass City Skyway (VGCS). In these incidents, large pieces of ice have fallen from the stay cables onto the roadway and traffic. Bridges of similar construction were investigated as to the use of de-icing technologies. Most were shutting down a select few were making efforts to combat the ice, such as the Svinesund Bridge in Sweden.
Based on Charles Ryerson’s report for the off-shore oil industry (Ryerson, 2009) and input from the research team a technology matrix has been assembled. Based on Kathleen Jones’ report for the research team on the weather conditions during the four incidents (Jones, 2010), lists the conditions in the report as fog, rain, freezing rain, and snow.
February 20, 2011 presented the opportunity to observe the icing event up close. The event lasted from Sunday night to Thursday morning February 24, 2011. Data was gathered on the ice and weather conditions, utilizing field verification and the ice dashboard.