Summers in the Tri-State Area are getting hotter. What's being done to make sure infrastructure can cope?
NEW YORK – From roads to runways, the rising temperatures are more than just uncomfortable; it's also impacting our infrastructure, so what's being done to handle the heat?
The Third Avenue Bridge required hosing down to cool it off on July 8 as temperatures in the mid-90s caused the steel to expand. It's a natural occurrence, according to the New York City Department of Transportation, but still a nuisance for drivers. NJ Transit riders' tempers flared as heat caused rail equipment issues and delays piled up in mid-July.
"It's a basic reality that things expand in the heat. And our infrastructure is designed for certain ranges, and so when we start to exceed those ranges, you stress in our transit network, our power network," said Dan Zarrilli, chief climate and sustainability officer at Columbia University.
Zarrilli says the good news is infrastructure providers are investing to adapt to our warming climate.
Con Edison preparing for a future of higher heat
Zarilli stresses the most important investment is in our power grid.
"More New Yorkers die of heat than any other natural hazard," he said.
"We are definitely looking at a future of higher heat," said Patrick McHugh, senior vice president of electric operations at Con Edison.
Con Ed crunched the numbers and released them in its Con Ed Climate Change Vulnerability Study. Currently, New York City sweats through an average of four days at 95 degrees or hotter. By 2030, that number is expected to increase to 17 days, and by 2050, 32 days.
McHugh says the utility is preparing; it's a process started in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
"We know the type of equipment in the street that is more susceptible to heat, so we are pro-actively changing out that equipment," he said.
They're installing new tech underground and new switches to minimize failures.
McHugh says upgrading never ends. He expects Con Ed to become more reliable even as demand to keep cool grows because with advancing technology, the grid will get better and better.
Can New York and New Jersey roads stand up to sizzling heat?
As traffic repeatedly pounds the pavement on sizzling days, roads can rut, a problem for both vehicular traffic and airport runways that is scrutinized at Rutgers' Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation. The goal is to customize asphalt to deny those deep grooves that lead to a bumpy ride and costly repairs.
Research Professor Tom Bennert showed CBS New York's Vanessa Murdock an asphalt pavement analyzer, which operates at 148 degrees.
"It's pretty indicative of some of these hotter weather conditions that we do get from time to time," he said.
Bennert explains samples made of 95% stone and 5% asphalt binder get put to the test. He considers the binder the "special sauce" when it comes to adapting to a warmer world. It can be modified and already has been.
"Using materials that are stiffer now than they were prior, maybe 20, 30 years ago," he said.
So our roads last longer and reject rutting during temperature extremes.