Tags: HDPE Piping, Project
Who’s thinking about snow in the middle of July?
The team from The Macomb Group is doing just that, as they work through a project this summer focused on supplying equipment, materials, and training for a hydronic sidewalk snow melt system now being expanded in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan.
According to Troy Taylor, sales representative for The Macomb Group’s Fusion Division, the company is working with mechanical contractors to supply fusion machinery and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping for the municipally funded melt system expansion.
The hydronic snow melt system uses a centralized boiler to heat and pump a closed-loop water and antifreeze mixture through the flexible HDPE piping. Contractors lay out the tubing in a grid pattern at the base of the under-construction sidewalk before pouring the concrete.
Taylor said this expansion project required approximately 400 feet of materials.
According to the news source MLive, Kalamazoo’s master plan recommends all new downtown development projects to include snow melt sidewalk systems, which reduce the need for plowing and shoveling in the winter and make the downtown more pedestrian-friendly. The plan takes inspiration from the Michigan city of Holland, which attracted private investment after putting forward more than $8 million of its own money into the largest publicly owned snow melt system in the country.
This isn’t the first snow melt system that The Macomb Group has been involved with.
“Our experienced hydronic team has worked on many sidewalk snow melt projects to help cities and building owners reduce winter maintenance and provide pedestrians a clear and safe path,” Taylor said.
To learn more about The Macomb Group’s products and capabilities, for snow melting, or any other mechanical or PVF project, please visit www.macombgroup.com.
