Electrifying highways, part II

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The last post in this series discussed using space solar energy for the power to run the system.

In this post, there will be a discussion about building the facility. ( Speculation alert.  I don't know all the detail to which I refer in this piece.  It is a great thought experiment, though.)

It occurred to me that to tear up existing road will be very inconvenient for motorists.  There are ways to deal with this issue, as I have seen in some reconstruction projects here in Houston.  It's still a pain in the neck.

So, why not start anew?  Then, you can tailor the facility for a purpose, which is what this idea is about.  That purpose would be a high speed facility, like an autobahn for electrically powered vehicles.  These would have to meet certain standards.  That discussion will be set aside for later.

On a trip to San Antonio recently, I noticed the new section of toll roads built between Interstate 10 and Interstate 35 on a route to Austin.  This would be Highway 130.  That gave me the idea for funding this new stretch of road between Houston and San Antonio.  Houstonians may remember how fast the Katy Freeway (I10 west of downtown) was rebuilt from 2001-2008.  This was facilitated by the local Toll Road Authority, which now operates a toll lane alongside the HOV lane that runs down the middle of the freeway.  The Toll Road Authority helped finance it as it became part of the local Toll Road system.  Such a financial scheme could be employed to build this fast turnpike lanes that would use the existing right of way between Houston and San Antonio.  It would use the median area, and thus not require any new land to be acquired.  ( I think)

Motorists would have access to it from the left lane of the mainlanes, as in the stretch in Houston as mentioned above.

The road will be located past Waller county near Houston to just east of state Highway 130 itself.

The road should be built a bit higher than the mainlanes.  This is necessary in order to drain off water from the electrified highway.  So, how to electrify it?

I've watched roads being constructed.  I've noticed that the concrete is rather thick.  That will create an opportunity to lay a cable in the center section several inches above the bed.  This concrete will be laid around the center section, which will contain the live wire.  The wire will be insulated in all directions, except from above---which will be open.  This will be necessary in order to access it from above.  The car will access it from above, that is.

So, the electrical cable will be raised above the bed onto which the concrete is poured.  There will be drain channels built into the concrete from the cable, which will drain the water in order to keep rain from shorting it out.  ( That's why it is necessary to raise it a bit in order for the water to flow downward and away from the electrified cable.) The channel should be thick enough to accommodate a cable, and not much thicker.

To power the electrical system, we don't have to use space solar.  The power can come from any method that is best.  I would suggest a LFTR design, as it would be the cheapest to operate.  Other options would include gas turbines, of which I hear are very efficient.  The use of the existing grid should be avoided.  This is a completely new facility in that respect as well.

If electricity can be produced for a dime a kilowatt hour and the toll road authority charged the usual rate for the road, plenty of money could be generated in order to retire the construction bonds.  That's how they do it here in town.  The same scheme could work elsewhere, I imagine.

The numbers for income generation appear pretty good.  With a high efficiency system, it shouldn't be too hard to make a nice profit off 10 cents a kwh.  The toll roads make enough by themselves to ensure their popularity.  The finances should work.

The motorists should like it because of the speed and the economy of electrical vehicles.  It could help with marketing battery powered vehicles because they could now be used for long distance driving.  If the idea caught on, there could be many more roads like this all over the country.  A facility like this one, if expanded coast to coast, could mean that a motorist wouldn't have to stop except to pee.  Perhaps the entire fleet could be converted to electrical operation in a couple decades.  This road could be a test bed.  Or the proposed I-69 freeway could do the trick, since it doesn't exist yet.

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