HOLLAND, Mich. – Have you heard about the “Snowmelt System”? There’s a city in the state of Michigan that doesn’t need to plow its roads when the snow comes.
Michigan is one of the snowiest places in the United States, thanks to the lake effect. It’s partly why one of our state’s nicknames is the Winter Wonderland.
But there’s one place in the state where residents don’t have to worry about shoveling. They don’t need to worry about salt. They haven’t since 1988.
Holland, on the state’s west side, is known for its Dutch heritage, the Tulip Time Festival, its many churches, the Big Red Lighthouse, and the world’s largest pickle factory. But beyond the delight of fermented cucumbers, there’s something else that makes the city great: roughly five miles of snow-free streets and sidewalks.
The Snowmelt System
Inspired by similar systems in Europe, in the late 1980s, the city installed underground pipes that circulate warm water under the streets and sidewalks. Currently, there are roughly 190 miles of 3/4″ pipes pumping 5,500 gallons of 95-degree Fahrenheit water per minute. It’s a closed system using hot water from the Holland Energy Park before returning to a cooling tower. It can melt one inch of snow per hour at 20 degrees and 10 mph winds.
Since being installed in the 1980s, Snowmelt has expanded to a few areas outside of its downtown and now includes the market area, the Civic Center, the sidewalks to the Herrick District Library and more.
It’s the largest municipal snowmelt system in North America and the city said they have the capacity to support a system much larger than its current size, so there might be more expansions in the future.
Now, can we get them to figure out how to make it so I don’t have to rake anymore?
