Blake Higgins
Brandon Larson Albrecht Blvd. Heated Sidewalks
Dan Leidner
Introduction
The sidewalks along both sides of Albrecht Blvd. on
the NDSU campus pose serious safety risks to
pedestrians using them. The snow and ice buildup
during winter months makes the sidewalks slippery
and increase the likelihood of falls on the
walkways. A heated sidewalk would benefit both
the university's students, professors that walk on
them, as well as the campus maintenance crews
due to the lack of maintenance required on the
updated sidewalks.
Why Heated Sidewalks?
• 80% of surveyed students have witnessed a fall
on NDSU campus sidewalks
• 70% of surveyed students have fallen on the
sidewalks themselves
• The high rate of falling, combined with heavy
traffic and older professors navigating the
sidewalks demands safety measures to be
taken
• Albrecht Blvd is one of the sidewalks on
campus with the highest traffic, connecting
educational halls, dining centers, parking lots,
and resident dormitories
Proposed design
Features
• Maintenance-free sidewalks year round
• Individually controlled sections
• Automatic timing system
• Manual override
Constraints
• City of Fargo sidewalk codes
• Existing drainage issues
• Cost
Cost Analysis
Initial Costs
• $650,000 for demolition of 1 mile of
existing sidewalk and replacement with
new heated cement path
• Maximum annual heat cost of $100,000
Sustainment Plan
• An additional $10 a semester per student
would raise $264,000 a year
• Once paid off the additional fee would
drop to $4 a semester: totaling $105,000
annually
Alternative Option
• Reduce project to one side of Albrecht Blvd
and reduce cost by 50%
Conclusion
As a student focused university, it is important to
highly prioritize students' safety on campus. The
current system of pedestrian walkways is unsafe,
and a tremendous improvement would be
installing heated sidewalks on sections of campus
with high foot traffic. Although it only fixes the
problem on one street, beginning the process of
improving campus sidewalks will be a huge step
forward for NDSU.