How Holland’s downtown snowmelt works: 190 miles of tubing, power-plant waste heat and no plows on Eighth Street

HOLLAND, Mich. — When lake-effect snow buries the rest of West Michigan, downtown Holland’s Eighth Street usually stays wet and clear. The reason is under the pavement.

Since 1988, the Holland Board of Public Works snowmelt system has used waste heat from power generation to warm water that circulates through about 190 miles of tubing beneath downtown streets and sidewalks, according to the City of Holland. The system pumps more than 4,700 gallons of water per minute at 95 degrees and can melt about 1 inch of snow per hour at 20 degrees Fahrenheit with 10 mph winds, the city says.

Where the heat comes from. The heat comes from the BPW’s Holland Energy Park, a natural gas power plant. Warm water from the plant is used to heat the snowmelt loop instead of being wasted, the BPW says.

A closed loop. The system circulates the same water over and over. Before 2016 it drew water from Lake Macatawa; it now uses potable water, which the city says carries less sediment and should reduce wear on valves.

How big. The system has been expanded several times, to the farmers market area at the Civic Center, the sidewalks to Herrick District Library and the ramps to the Seventh Street parking deck. It now covers about 690,000 square feet of public streets and sidewalks, which the city calls the largest publicly owned snowmelt system in North America. Another 190,000 square feet of private systems are heated with water from city snowmelt mains.

What it means for visitors. No salt, no plowing and fewer slips, the city says. That makes winter events such as Dutch Winterfest and the indoor farmers market easier to reach on foot. The city posts live downtown cameras and a printable snowmelt map on its website.

Sources:
City of Holland, “Snowmelt System” (1988 start, 190 miles of tubing, flow, temperature, melt rate, potable water since 2016, 690,000 sq. ft., expansions), https://cityofholland.com/879/Snowmelt-System
Holland Board of Public Works, “How We Generate Electricity” (Holland Energy Park, waste heat), https://www.hollandbpw.com/en/how-it-works
Photo: BenHerrera1979, “Downtown Holland, Michigan .jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Holland%2C_Michigan_.jpg

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Tags: Holland · Snowmelt · Holland BPW · Downtown Holland · Winter