Author: Brian Casey

Does your organization have a laboratory that tests deicing products? AASHTO re:source is looking for you!

Clear Roads is partnering with AASHTO re:source to help laboratories improve and standardize their testing protocols for winter materials used for anti-icing/deicing applications.

Through its new Proficiency Testing Program, AASHTO re:source is helping to improve the quality of test standards, materials, and technician competency at labs that evaluate solid and liquid deicing products. Once a year, AASHTO re:source provides participating laboratories with product samples to test and then scores the labs on their testing performance.

The Proficiency Testing Program is available at no cost for AASHTO member departments; the cost is $275 per year for other participating laboratories.

Read more about how to participate.

New Hampshire DOT’s study of LED snowplow lights and Iowa DOT’s investigation of self-heating electrically conductive concrete recently captured national attention as two of AASHTO’s High Value Research winners for 2022. The award recognizes the nation’s top high-value research projects as chosen by state DOT research directors in each of the four AASHTO regions.

In New Hampshire, an in-house project quantified the benefits of LED plow headlights compared with traditional halogen bulbs. The study found that the LED headlights improved operator visibility and reduced eye fatigue, and a cost-benefit analysis showed that the lights’ lower maintenance requirements led to significant cost savings compared with halogen bulbs.

In Iowa, a three-year demonstration project evaluated the performance of an electrically heated concrete system that incorporates conductive carbon fibers within the concrete mix. The concrete, which can melt snow and ice without the use of deicers, could one day be a sustainable option for icy trouble spots that are not easily cleared during winter storms.

The two projects were honored last month at the annual AASHTO Research Advisory Committee meeting. For more on these award-winning projects:

• New Hampshire DOT (Region 1): LED Snowplow Lights | Final report | One-page brief
• Iowa DOT (Region 3): Self-Heating Electrically Conductive Concrete | Final report | Two-page brief

Congratulations to all the High Value Research winners!

Image source: New Hampshire DOT

Clear Roads’ popular commercial driver’s license (CDL) training materials are in the news. An article in the August issue of APWA Reporter spotlights how agencies are using the comprehensive, step-by-step training program, which is designed to help agencies comply with new federal regulations as they train equipment operators who need to obtain or upgrade a CDL.

The free training program provides a complete curriculum for the classroom and behind-the-wheel components of CDL training, including eLearning files for use with learning management systems. Train-the-trainer resources and process guidance are provided to help agencies implement the program.

Related Resources:

• Request Clear Roads’ free CDL training materials
• More training resources from Clear Roads
• August issue of APWA Reporter

Workforce shortages are a top concern for transportation agencies across the country. With maintenance workers needed year-round to keep roads clear and safe, the No Boundaries Transportation Maintenance Innovations pooled fund program has published a new report designed to help agencies identify recruitment and retention challenges and uncover noteworthy and effective solutions.

The recently published report, No Boundaries Synthesis: Responses to Staffing Shortages, documents strategies such as apprenticeship programs that provide on-the-job training, creative outreach efforts, innovative compensation and benefits packages, and more.

In addition, the report addresses the new federal commercial driver’s license requirements, their effect on the pool of qualified applicants nationwide, and how agencies are responding.

Related Resources from Clear Roads:

• Recruitment and Retention of Highway Maintenance Workers, Clear Roads, July 2021.
• Entry-Level Driver Training (CDL) for Maintenance Equipment Operators, Clear Roads, September 2021.

Check out these recent episodes from AASHTO’s SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast:

• Introducing the Next Generation to DOTs and Highway Maintenance (Episode 63) looks at three programs designed to introduce transportation and civil engineering concepts to K-12 students, including two AASHTO programs and a Senior Seminar in Public Works and Road Maintenance from Front Range Community College. July 2022. Podcast.
• Keeping the Paperwork Flowing While the Snowplows Are Rolling at the Rhode Island DOT (Episode 62): Joe Bucci of Rhode Island DOT describes how the agency handles the administrative side of winter operations, including using a new app to streamline managing contractors. June 2022. Podcast.
• Winter Maintenance and Road Weather in Arizona (Episode 61): Kevin Duby of Arizona DOT shares how the agency manages a range of weather-related challenges. May 2022. Podcast.
• You’re Not Alone Out There: Crowdsourcing for Winter Maintenance (Episode 60): Randi Feltner of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet describes how the agency uses crowdsourced data from motorists to enhance its winter response. April 2022. Podcast.
• Modeling Road Network Conditions During Weather Events – IMRCP (Episode 59): Tony Coventry of FHWA’s Road Weather Management Program and Kyle Garrett of Synesis Partners talk about the Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction system, an emerging tool designed to help agencies model the performance of a roadway network during a weather event. March 2022. Podcast.

Finally, don’t miss this recent webinar:

• 3rd National SICOP-Maintenance Operations Briefing: SICOP and the Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group of the AASHTO Maintenance Committee present a briefing from a range of national winter maintenance, road weather, and maintenance operations groups. June 2022. Webinar.

Image source: Rhode Island DOT

Each spring, the Clear Roads Technical Advisory Committee meets to review research proposals and select new projects for funding. This year, the committee selected five projects:

• Comprehensive Guide to Pre-wetting Application Rates and Methods
• Best Management Practices for Liquid Chloride Storage and Pumping Systems
• Effects of Additives in Lowering the Freezing Point of Deicing Salts
• Evaluation of Direct Liquid Application of Salt Brine vs. Granular Salt as Measured Through Various Performance and Safety Metrics
• Use of Dashboards for Winter Operations

More information about these projects is available in the 2022 All Proposed Projects summary. Requests for investigator proposals for the new projects will be posted this summer.

The agenda, budget and minutes from the spring meeting are available on the Clear Roads Meetings page.

Image source: Oregon DOT

Liquid deicers such as salt brine and brine blends can effectively clear snow and ice while using less salt than traditional granular applications. To fully utilize this strategy, though, agencies need detailed guidance and application rates for multiple liquids across a variety of weather and pavement conditions.

Drawing from field test results and practitioner recommendations, a recent Clear Roads project developed comprehensive application guidelines for liquid deicers that address a range of pavement temperatures, temperature trends, road surface conditions and materials—including guidance for using liquids at lower temperatures.

Download the application guidelines, final report and two-page brief: Expanding Application Rate Guidance for Salt Brine Blends for Direct Liquid Application and Anti-icing, December 2021.

• Related research: Evaluation of Winter Maintenance with Salt Brine Applications in Wisconsin, Wisconsin DOT, December 2021. Study author Andrea Bill of University of Wisconsin–Madison discussed the project on a recent episode of AASHTO’s SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast.

Have a successful winter maintenance practice that could help others? Share your knowledge at the 2023 North American Snow Conference. Organizers are looking for public works professionals to lead the conference’s education sessions to help their colleagues more effectively manage winter operations.

The 2023 conference will feature presentations on the following aspects of winter operations: information management, innovative solutions, leadership and workforce solutions, materials application, fleet and equipment management, and planning and operations. Presentations should emphasize practical applications and leading-edge technologies and approaches.

The deadline to submit presentation proposals is August 19, 2022, and the conference will be held April 16-19, 2023, in Omaha, Nebraska. The annual conference is hosted by the American Public Works Association.

For more information, visit the conference’s Call for Presentations page.

Designed to allow a plow operator to clear more snow in a single pass, accessory plows like Tow Plows and wing plows have the potential to provide efficiencies in terms of plow cycle time, labor and equipment allocation, operating costs, increased level of service, and more.

A recent Clear Roads project is helping agencies quantify where adding accessory plows will have the greatest impact. Through a spreadsheet-based decision support tool, agencies can compare plowing efficiencies and life cycle costs of different snowplow types for specific plow routes. Learn more and download the tool:

• Decision support tool (.xls) and user’s guide (.ppt, 137MB)
• Best Practices Guide, final report and two-page brief

Image source: Caltrans