Category: Newsletters

By better understanding the time it takes a snowplow to complete one round of snow clearing and treatment of its assigned route, agencies can better adjust routes and cost-effectively allocate resources for the specific needs of a given service area.

This Clear Roads project developed a methodology for calculating plow cycle times considering road type, road width, weather conditions, traffic volume, and other factors. By using the framework for a map-based visualization tool developed as part of this project, agencies can use their own data to make real-time operational decisions

Download the final report and two-page brief: Calculating Plow Cycle Times from AVL Data, June 2024.

A standardized laboratory test is important for assessing the performance of deicers, and helping transportation agencies make informed decisions when it comes to purchasing materials for the winter season. However, ice melting tests have traditionally been difficult to perform in a repeatable, reliable manner.

This Clear Roads project identified equipment improvements and refinements to the mechanical rocker test, giving agencies a more accurate tool for evaluating deicer performance.

Download the final report and two-page brief: Standard Test Procedures for Ice Melting Capacity of Deicers, June 2024.

The Clear Roads Winter Maintenance Research study has been selected for a 2024 Transportation Pooled Fund Excellence Award! This new biennial award is only given to two pooled fund studies every other year in recognition of “meaningful collaboration and partnership to advance national transportation research priorities in the areas of safety, economic strength, equity, sustainability, and organizational excellence.”

Clear Roads will receive its award at a ceremony in July as part of the 2024 AASHTO RAC Summer meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

Congratulations to all Clear Roads members for this achievement!

Check out these recent episodes from AASHTO’s Talkin Winter Ops podcast.

Snowplow modeling or messing around? (Episode 99): Snowplow blades can be hard to test in real-world conditions. In this episode Alex Klein-Paste of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology describes his work to design and test a scale model in a laboratory setting. Podcast.

Can you see the snowplow? (Episode 98): Jeff Pifer, Director of the Equipment Division at the West Virginia Division of Highways discusses how changing a snowplow’s color and adding lights and reflective tape can make slow-moving snowplows and other maintenance vehicles easier to see. Podcast.

Where’s the snowplow? (Episode 97): When a vehicle crashes into a snowplow, the results can be dangerous and costly. In this episode, Jed Falgren, the State Maintenance Engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, discusses the innovative solutions his agency has found to reduce these types of crashes. February 27, 2024. Podcast.

Image source: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Keeping pavements in good working condition is critical throughout the year. But for many transportation agencies, decisions during the winter months regarding potholes and other repairs must be considered alongside deicing and plowing strategies.

A new synthesis report from the National Cooperative Highway Research (NCHRP) documents the variety of maintenance practices states use during the winter months and how these can affect their snow and ice decisions.

Forty states contributed to the report, including most Clear Roads member states. In fact, the practices of four Clear Roads members – Michigan, Idaho, Nevada and Pennsylvania – were included as case studies.

Read the report: Wintertime Pavement Maintenance Practices, April 2024.

Image source: Colorado Department of Transportation

A polymer overlay can extend a bridge deck’s service life by making it more waterproof and resistant to chlorides. These treatments are also known to improve surface friction, increasing skid resistance and driver safety.

While polymer overlays have many advantages over traditional concrete overlays, they tend to cost more upfront. To better understand how the treatments compare in durability and cost-effectiveness, the Montana Department of Transportation installed polymer overlays on four of the state’s bridge decks and monitored the structures’ performance for several years.

Read the report: Evaluation of Thin Polymer Overlays for Bridge Decks, December 2023

Image source: Montana Department of Transportation

We’ve published our ninth Annual Survey of State Winter Maintenance Data, which compiles winter resources, material and cost data from 41 states for the 2022-2023 winter season. The spreadsheet includes all submitted data, as well as calculated statistics, winter severity index data, and a United States map that displays many of these metrics. The spreadsheet also includes data from the previous seven surveys (winters 2014-2015 through 2021-2022) and displays averages and changes across winter periods.