Category Archives: Maintenance Operations

Maintenance Operations

New Podcast Episodes from Talkin Winter Ops

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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.

Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads Annual Survey of State Winter Maintenance Data

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Clear Roads has published the results of their 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.

Read the full article
Maintenance Operations

Drainage 101: Understanding and Managing Drainage Issues

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Increased regulation and rising levels of precipitation have made stormwater management a more routine and time-consuming issue than in previous decades. A new resource provides guidance and best practices that will help city and county engineers, local officials and private property owners navigate the complex, often public-facing issues related to recurring drainage problems and stormwater management.

Continue reading Drainage 101: Understanding and Managing Drainage Issues →
Maintenance Operations

Winter Maintenance at the 2024 TRB Meeting

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Reposted from Clear Roads News, January 31, 2024.

Clear Roads has prepared a listing of technical sessions and posters related to winter maintenance that were presented at the 2024 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. The list includes nearly two dozen papers and posters, with links to presentation materials. The sessions covered a wide range of winter maintenance topics, including materials, equipment, technology and weather.

Download the list: Winter Maintenance at the 2024 TRB Annual Meeting

Compendiums from prior years are available on Clear Roads’ TRB Papers on Winter Maintenance page.

Environment, Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads: Winter Maintenance Research Roundup

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Check out the recent research from transportation organizations around the country:

  • Cooperative Automation Driving System (C-ADS) with Road Weather Management (RWM) with a Lane Closure, Federal Highway Administration, December 2023. Fact sheet.
  • Field Test & Evaluation of a Solar Snow Fence, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, May 2023. Research report. (Editor’s Note: Solar snow fence is now being tested by MnDOT. Subscribe to the project for continued updates.)
  • Snow Depth Retrieval with an Autonomous UAV-Mounted Software-Defined Radar, Colorado DOT, April 2023. Research report.
Go to ClearROads.org
Maintenance Operations

Advanced Data Analytics Inform Reduction of Snowplow Fuel Use

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Snowplows use substantial amounts of fuel to keep Minnesota’s winter roads safe and accessible. Reducing the fuel consumed by MnDOT’s snowplows will help the agency meet its sustainability goals and lower operating costs. In a recent study, data collected from onboard vehicle technology showed the impacts of idling and snowfall on fuel efficiency to inform the management of the agency’s snowplow fleet.

Continue reading Advanced Data Analytics Inform Reduction of Snowplow Fuel Use →
Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads: Winter Maintenance Research in Progress

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New research is underway! Learn more about some of the winter maintenance issues that Clear Roads and other transportation organizations around the country are exploring now:

  • Automating Variable Speed Limits Using Weather, Traffic, and Friction Data, Aurora Pooled Fund. Anticipated completion date: January 2025. Project description.
  • Developing a Collision Warning and Collision Avoidance System for WYDOT Snowplows, Wyoming DOT. Anticipated completion date: April 2024. Project proposal.
  • Development of a Public Service Announcement Library, Clear Roads Pooled Fund. Anticipated completion date: March 2025. Project description.
  • pH Waiver for Deicing Products and the Qualified Products List, Clear Roads Pooled Fund. Anticipated completion date: April 2025. Project description.

Clear Roads is a multi-state winter maintenance research initiative. The original article was published by Clear Roads on their website, January 4, 2024.

Maintenance Operations

Developing a Best Practices Manual for Roadway Drainage

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Ineffective drainage can lead to expensive roadway damage and decrease a pavement’s service life. New guidance will help local agencies understand drainage issues unique to their areas and provide design considerations to mitigate pavement damage resulting from moisture.

Continue reading Developing a Best Practices Manual for Roadway Drainage →