Tag Archives: Clear Roads

Environment, Maintenance Operations, Research

Beyond the border: Canadian studies consider permeable pavement, climate change impacts on deicing operations

Leave a comment

Reprinted from MnLTAP News, November 17, 2025

The 2025 Salt Symposium highlighted two studies from Canada, one comparing salt applications on permeable and asphalt surfaces and another considering the impact of climate change on municipal operations. Hosted by Bolton & Menk, the August 5 Salt Symposium brought together professionals from throughout the world to share research, projects, and approaches for chloride management.

Continue reading Beyond the border: Canadian studies consider permeable pavement, climate change impacts on deicing operations →
Maintenance Operations, Research

New Clear Roads Research: Understanding the Effects of Deicer Additives

Leave a comment

Originally published in Clear Roads News April 7, 2025

items used in the freezing point determination test (ASTM D1177)
Items used in the freezing point determination test (ASTM D1177)

Combining road salt with common additives such as corrosion inhibitors, anticaking agents, cold temperature modifiers, thickeners and friction enhancers can increase the effectiveness of the deicer, allowing it to work more quickly or remain on the pavement longer.

To determine how well mixed salt products perform at lower temperatures and inform transportation agencies’ winter maintenance decisions, this Clear Roads project tested eight solids and prewet solids to evaluate the influence of additives on chloride-based deicer performance, including the freezing point or eutectic temperature, ice-melting capacity using the rocker test and pavement friction.

Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 22-03 – Effects of Additives in Deicing Salts at Lower Temperatures, February 2025.

Maintenance Operations, Research

New Clear Roads Research: Dashboards for Improving Winter Operations

Leave a comment

From Clear Roads, March 5, 2025

Transportation agencies collect vast amounts of data about their winter operations. Dashboards can help to summarize the information, measure performance, inform decision-making during winter weather events and improve planning for future storms.

This Clear Roads project examined the use of dashboards among transportation agencies to assess current strategies and identify innovative and effective practices. The results offer guidance to transportation agencies that are considering implementing or expanding their dashboard use to enhance winter maintenance operations.

Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 22-05 – Use of Dashboards for Winter Operations, December 2024.

Research

Clear Roads’ National Survey Compiles Tenth Year of Winter Maintenance Data

Leave a comment
US map

Clear Roads has just published its tenth Annual Survey of State Winter Maintenance Data, which compiles winter resources, material and cost data from 41 states for the 2023-2024 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 nine surveys (winters 2014-2015 through 2022-2023) and displays averages and changes across winter periods.

Reprinted from Clear Roads, February 5, 2025

Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads: Winter Maintenance Research Roundup

Leave a comment

New from clearroads.org on December 11, 2024

  • Performance of Ultra-Thin Bonded Wearing Course (UTBWC) During Winter Snow Ice Events in Maryland, Maryland DOT, August 2024. Research Summary.
  • ODOT‘s Snow and Ice Performance Evaluation Tools, Ohio DOT, August 2024.
  • Development of the Nebraska Department of Transportation Winter Severity Index – Phase II, Nebraska DOT, May 2024. Final Report.
  • Evaluation of Methods for UDOT Brine Tank Condition Assessment, Utah DOT, January 2024. Final Report.
Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads: Training Module Development for Evaluation of Storm Severity Index and Winter Severity Index Variables

Leave a comment

Reprinted from Clear Roads News November 27, 2024

Clear Roads project 18-03, Evaluation of SSI and WSI Variables, produced a step-by-step guide and flowchart tool to help agencies identify or develop severity index methods to fit their needs and available data sources.

As estimating the impact of weather on roadway maintenance resources is becoming an increasingly important issue for agencies across the country, a recently completed Clear Roads project, 21-04, Training Module Development for Evaluation of Storm Severity Index and Winter Severity Index Variables, produced additional training modules geared toward three key audiences: division directors, snow and ice managers, and supervisors.

Incorporating audiovisual materials, discussion topics, and interactive exercises, the training modules will help practitioners design and develop indexes to suit their agency’s particular needs.

Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 21-04 – Training Module Development for Evaluation of Storm Severity Index and Winter Severity Index Variables, July 2024.

Resources

Maintenance Operations, Research

Best Practices for Protecting Equipment from Chemical Deicer Corrosion

Leave a comment

Reprinted from Clear Roads News, October 2, 2024

In 2015, Clear Roads project 13-04 published a Manual of Best Practices to compile the various products agencies use as well as guidance for preventing corrosion on highway maintenance equipment.

Continue reading Best Practices for Protecting Equipment from Chemical Deicer Corrosion →
Maintenance Operations, Research

Clear Roads Featured at National Briefing

Leave a comment

September 4, 2024
Reprinted from Clear Roads News

Last month, AASHTO’s Winter Weather Management Technical Services Program, Maintenance Committee and Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group jointly held its 5th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather to showcase the activities of the various organizations dedicated to winter and year-round transportation maintenance.

Continue reading Clear Roads Featured at National Briefing →
Maintenance Operations, Research

New Clear Roads Research: Tools to Maximize Snowplowing Efforts

Leave a comment

Reprinted from Clear Roads News, July 3, 2024.

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.