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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

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Title:

Climate Control: Creating its own Weather Forecasting and Data Collection System is Helping the Wisconsin DOT Pinpoint Winter Road Maintenance Needs

Abstract:

This article describes Wisconsin DOT's RWIS. In 1985, WisDOT developed a prototype statewide forecasting system, the RWIS, which includes remote processing units that measured local pavement and atmospheric conditions and a weather forecast supplied by a vendor. In 1995, the RWIS was upgraded to meet the needs of each country and to increase the efficiency of road maintenance activities. The 1995 upgraded RWIS addressed some of the problems operators had with the prototype system, such as unreliable forecasts, slow or unavailable forecast delivery systems, inadequate weather system training for road supervisors and a lack of full-time RWIS oversight. As RWIS continues to gain acceptance, WisDOT expects to see increased acceptance of emerging anti-icing technologies and, eventually, a decrease in overall winter maintenance costs.

Source(s):

Civil Engineering, August 1998 issue, Wisconsin DOT. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 1998

Author:

Martinelli, Adams

Keywords:


Forecast/Prediction
Road weather information system (RWIS)
Winter maintenance
Mobile sensing
Pavement temperature
Institutional issues

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