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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

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Title:

Fixed Automated Spray Technology for Winter Maintenance: The State of the Practice in North America

Abstract:

The Fixed Automated Spray Technology (FAST) is an important tool for anti-icing at key locations. In addition to anti-icing operations through motor vehicles, FAST enables winter maintenance personnel to treat potential conditions before snow and ice problems arise. Such tools, coupled with road weather information systems (RWIS) and reliable weather forecasts, promote the paradigm shift from being reactive to proactive in fighting winter storms. Conducted through the NCHRP Project 20-7/Task 200, this paper synthesizes information obtained from a comprehensive literature review and agency surveys on the state of the practice of FAST systems. Experience with FAST systems in North America and Europe has revealed a mixed picture. On the one hand, several studies have indicated reductions in mobile operations costs and significant reductions in crash frequency, resulting in favorable benefit-cost ratios. On the other hand, there have been a variety of problems related to activation frequency, system maintenance and training. On balance, North American transportation agencies consider FAST to be an evolving technology, and are not planning significant new installations of FAST in the near future. Installing a FAST system is complex and the challenges are often site-specific, and difficulties seem to be expected during the operations, particularly in areas related to software, system activation, and the pumping system. However, the evaluations cited show that FAST systems can be cost-beneficial if their locations are carefully chosen and if the system is supported with reliable environmental sensors.

Source(s):

86th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Montana State University, Western Transportation Institute. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2007

Author:

Shi, El Ferradi, Strong

Keywords:


Winter maintenance
Benefit/cost
Snow
Ice/Frost
Benefits
Costs
Benefit/Cost
Institutional issues

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