Road Weather Management Program
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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Road Icing: Norwegian Experience and Design Practice

Abstract:

The Norwegian pavement design manuals have gradually put more emphasis on avoiding road icing. The present manual of 2005 presents possible measures and minimum requirements to prevent hazardous road icing on insulated roads EPS geofoam road block embankments. The widespread use of open-graded, unbound materials is known to create icing conditions. Until now it has however been assumed that the use of open-graded, unbound materials will not introduce hazardous winter conditions for the road user as this type of material is mainly used on high-volume roads where the winter strategy is based on keeping the surface free of ice and snow at all times. However, an increased number of insulated road sections or lightweight embankments of insulation materials has emphasized the need to design the pavements in a manner that minimizes icing hazards. This paper describes the susceptibility to road icing for different pavement types in three situations, i.e. time of the year in relation to seasons: late autumn/early winter, established winter and late winter/early spring. The ranking of the icing susceptibility of the different pavement structures will vary depending on the situation, of which the late autumn/early winter is considered a critical period for the road user. The paper describes the key measures aimed at preventing or reducing road icing. The use of dense-graded, unbound materials having a good ability to contain moisture is recommended, and the nearer the surface such materials are placed, the better. This is not always in agreement with the quality requirements for pavement materials and the need for high strength, as set out in the design manual. In most cases the knowledge of, and a conscious focus on, the hazards of icing will however lead to solutions that accommodate both requirements.

Source(s):

87th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Norway). For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2007

Author:

Refsdal, Berntsen

Keywords:


Pavement condition
Climate/Season

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