Information Helps Schedule Operations Year-Round
Up-to-date weather and pavement information helps keep construction and winter maintenance on schedule in Texas.
The Challenge
Weather conditions play a significant role in the Texas Department of Transportation's (DOT) operations throughout the year. In winter, storms can bring freezing rain, sleet, and snow to parts of the State, creating unsafe travel conditions. In warmer seasons, the weather dictates when some construction work can proceed. To schedule these operations, Texas DOT needs up-to-date information on the weather conditions.
To collect this information, several Texas DOT districts have implemented road weather information systems (RWIS). The technology, which was evaluated under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), uses a series of sensors to monitor weather conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, and pavement conditions, such as temperature and moisture.
Putting the Technology to the Test
Since 1990, the DOT's Dallas, Lubbock, and Amarillo districts have installed RWIS stations. The Abilene district will install RWIS unit this year as part of a study of the technology.
In most areas, the primary use of RWIS data is in determining when and where winter maintenance crews, equipment, and materials are needed.
"The pavement condition and weather prediction information have been a great help to highway operations supervisors," says Thomas Bohuslav of Texas DOT. "All the data now available to them gives them a much higher degree of certainty about scheduling maintenance crews and predicting the need for materials and machinery." Bohuslav adds, "Efficiency has increased. There's no doubt about it."
What They Learned
By improving the efficiency of winter maintenance operations, the RWIS system helps Texas DOT's districts save money. In the Amarillo district, says Bohuslav, "officials say they definitely have saved money since installing and implementing their RWIS. From the cost savings of materials, equipment, and labor during the first two or three storms, they indicated that the RWIS installations already had paid for themselves."
The RWIS stations are also useful when roads are being built or repaired, particularly in the Dallas district, says Bohuslav. "Construction operations, such as placing asphalt pavements and pouring concrete, can be very weather dependent," he says. "The data provided by RWIS frequently are used to aid in the scheduling of construction work."
DOT researchers are now evaluating the use of RWIS sensors to warn motorists when flash floods close roads. Flash flooding, a frequent occurrence during summer thunderstorms in parts of the State, can quickly make low-lying roads impassable. Texas DOT plans additional research to determine the interconnectivity of different vendors' systems. The DOT ultimately plans to integrate each district into a statewide network.
The Benefits
The RWIS stations in Texas have
- Reduced winter maintenance costs for some districts.
- Improved service for motorists during winter storms.
- Improved the scheduling of highway construction work.
