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

Title:

Effectiveness of Alternative Chemicals for Snow Removal on Highways

Abstract:

This paper describes an empirical study aimed at quantifying and comparing the effectiveness of several alternative chemicals for snow and ice control under specific weather, site and traffic conditions. Data collected from a large scale field test are used in this analysis, involving measurements on snow cover, weather and pavement conditions, and treatment operations at 10-minute intervals over 16 snow storms. The paper details a case-by-case comparison of several alternative chemical treatments including dry salt and salt pre-wetted with different agents. A set of statistical models are developed and used to explain the effects on snow melting trend of various weather and treatment factors.

Source(s):

85th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting; University of Waterloo and Ontario Ministry of Transportation (Canada). For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2006

Author:

Fu, Perchanok, Sooklall

Keywords:


Anti-icing/deicing
Winter maintenance
Snow
Pavement conditions

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