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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

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Title:

Efficacy and Economic Efficiency for Thawing Agents Spray Systems

Abstract:

With a length of 6 km, the thawing agents spray system (TMS) used on the A45 (Sauerland line) is the longest installed in Germany. The system is located at an altitude ranging between 285 and 412 m above mean sea level and in a climatically critical area, where in winter the road surface conditions may change very quickly due to very quick changes from rain to snow and/or from positive to negative temperatures. After the installation of this system, the number of accidents on the equipped road section and due to winter road conditions was reduced by more than 50%. A dramatic reduction of 85% could be observed for accidents with light injuries. Accidents leading to light material damage could be reduced by 60%, whereas accidents with heavy material damage could only be reduced by 25%. Assuming that the reduction of the number of accidents is a consequence of the TMS installation, the cost-benefit analysis shows that the system works cost efficiently. The survey has proven the profitability of the spray system using dew agents.

Source(s):

Research Institute for Roads and Road Traffic (Germany)

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/Publications/GermanAnti-icingReport.pdf

Date: 1993

Author:

Gladbach

Keywords:


Benefit/cost
Crashes
Safety
Winter maintenance

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