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

Title:

Winter Highway Maintenance: A Look Forward

Abstract:

The field of winter maintenance has advanced significantly in the United States during the past two decades. This advance began at least partly as a result of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). From the work of SHRP grew the realization that U.S. technology in the field of winter maintenance lagged behind the technology used overseas. This realization led to two international scanning tours. The first, in 1994, visited Japan and several countries in Europe. The second, in 1998, visited additional European countries. These visits led to a renaissance of technology in the area of winter maintenance in the United States. The new technology is concentrated in a few technical areas, which may be referred to as the "low-hanging fruit." These areas promise the most benefit for the smallest investment (of both funds and human resources, in terms of training and technology transfer). Discussed in this paper are four areas in which significant advances have been made in the field of winter maintenance and in which there is potential to make significant new advances. The areas to be considered are weather forecasting; anti-icing strategies; novel tools, equipment, and techniques; and training, education, and technology transfer.

Source(s):

University of Iowa, prepared for Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Winter Maintenance

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/millennium/00146.pdf

Date: 2000

Author:

Nixon

Keywords:


Anti-icing/Deicing
Institutional issues
Weather information

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