Weather System Saves Money and Improves Service
Accurate weather and pavement condition reports are helping to determine the best strategy for keeping roads safe and clear during winter storms in the Kansas City area.
The Challenge
Deciding how many crews to send out for plowing and anti-icing operations, to which locations, and when is not easy for highway maintenance chiefs. The answer is real-time, site-specific reports of pavement and weather conditions and predictions of how road conditions will be affected by forecasted changes in the weather. Getting those reports has, until recently, been difficult. The Missouri Department of Transportation (DOT) turned to a road weather information system (RWIS) for help. Evaluated and enhanced under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), RWIS technology provides real-time data on pavement and weather conditions at a specific site.
Putting the Technology to the Test
Missouri DOT's RWIS network has 13 monitoring stations in the Kansas City area. At each site, sensors in the pavement collect data on roadway temperature and moisture; meteorological sensors measure the conditions in the atmosphere. This information permits better scheduling of crews based on more precise knowledge of actual storm and pavement conditions and allows more efficient use of chemical anti-icing strategies.
Getting a constant stream of accurate weather and pavement data has paid off for the highway agency. "We experience lower labor costs and reduced equipment and deicing chemical use while enhancing the timing of snow and ice operations," says Ivan Corp, district maintenance engineer for Missouri DOT.
Knowing which roadways will bear the brunt of the storm, the DOT saves money on labor costs by cutting the amount of overtime required; no longer do crews have to be unnecessarily called in. Using data from the RWIS stations, Missouri DOT can better schedule its plowing and anti-icing operations.
The highway agency also saves money by using deicing chemicals as effectively as possible. By not applying materials unnecessarily, as was sometimes the case in the past, before RWIS data were available, Missouri DOT uses less chemicals and saves on wear and tear on the equipment used to apply them.
More effective treatment of roadways means safer travel for motorists and fewer traffic delays. To Corp, this is one of the biggest advantages to using an RWIS. "The more that we get the snow and ice off the road, the better off we are," he says.
The Benefits
The new RWIS system has brought the following improvements to the Kansas City area:
- Safer winter driving conditions.
- Savings on labor and equipment for winter maintenance operations.
- Substantial reductions in chemical usage, which not only saves money, but also means less wear on bridge decks and equipment.
These advantages pay off for both Missouri DOT and its customers-the people who travel on its roadways. Says Corp, "The RWIS allows us to provide quality service at a smaller unit cost, which makes the customers happy."
