pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Developing Value-added Additives from Pacific Northwest Agro and Forestry Residues for Climate-smart Winter Mobility

PI: Xianming Shi (WSU), xianming.shi@wsu.edu, ORCID: 0000-0003-3576-8952

Co PIs: Armando McDonald (UI), Subhabrata Dev (UAA)

AMOUNT & MATCH: $195,000 from PacTrans; $195,000 Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 8/16/2023 – 8/15/2025

STATUS: Active

CATEGORIES: Winter Maintenance, Safety

UTC PROJECT DOCUMENTATION:

FINAL PROJECT REPORT: will be available once completed

PROJECT DATA: will be available once completed

DESCRIPTION:  This project aims to accelerate the adoption of bio-based additives in winter road maintenance (WRM) operations, and divert regionally available agro and forestry wastes to this value-added application. Agro and forestry residues from the Pacific Northwest can be employed as a rich source of active anti-icing ingredients and benefit the environment by partially replacing environmentally detrimental chloride salts. Additional benefits can be obtained through their reduced corrosion to metals and reduced damage to concrete and asphalt infrastructure.

This proposed work fits well under the PacTrans thrusts of “Safety, reliability, and resiliency”, and “Developing transformative solutions”. The results allow the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), and other roadway agencies in the region to better understand how green anti-icers can be applied to WRM operations by maximizing the benefits of chemical products while minimizing their drawbacks. This provides better decision-making and proactive practices concerning creating safe, reliable, and resilient roadways for the transport of people and goods during winter weather.