Roadway maintenance agencies are continually challenged in winter to provide a high level of service and improve safety and mobility in a cost-effective manner, and to that end, they strive to use the most recent advances in the application of maintenance materials, equipment, and sensor technologies, as well as decision support systems. In support of that objective, the goal of this research is to create a synthesis of best management practices for deicing application rates, material application methodologies, and material usage, including chloride brines applied directly or as additives to abrasives and rock salts. To achieve this goal, this project is gathering and analyzing relevant existing information, with a focus on the best application equipment, methodologies, and typical application rates of chemical products commonly used by highway agencies during their anti-icing, deicing, and prewetting operations. The information will be synthesized to produce updated guidelines for material application rates as a function of road-weather scenarios in the field. Such best practices are expected to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of winter operations, to optimize material usage, and to reduce associated annual spending, as well as corrosion and environmental impacts.
Principal Investigator: Xianming Shi, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WSU
Sponsor: Minnesota DOT
Scheduled completion: September 2018