W I N T E R R O A D M A I N T E N A N C E
reinforces the idea that the results of
winter maintenance operations may
not always be what is expected.
With more testing, a set of guidelines
for specific local winter conditions (tem-perature,
amount of snow accumula-tion
on road surface, presence of ice)
could be developed for maintenance
crews to refer to when performing
winter road maintenance. Another pos-sibility
is to have friction measurement
devices on the roadways giving direct,
continuous feedback about the condi-tion
of the road surface during winter
maintenance operations. Visual indica-tors
corresponding to surface traction –
for instance, green, yellow, or red lights
right on an operator console – could
indicate exactly where dangerous con-ditions
exist, taking the guesswork out
of winter road maintenance.
Implementing winter road main-tenance
strategies so that safe driv-ing
conditions are maintained for road
users is vital. It is equally important to
perform winter road maintenance effi-ciently
and ensure that treatment of the
road surfaces is effective. Direct mea-surements
of friction between the tire
and road surface have been shown to
be a promising way to accomplish this,
providing another “tool in the toolbox”
for maintaining safe winter roads. n
The author would like to acknowledge Sahar Salimi (civil/transportation engi-neer,
Calgary) and Dr. Somayeh Nassiri (assistant professor, Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University), who performed the
research work on which this article is based. Thank you to Lana Gutwin for assistance
with the preparation of this article.
References
1. Salimi, S., Nassiri, S., and Bayat, A. (2014). Using lateral coefficient of
friction to evaluate effectiveness of plowing and sanding operations. Canadian
Journal of Civil Engineering. 41. 10.1139/cjce-2014-0076.
2. Salimi, S., Nassiri, S., Bayat, A. and Halliday, D. (2015). Lateral Coefficient of
Friction for Characterizing Winter Road Conditions. Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering. 43. 10.1139/cjce-2015-0222.
3. Nassiri, S., Bayat, A., and Salimi, S. (2014). A Survey of Practice and
Literature Review on Municipal Road Winter Maintenance in Canada.
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering. 10.1061/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000082.
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