Project Dates: Oct 1, 2020 - Sep 30, 2021, Add-On: Apr 1, 2022 - Sep 30, 2022
Project Description:
Planning for and evaluating snow and ice control (SIC) activities has been a persistent challenge for VTrans due to winter-to-winter variability in weather severity and a historical lack of objective performance measures. Recent research initiatives undertaken by VTrans and other snowbelt DOTs have helped establish objective measures of storm severity and SIC effectiveness. These measures, combined with greater data availability, provide VTrans with an opportunity to quantify relationships among winter severity, SIC costs, and SIC performance to make data-driven decisions about SIC budgeting, where SIC activities can be improved, and how SIC resources can best be utilized.
This Add-On project allowed an opportunity to quantify relationships among winter severity, SIC costs, and SIC performance to make data driven decisions about SIC budgeting, where SIC activities can be improved, and how SIC resources can best be utilized. Researchers looked closely at the relationship between pavement condition data and costs/performance. The project also delivered a tool that uses 11 years of data (winter severity, cost per lane mile, and grip meaures as a proxy for performance) to show the year-to-year variance at each garage. VTrans District Maintenance and Fleet is eager to learn and share best practices from some of the garages that showed better performance in order to improve overall winter maintenance performance and reduce costs.
Poster:
Final Report Archived Documents
Related Symposium Pages
2022 Symposium
2021 Symposium
Researchers:
James Sullivan, Jonathan Dowds, Mitchell Robinson (UVM)
Champion(s)/TAC members:
Ken Valentine, Brian Roberts, Todd Law, Manuel Sainz, Angie Wilder, Shane Morin, Brian Sanderson, Christopher Taft
Implementation:
TAC members were eager to apply the methodology to an additional winter season, compare to pavement data, and get a visualization tool. SIC Add-On project contracted to take place April 1 - September 30, 2022. VTrans District Maintenance and Fleet is eager to learn and share best practices from some of the garages that showed better performance in order to improve overall winter maintenance performance and reduce costs.
**Posters, Fact Sheets, Presentation Recordings and Other Materials are prepared for our September Research and Innovation Symposium each year. This page includes the latest materials. Check back in September for updated materials related to this project.