News

Workforce shortages are a top concern for transportation agencies across the country. With maintenance workers needed year-round to keep roads clear and safe, the No Boundaries Transportation Maintenance Innovations pooled fund program has published a new report designed to help agencies identify recruitment and retention challenges and uncover noteworthy and effective solutions. The recently published … Read more

Check out these recent episodes from AASHTO’s SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast: Introducing the Next Generation to DOTs and Highway Maintenance (Episode 63) looks at three programs designed to introduce transportation and civil engineering concepts to K-12 students, including two AASHTO programs and a Senior Seminar in Public Works and Road Maintenance from Front Range … Read more

Each spring, the Clear Roads Technical Advisory Committee meets to review research proposals and select new projects for funding. This year, the committee selected five projects: Comprehensive Guide to Pre-wetting Application Rates and Methods Best Management Practices for Liquid Chloride Storage and Pumping Systems Effects of Additives in Lowering the Freezing Point of Deicing Salts … Read more

Liquid deicers such as salt brine and brine blends can effectively clear snow and ice while using less salt than traditional granular applications. To fully utilize this strategy, though, agencies need detailed guidance and application rates for multiple liquids across a variety of weather and pavement conditions. Drawing from field test results and practitioner recommendations, … Read more

Have a successful winter maintenance practice that could help others? Share your knowledge at the 2023 North American Snow Conference. Organizers are looking for public works professionals to lead the conference’s education sessions to help their colleagues more effectively manage winter operations. The 2023 conference will feature presentations on the following aspects of winter operations: … Read more

Designed to allow a plow operator to clear more snow in a single pass, accessory plows like Tow Plows and wing plows have the potential to provide efficiencies in terms of plow cycle time, labor and equipment allocation, operating costs, increased level of service, and more. A recent Clear Roads project is helping agencies quantify … Read more

A Clear Roads project has earned top honors among research presented by U.S. authors at the PIARC 16th World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress, which was held last month in Calgary. The project, Defensive Driving for Snowplow Operators, was the subject of an award-winning paper presented at the conference by a Virginia Tech Transportation … Read more

Clear Roads has prepared a listing of technical sessions and posters related to winter maintenance that were presented at the 2022 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. The list includes more than 15 papers and posters, with links to abstracts and presentation materials. The sessions covered a wide range of winter maintenance topics, including materials, equipment, … Read more

Using snowplow route optimization programs can reduce an agency’s winter maintenance costs by facilitating more efficient use of staff, equipment and materials. Developing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for optimization services can be challenging and time-consuming, however. To help expedite this process, a recently completed Clear Roads research project developed guidance on the technical requirements … Read more

AASHTO’s SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast recently posted several new episodes. The latest looks at how agencies manage extreme weather events: Winter Operations Is More than Salt and Snowplows (Episode 56): Wilf Nixon of the Professional Snowfighters Association discusses operating a roadway network in the face of a severe winter event. Topics include traffic incident … Read more