Environmental Impacts of Roadside Snow

Winter temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska are such that snow that falls as early as October may remain along the roadside until the spring snowmelt occurs. During this time, maintenance crews sand the roadways to improve driving conditions. Dissolved organics derived from the sand along with other chemicals deposited from automobiles (e.g. hydrocarbons, lubricants, other fluids) is mixed with snow on the road and piled up behind the curb during snow removal operations. Particulate material from the roadway has been a concern to the municipality during the spring snowmelt. Routine testing is not required as no regulations of roadway derived organics are present. The objective of this study was to collect samples of "road snow" from selected streets in Anchorage and run a series of lab tests to determine the quantity of organics and particulates present. The test results were then compared to the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) counts of the selected streets to determine what impact variation of traffic volume has on the test results. This study will determine the organic content of the snow along Anchorage roadways that is not hauled to a storage facility and will be entering the storm drain system without any treatment.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784412473.032
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780784412473
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • Abaza, O
  • Dotson, A D
  • Verdick, T
• Conference:
  • Cold Regions Engineering 2012
  • Location: Quebec City Quebec, Canada
  • Date: 2012-8-19 to 2012-8-22
• Publication Date: 2012-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: pp 319-325
• Monograph Title: Cold Regions Engineering 2012: Sustainable Infrastructure Development in a Changing Cold Environment

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Average daily traffic; Environmental impacts; Frigid regions; Laboratory tests; Organic materials; Particulates; Runoff; Snow; Snowmelt
• Geographic Terms: Anchorage (Alaska)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; I15: Environment; I26: Water Run-off - Freeze-thaw;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01500385
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780784412473
• Files: TRIS, ASCE
• Created Date: Dec 3 2013 9:10AM