Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Wyoming’s CMAQ Unpaved Road Dust Suppression Program, Year 1

The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program was implemented to provide funding to transportation projects that contribute to air quality improvements. Wyoming has used these funds for a number of years to apply dust suppressants to unpaved roads around the state. Many of these roads are impacted by oil and gas drilling activities. Decisions as to where these funds should be applied are based on subjective judgment. Methods for applying the suppressants to roads have also been based on engineering judgment. However, there is no system in place for determining the effectiveness of dust treatment. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the CMAQ program in Wyoming. A second objective is to provide recommendations on optimizing future use of CMAQ funds. This study utilizes field data and comprehensive statistical analysis to prove the effectiveness of various dust suppressants. This includes monitoring dust suppressant application, surfacing aggregate type, traffic, weather, roadway performance, and fugitive dust emissions to provide a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the dust suppression efforts paid for with CMAQ funds. Analysis of field data is also used to provide recommendations on developing a statistical model for the most cost effective use of future CMAQ funding.

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  • Record URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of Wyoming, Laramie

    Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering
    1000 East University Avenue
    Laramie, WY  United States  82071

    Mountain-Plains Consortium

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, ND  United States  58108

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

    University Transportation Centers Program
    Department of Transportation
    Washington, DC  United States  20590

    Wyoming Department of Transportation

    Cheyenne, WY  United States 

    Federal Highway Administration

    1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
    Washington, DC  United States  20590
  • Authors:
  • Publication Date: 2019-9

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Pagination: 158p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01718512
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 19-386A
  • Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
  • Created Date: Sep 30 2019 10:08AM