FRICTION AS A TOOL FOR WINTER MAINTENANCE

Keeping roads clear of snow and ice during the winter season requires a considerable expenditure of resources. Studies suggest that upwards of $2 Billion is spent on direct winter maintenance activities annually, and indirect costs could be a factor of ten greater. Accordingly, it is important that winter maintenance activities be conducted as efficiently as possible. An important step toward efficiency is the development of quantitative measures of the state of the road surface. Such measures would allow determination of the level of activity required to bring the road surface to a safe condition. One such measure is road surface temperature. Measurements of road surface temperatures have been conducted for at least twenty years by means of Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS). More recently, truck mounted sensors have been tested to determine their effectiveness. While these must still be considered experimental, their use has been enthusiastically greeted by some winter maintenance personnel, as providing real time on-the-spot information that can be of considerable use to operators. Unfortunately, temperature alone does not tell the whole story of the condition of a road surface. A key component is the road surface friction. However, before friction measurements can be used as an objective, quantitative measure of road surface condition, a number of issues have to be addressed. The purpose of this paper is to raise and address some of these critical issues.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/pubs/crossroads/86friction.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/096523102X
• Corporate Authors:

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Center for Transportation Research and Education
  2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, IA  United States  50010-8664
• Authors:
  • Nixon, W A
• Conference:
  • Crossroads 2000
  • Location: Ames, Iowa
  • Date: 1998-8-19 to 1998-8-20
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 86-89
• Monograph Title: CROSSROADS 2000 PROCEEDINGS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Friction; Roads; Sensors; Surface course (Pavements); Temperature; Trucks; Winter maintenance
• Uncontrolled Terms: Truck mounted sensors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; I62: Winter Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00770471
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 096523102X
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 11 1999 12:00AM