Effectiveness of Pre-wetting Strategy for Snow and Ice Control on Highways

This paper describes how maintaining clear pavement condition under a winter storms is critical to the safe and efficient flow of traffic in Canada. One of the principal snow and ice control methods is the application of salt. While salt remains to be the most cost-effective deicer for road maintenance, its excessive use may have a detrimental effect on the environment and highway infrastructure. Improved maintenance techniques such as pre-wetting and direct liquid application (DLA) have therefore gained increasing popularity as a means of reducing the quantity of salt used. Past research has indicated that, while pre-wetted salt generally outperforms dry salt for snow removal, its effectiveness depends on the types and proportion of pre-wetting agents used and the road weather conditions under which it is applied. The primary objective of this research is therefore to investigate the effectiveness of different pre-wetting techniques under specific road weather conditions. The ultimate goal of this effort is to identify the optimal pre-wetting design (e.g. pre-wetting agent and ratio) for particular ranges of road weather conditions. Data collected by Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) through a large scale field experiment called De-icing/Anti-icing Response Treatment (DART) was used in this analysis. This data consisted of measurements on snow cover, weather and pavement conditions, and treatment operations at 10-minute intervals over two winter seasons. The paper details an analysis of the snow melting trends on the test road under various road weather conditions and treatments, and summarizes the major findings related to the effects of pre-wetting chemical, prewetting ratio, and application rate.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9781551872250
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)

  401-1111 Prince of Wales Drive
  Ottawa, Ontario  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Sooklall, Rudolph
  • Fu, Liping
  • Perchanok, Max S
• Conference:
  • Annual Conference & Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada, 2006. Congres et exposition annuels de l'Association des transport du Canada, 2006.
  • Location: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island , Canada
  • Date: 2006-9-17 to 2006-9-20
• Publication Date: 2006

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: Transportation without Boundaries

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Anti-icing; Cost effectiveness; Deicing chemicals; Highway maintenance; Liquids; Salts; Snow and ice control; Traffic flow; Wetting agents; Winter maintenance
• Identifier Terms: Ontario Ministry of Transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Prewetting
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials; Operations and Traffic Management; I62: Winter Maintenance; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01038632
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9781551872250
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 29 2006 11:07AM