Control of Blowing Snow using SnowMan (Snow Management): User Manual

Properly engineered passive snow control measures can significantly reduce the safety hazards and winter maintenance costs associated with the problem of blowing and drifting snow. There are two possible mitigation strategies: roadway (cross section) design and snow fencing. This project developed and deployed a software application, named SnowMan (for Snow Management), to run within the New York State Department of Transportation's (NYSDOT’s) MicroStation-based CAD environment to assist highway designers and maintenance users in the design of such passive control measures. This effort thus extends the applicability of the earlier PASCON expert system software (Kaminski and Mohan 1991) and incorporates well-established knowledge regarding snow transport and deposition, evaluating roadway cross sections for drift susceptibility, design of passive and living snow fences, and earthwork modification for reducing drifting (Tabler 2003). The SnowMan software brings the science of engineered mitigation of blowing and drifting snow to the desktop. This manual describes the usage of this software tool for mitigation of blowing and drifting snow problems, while also providing an overview of the relevant data and principal output results produced by the software for blowing and drifting snow mitigation. Benefits of the use of this software include reducing maintenance costs and closure times and improving crash incidence by improving visibility, preventing drifting on the road, and reducing road icing.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-01-67_user%20manual.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  State University of New York, Buffalo

  Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14260

  New York State Department of Transportation

  50 Wolf Road, POD 34
  Albany, NY  United States  12232-0869

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Chen, Stuart S
  • Lamanna, Michael F
• Publication Date: 2008-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: User Manual
• Features: Appendices; Glossary; References;
• Pagination: 80p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer program documentation; Highway design; Snow and ice control; Snow fences; Snowdrifts; Software
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I62: Winter Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01128980
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: C-01-67
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: May 19 2009 4:24PM