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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Providing Winter Road Maintenance Guidance: An Update of the Federal Highway Administration Maintenance Decision Support System

Controlling snow and ice buildup on roadways during winter weather events presents several challenges for winter maintenance personnel. Among these challenges is the need to make effective winter maintenance decisions (treatment types, timing, rates, and locations), as these decisions have a considerable impact on roadway safety and efficiency. Additionally, poor decisions can have adverse economic and environmental consequences. In an effort to mitigate the challenges associated with winter maintenance decisions, FHWA initiated a program in 2000 aimed at developing a winter road maintenance decision support system (MDSS). The primary goal of the MDSS program was to construct a functional prototype MDSS that could provide objective guidance to winter road maintenance decision makers concerning the appropriate treatment strategies to use to control roadway snow and ice during adverse winter weather events. It was envisioned that this prototype would also serve as a catalyst for additional research and development by the private sector. To date, five versions of the MDSS prototype code have been made freely available to the surface transportation stakeholder community, with the last release (MDSS Release-5) occurring in the fall of 2007. The FHWA MDSS prototype utilizes current weather observations and numerical model predictions from multiple sources to produce route-specific analyses and forecasts (48 h) of environmental conditions. Output from this process is used to drive an energy balance model to generate predictions of pavement conditions along each route of interest. Together, environmental and road condition information is used to construct recommended treatments, which are based on standard rules of practice for effective deicing and anti-icing operations. An interactive Java-based display is used to visualize graphic and text-based treatment recommendations, as well as diagnostic and prognostic atmosphere and road condition data. Through this interface, not only can users inspect the current recommended treatment strategies, but they can also investigate alternative courses of action and ascertain the anticipated consequences of action or inaction. Over the last three years, the MDSS prototype has been demonstrated in Colorado. During this period, the system was accessible to maintenance managers in the Denver metropolitan area. The multiple season demonstration provided a variety of disparate events on which to analyze system performance. As a result of the demonstration activities, the MDSS has undergone a number of recent improvements and refinements, and several lessons have been learned. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current FHWA MDSS prototype including the latest enhancements and changes.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Web
  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: pp 199-214
  • Monograph Title: Surface Transportation Weather and Snow Removal and Ice Control Technology: Fourth National Conference on Surface Transportation Weather and Seventh International Symposium on Snow Removal and Ice Control Technology, June 16-19, 2008, Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01103953
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Snow08-019
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Jun 30 2008 3:05PM