OPTIMUM UTILIZATION AND SELECTION OF MOWERS FOR HIGHWAY R.O.W.S.

A STUDY OF ROADSIDE MOWING OPERATIONS WAS CONDUCTED IN LOUISIANA. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SIZE AND COMBINATION OF MOWERS FOR ROADSIDE MOWING. AFTER STUDYING OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURES USED IN INDUSTRY, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT LINEAR PROGRAMMING METHODS COULD BE APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM OF UTILIZING AND SELECTING ROADSIDE MOWING EQUIPMENT. THE BRITTANY MAINTENANCE UNIT, LOCATED IN THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS DISTRICT 61, WAS SELECTED AS A MODEL. THE ROADSIDES IN THE MODEL WERE SURVEYED TO DETERMINE THE AREA, PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS AND THE NUMBER AND TYPES OF OBSTRUCTIONS WITHIN EACH CONTROL SECTION. ROADSIDES WERE RATED AS TO EASE OF MOWING INTO SIX CLASSES. TIME AND MOTION STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE WORK DAY LENGTH AND FIELD CAPACITIES OF FOUR DIFFERENT TYPES OF MOWERS AS THEY OPERATED ON THE DIFFERENT CLASSES. THIS INFORMATION WAS THEN USED TO DETERMINE THE MOWING COSTS PER ACRE. A PROGRAMMED MOWING CYCLE WAS SET UP BY USING FIELD TEST DATA IN CONJUNCTION WITH LINEAR PROGRAMMING METHODS TO ASSIGN THE VARIOUS TYPES OF MOWERS TO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF ROADSIDES. THE ENTIRE MODEL WAS MOWED AS PROGRAMMED AND THE SOLUTION WAS FOUND TO BE FEASIBLE. THE ACTUAL OVERALL EQUIPMENT TIME REQUIRED TO MOW 1290 ACRES VARIED FROM THE PREDICTED EQUIPMENT TIME BY APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR. HOWEVER, THE PREDICTED TIME OF MOWERS ON INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS VARIED CONSIDERABLY MORE. THE ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE CAN BE ADAPTED TO ANY NUMBER OF RIGHT-OF-WAY CLASSES AND ANY NUMBER OF MOWERS. IT MAXIMIZES PRODUCTION OF AN EXISTING COMBINATION OF MOWERS WHILE MINIMIZING THE COST OF COMPLETING A MOWING CYCLE. THE PROCEDURE CAN ALSO BE USED TO SELECT OPTIMUM REPLACEMENT MOWERS. RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROCEDURE ON A STATE- OR DISTRICT-WIDE BASIS. /AUTHORS/

• Corporate Authors:

  Louisiana State University and Agriculture & Mechanical College, Baton Rouge

  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Authors:
  • Cox, A L
  • Rester, D C
  • Mayeux, M M
• Publication Date: 1965-5-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Equipment replacement; Evaluation; Linear programming; Maintenance equipment; Maintenance management; Mathematical models; Mowers; Mowing; Roadside; Time and motion studies; Traffic assignment
• Uncontrolled Terms: Maintenance costs; Model tests; Models; Replacement; Selecting
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Old TRIS Terms: Brittany maintenance unit; Maintenance administration
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00217999
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 61-1m
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 1 1994 12:00AM