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THE ROLE OF EQUIPMENT IN MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS

MAINTENANCE RESEARCH AND MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN KANSAS, CALIFORNIA, NORTH CAROLINA, AND MISSOURI ARE DESCRIBED AND DISCUSSED. MOWING NEEDS, COSTS AND PRACTICES ARE REVIEWED. DESPITE THE HIGH UNIT COST OF GUARDRAIL MOWING AND OTHER HAND-TYPE MOWING OPERATIONS, THE BULK OF THE MOWING DOLLAR IS SPENT ON LARGE-AREA MOWING, AND THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SAVINGS COMES FROM STUDIES OF THAT OPERATION. TIME STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT MOWER PRODUCTION RATES ARE AFFECTED BY THE AMOUNT OF DOWNTIME, DISTANCE OF TRAVEL TO THE JOB SITE, ETC. LARGE UNITS, SUCH AS TRACTORS WITH 15-FOOT ROTARY MOWERS SHOULD BE USED ONLY ON TYPES OF TERRAIN WHERE THEIR INHERENT HIGH CAPACITY CAN BE UTILIZED. THERE IS A STUDY UNDERWAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ON RADIO-CONTROLLED MOWERS. THE TRIUMPH MACHINERY COMPANY HAS DEVELOPED AND IS TESTING A MUCH BIGGER MODEL, SIMILAR IN CONCEPT. DEVELOPMENTS IN PAVEMENT STRIPING EQUIPMENT ARE DISCUSSED. EQUIPMENT AND LABOR COSTS NOW REPRESENT ONLY 10% TO 25% OF THE STRIPING COSTS IN A WELL- CONDUCTED STRIPING OPERATION. MATERIAL COSTS NOW REPRESENT THE MAJOR COMPONENT OF STRIPING COSTS. RAISED REFLECTIVE MARKERS AND GLASS BEADS ARE DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO THEIR DISLODGEMENT BY CARBON STEEL-TIPPED SNOWPLOW BLADES. ONE POSSIBLE APPROACH TO THIS PROBLEM IS TO USE RUBBER SNOWPLOW BLADES THAT WOULD FLEX AS THEY PASS OVER THE MARKERS. PAINT STRIPING EQUIPMENT RESEARCH IN FLORIDA HAS ENABLED TRAFFIC STRIPS TO BE PLACED THAT DO NOT REQUIRE ANY PROTECTION AGAINST TRACKING. THE STRIPING MACHINE OPERATES AT THE SAME OVER-THE-ROAD SPEED AS CONVENTIONAL MACHINES. AN EXPERIMENTAL STRIPING UNIT DEVELOPED IN TEXAS PLACES A SMALL QUANTITY OF EPOXY ON THE PAVEMENT AND THEN DROPS 1/4 INCH REFLECTING BEADS INTO THE EPOXY TO PRODUCE A TRAFFIC MARKER. THIS MACHINE AND ITS SUCCESSORS APPEAR TO MECHANIZE THE PLACEMENT OF RAISED REFLECTIVE BUTTONS. SNOW AND ICE CONTROL EQUIPMENT ARE DISCUSSED. THE MOST EFFICIENT MEANS OF SNOW REMOVAL IS THE DISPLACEMENT SNOWPLOW, EVEN THOUGH IT DOES NOT PROVIDE THE BARE PAVEMENT NOW DEMANDED BY THE TRAVELING PUBLIC. PAVEMENT SURFACE MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS ARE DISCUSSED. TEST EQUIPMENT USED BY THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS THE MINNESOTA ROADMETER, THE DYNAFLECT, AND THE BPR ROUGHOMETER PROVIDE A MEANS FOR PREDICTING FUTURE PAVEMENT NEEDS AS WELL AS PROVIDING A YARD STICK FOR COMPARING CONDITIONS ACROSS SECTION LINES. A PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM CAN BE DEVELOPED THAT WILL PROPERLY REFLECT BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS, MANAGEMENT DECISIONS, AND A FAIR APPORTIONMENT OF MAINTENANCE FUNDS TO THE OPERATION DIVISIONS. A LITTER- GATHERING MACHINE USED IN TEXAS IS DESCRIBED.

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  • Supplemental Notes:
    • No 35, pp 44-58, 7 FIG, 23 REF. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Clary, A G
  • Publication Date: 1969

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  • Accession Number: 00219349
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jul 28 1994 12:00AM