RUBBER SNOWPLOW BLADES AND LIGHTWEIGHT SNOWPLOWS USED FOR THE PROTECTION OF RAISED LANE MARKERS

RESULTS ARE PRESENTED OF A 2-YEAR STUDY TO EXPAND THE EXPERIENCE GAINED BY EARLIER EXPERIMENTS WITH THE RUBBER SNOWPLOW BLADE. THE STUDY WAS MADE TO DOCUMENT THE RUBBER BLADE'S PERFORMANCE UNDER TYPICAL WINTER ROAD CONDITIONS AND TO EVALUATE THE RESULTS OF INTRODUCING THE RUBBER SNOWPLOW BLADE AND LIGHTWEIGHT MOLDBOARD TO THE STATE'S SNOWPLOW FLEET. THE LIGHTWEIGHT SNOWPLOW WAS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR USE WITH THE RUBBER CUTTING EDGE. IT ELIMINATED ONE OF THE MAJOR CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE WEAR, NAMELY, THE HEAVY WEIGHT OF THE STANDARD MOLDBOARD. BEFORE THE LIGHTWEIGHT PLOW WAS INTRODUCED, THIS PROBLEM HAD BEEN PARTIALLY OVERCOME BY INSTALLING A SYSTEM OF RESTRAINER CHAINS AND TURNBUCKLES TO HELP SUPPORT THE STANDARD PLOW'S WEIGHT AND REDUCE THE DOWN-PRESSURE ON THE CUTTING EDGE. THE RUBBER CUTTING EDGE WAS SHOWN TO BE SUITABLE FOR SNOWPLOWING EXCEPT WHEN TEMPERATURES ARE CONSISTENTLY BELOW FREEZING AND A SLUSH OR SEMITHAWING CONDITION DOES NOT EXIST OR COULD NOT BE INDUCED BY CHEMICALS. IN SPITE OF THEIR HIGHER INITIAL COST, THE RUBBER SNOWPLOW BLADES WERE LESS PER MILE OF PLOWING THAN MEDIUM STEEL PLOW BLADES, SHOW A REMARKABLE SERVICE LIFE BETWEEN BLADE CHANGES, AND PROTECT RAISED LANE MARKERS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/359/359-008.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309019753
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Snow and Ice Control and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • Anderson, Donald R
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 54-63
• Monograph Title: Maintenance operations and applied systems engineering
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 359
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Blades (Machinery); Road markings; Rubber; Snowplows
• Old TRIS Terms: Traffic marking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00219450
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309019753
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 7 1972 12:00AM