January/February
2001
Learning
to Beat Snow and Ice
by
Deborah Vocke
On
Sept. 6 and 7, 2000, more than 1,500 snowplow operators, highway and
public works officials, and airport managers gathered at the Roanoke
(Va.) Civic Center to attend the 5th Annual Eastern Winter Road Maintenance
Symposium and Equipment Expo. The symposium was co-hosted this year
by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Virginia Department
of Transportation (VDOT), and it was held in conjunction with the
5th International Symposium of Snow Removal and Ice Control, which
was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board.
|
About
115 exhibitors participated in the Eastern Winter Maintenance
Symposium and Equipment Expo in the Roanoke (Va.) Civic Center. |
The participants, who came from 36 states and 14 nations and who represented
all levels of government, attended the symposium and exposition to
check out the latest technologies and methods to maintain highway
mobility and safety in inclement winter weather. More than 115 exhibitors
displayed their wares, ranging from heated windshield wiper blades
to robotic pothole-patching machinery. The exhibits included 54 large
snow/ice-control vehicles and equipment.
In addition to the exhibits, the symposium included 18 educational
sessions on a variety of technical topics, including automated bridge
deck deicing, advanced weather systems technology, route optimization
systems, automated vehicle-location systems, advanced snowplows, and
VDOT's "Smart Road" technologies. The Smart Road near Blacksburg,
Va., is a state-of-the-art, full-scale research facility for pavement
research and the evaluation of Intelligent Transportation Systems
concepts, technologies, and products. Bus tours to the Smart Road
were offered, and participants observed a variety of technologies
featured there, including the all-weather (snow, ice, rain) testing
capabilities provided by the 75 snow-making towers. The participants
also had several opportunities to network and to "compare notes"
about their experiences.
Nationally, municipalities and state highway agencies spend at least
$2 billion a year to combat the effects of snow and ice on travel
during the winter months. After these storms, about $4 billion is
spent by those same jurisdictions to repair the damage that is done
to the infrastructure. And these figures do not include the costs
associated with lost time or wages incurred by those who cannot get
to work or school, and they do not address the number of lives affected,
and perhaps endangered, when emergency response is delayed by snow-covered
roadways. The Eastern symposium/expo was inspired by the Blizzard
of 1996, which virtually paralyzed many Eastern cities, including
the nation's capital.
Together, the Eastern Winter Road Maintenance Symposium and Equipment
Expo and the American Public Works Association's annual Western Snow
and Ice Conference in Colorado provide opportunities for snow/ice-management
officials and operators from throughout the United States to learn
about the best practices, materials, and equipment.
FHWA's
Eastern Resource Center, with the support of FHWA's Operations Core
Business Unit, will help states that are east of the Mississippi River
to co-host this event. Over the past five years, the District of Columbia
Department of Public Works, Maryland Department of Transportation
(DOT), Pennsylvania DOT, New York State DOT, and now VDOT co-hosted
this annual event. On Sept. 5 and 6, 2001, the symposium/expo will
be co-hosted by the Massachusetts Highway Department, and it will
be held in the Centrum Centre in Worchester, Mass.
Deborah
Vocke is the marketing specialist for the Federal Highway Administration's
Eastern Resource Center in Baltimore, Md.
For
more information (as it becomes available) about the 2001 symposium/expo,
check the official Eastern Winter Road Maintenance Symposium and Equipment
Expo Web site at www.easternsnowexpo.org.
For information about co-hosting the event in 2002 or beyond, contact
Deborah Vocke at (410) 962-3744.
Other
Articles in this Issue:
Learning
to Beat Snow and Ice
Safe
Plowing - Applying Intelligent Vehicle Technology
Improving
Roadside Safety by Computer Simulation
Using
the Computer and DYNA3D to save lives
LS-DYNA:
A Computer Modeling Success Story
Preservation
of Wetlands on the Federal-Aid Highway System
Internal
FHWA Partnership Leverages Technology and Innovation
New
Applications Make NDGPS More Pervasive
Center
for Excellence in Advanced Traffic and Logistics Algorithms and Systems
(ATLAS)
National
Work Zone Awareness Week (April 9 to 12) - Enhancing Safety and Mobility
in Work Zones