Maintenance 2001 Project - 1996-1997: 1st Season
Maintenance 2001 Project 1996-1997: 1st Season
Maintenance 2001: "Integrating Technology for Winter Road Maintenance"
Background
- in 1996, MTO maintained approximately 27 000 km of highway
- more than 50% of maintenance expenditures go towards snow and ice control
- future directions in maintenance operations in Ontario involve more private sector partnerships
- through these partnerships, MTO is committed to providing cost-effective delivery of maintenance activities
- there is a definite need for information-based maintenance management to provide much more timely and appropriate information to people responsible for winter maintenance operations decisions
- changes in traditional winter maintenance practices require procedural changes, use of new technology, monitoring of maintenance practices and performance
Project Organization
Ministry of Transportation Ontario
Research and Development Branch
Construction and Operations Branch
Owen Sound District, Barrie Patrol
Project Description
- 30 km test route along Hwy 26, between Barrie and Stayner, from Hwy 27 westerly to Concession 13 west of Edenvale
- chosen as test area for integrating new and/or existing technology and practices
- this area experiences a significant number and variety of storm conditions
- results will be compared to traditional practices
-
3 categories of technology/practices under investigation
- advanced Road Weather Information System (RWIS)
- advanced winter maintenance procedures
- tools for monitoring maintenance activities and performance
- some of the equipment will be visible at the test site along the highway or in retrofitted or new vehicles
Project Objectives
The introduction of new techniques and practices will:
- reduce winter maintenance operating costs
- reduce salt usage and negative impacts on the environment
- maintain or improve winter maintenance levels of service
- measure the performance of winter maintenance contractors to ensure safety and standards are met
- disseminate information on winter road conditions
- foster opportunities for partnerships (MTO, municipalities, private contractors) to share information
Areas of Investigation
1. RWIS
In Ontario
- in 1988, MTO set up an RWIS system
- it is an information system for recording and distributing road conditions, as well as distributing weather information, both current and forecast
- it differs from advanced RWIS in that there are no pavement and roadside weather sensors
Background Information
- MTO installed 3 complete sensor sites (pavement and atmospheric sensors) in Kitchener area: Hwy 401 at the Grand River Bridge, Hwy 7/8 at the Homer Watson Bridge, Hwy 86 at the Conestogo River Bridge
- these sites are not part of an information-based maintenance management system
- Regional municipality of Ottawa/Carleton installed 5 RPU sites (2 are complete sensor sites, 3 are pavement sensors only) this winter
- approximately 1200 compete sensor sites exist throughout the U.S. & Canada
Advanced RWIS
- definition: an advanced RWIS is a network of weather data gathering and road condition remote sensing systems
- the addition of an ice detection/prediction system which uses pavement and atmospheric sensors on site, means that accurate pavement condition forecast information is available
Components of advanced RWIS
pavement forecast:
- real-time sensor information provided to meteorological service which combines data with weather forecast
- provides tailored forecast of pavement condition 24 hours in advanced
atmospheric sensors:
- measure air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, dew point, wind speed and direction
pavement sensors:
- embedded in highway pavement and bridge decks
- measure road surface temperature
- monitor levels of precipitation (wet, ice, snow or frost)
- determine whether de-icing chemicals are present or needed
video surveillance:
- visual monitoring of roadway, visibility and presence of precipitation
2. Advanced Winter Maintenance Practices
Anti-icing Strategies
- definition: early salt application to prevent adhesion of snow to the pavement and to allow plowing operations to be more effective, using less material
- MTO has practised anti-icing strategies for 20 years using crushed salt, at a standard rate of application and without benefit of pavement sensor information
- now trying new procedures where salt brine or other liquid chemicals are applied to the road to help keep material on the road and enhance rate of melting
- they can be effectively employed only in conjunction with detailed pavement information
- alternatively, finer gradation of salt applied at variable application rates
- key advantage to early application is potential to minimize use of de-icing chemicals during storm
Prewetting Strategies
- definition: de-icing materials are soaked with sodium chloride brine before application on the road
- de-icing material may become effective quicker with more retained on the road
- key advantage to prewetting is potential to minimize use of de-icing materials during storm
Test Site Equipment
Liquid Spreader
The Anti-icer spray system consists of a 5670 litre tank with a series of nozzles mounted on a bar. The system has a road speed sensor and an in-cab mounted electronic controller. The controller has five separate nozzle controls so that the operator can spray up to 3 lanes at a time. The controller displays the quantity of liquid per one lane km.
Pre-wetting Spreader
The Pre-wet system consists of an electronic controller, electric liquid pump, tanks and nozzles. This system sprays liquid brine or other solution on the salt or sand as it is being discharged from the spreader. Various application rate settings are available.
Zero Velocity Spreader
Material is ejected rearwards from the truck at the same velocity as the vehicle is moving forward. This gives the ejected material a net zero velocity, it is essentially stationary to the road surface; thus the material falls directly on the road and does not scatter. This spreader also has pre-wetting capabilities.
Brine Maker
The brine maker consists of a large plastic tank with a salt hopper and a holding tank for the salt brine. Fresh water is fed into the bottom of the hopper where it filters through the salt and then overflows into a holding tank. Fresh water is added to the overflow stream to bring it to a 23.3% solution.
Infrared Thermometer
This device is fixed to the vehicle and provides air temperature as well as road surface temperature.
Friction Trailer
A towed device that tests friction of surfaces and records readings. It has the potential to determine automatically whether the pavement is covered with frost, slush, snow or ice and can be used to control salt or sand applications.
On-board Video Camera
Mounted in research van to provide visual record of test conditions.
On-site Video Camera
Pole mounted video camera at weather sensor site for visual record and observations as a check on sensor data output. It provides a permanent record of anti-icing/de-icing effectiveness.
3. Tools for Monitoring Maintenance Activities and Performance
- on-board data recording systems incorporating global positioning systems (GPS) have capability to identify where equipment is working at any time and the location where material is spread
- information from these systems can be used to ensure adherence to operational policies such as application rates, spreading speeds
- for real-time scenarios and historical data collection, the information provided (equipment activity) is directly related to RWIS information (road conditions)
- road surface condition monitoring equipment measures friction of driving surface during winter conditions
- information can be used to establish data on effects of material applications and rates of application
- under a partnership with Transport Canada, also testing device on airport runways
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Last modified: January 23, 2009