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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Shi, Xianming, 1974– editor. | Fu, Liping, editor.
Title: Sustainable winter road operations / edited by Xianming Shi, Liping Fu.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2018. | Includes index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017051511 (print) | LCCN 2017055953 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119185147 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119185154 (epub) | ISBN 9781119185062 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Roads–Snow and ice control–Environmental aspects. | Roads–Maintenance and repair.
Classification: LCC TE220.5 (ebook) | LCC TE220.5 .S87 2018 (print) | DDC 625.7/63–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051511
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Cover Image: © ollo/istockphoto
Chris Albrecht
The Narwhal Group
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Mallory J. Crow
Graduate AssistantThe University of Akron
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Na Cui
Associate ProfessorSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Jinan,
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Sen Du
Graduate Research AssistantDepartment of Civil & Environmental EngineeringWashington State UniversityPullman, WA 99164‐2910
Laura Fay
Western Transportation Institute Montana State University
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Liping Fu
Professor
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Waterloo
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Tina Greenfield
Iowa Department of Transportation
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William A. Holik
Assistant Research Scientist, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
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S. M. Kamal Hossain
Assistant Professor Pavement Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Memorial University of Newfoundland
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Jiang Huang
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Scott Jungwirth
Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.
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Tae J. Kwon
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Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Alberta
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Matthew Muresan
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Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of WaterlooWaterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
Mehdi Honarvar Nazari
Graduate Research AssistantDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Washington State University
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Ralph Patterson
The Narwhal Group
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William H. Schneider IV
Associate ProfessorThe University of Akron
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Xianming Shi
Associate Professor
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Washington State University
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David Veneziano
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Ning Xie
ProfessorShandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Preparation and Measurement of Building Materials,
University of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, China 250022
Gang Xu
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Washington State University
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Zhengxian Yang
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Mobility is a critical part of modern society. Economies depend on the ability to move goods in a reliable and predictable manner and without this ability, economic output is severely degraded. People want to be able to move freely and thus require an effective and efficient transportation infrastructure to do so. Unfortunately, weather sometimes impacts the transportation system in such a way that it does not provide mobility and safety for goods and the traveling public. Transportation agencies, who are tasked with providing safety and mobility on the transportation system, thus undertake a variety of operations to maintain the safety and mobility of the transportation system even when the weather is less than ideal.
The economic impacts of a snow storm can be substantial. A variety of studies have considered the economic impacts of roads being closed (by, for example, a winter storm) across a state, and indicate that the economic cost of such a closure are between $300 and $700 million per day. And each year winter weather is a factor in crashes killing about 1,300 people. So good winter maintenance can clearly play an important role in providing safety and mobility for the traveling public.
This book aims to collect in one place all the information and understanding pertinent to conducting operations intended to ensure safety and mobility on the transportation system when that system is impacted by winter weather of all types. This foreword attempts to set this information and understanding in some sort of broad‐brush context. Obviously, the details are in the main chapters of the book itself. The foreword is an enticement to dip into the chapters!
Over the past thirty years there have been significant advances in the practice of winter operations, and in our understanding of how those practices can be made more effective. A key part of this advancement has been the understanding, which has grown in the past decade, that the practice of winter operations not only has to be sustainable, but has to be seen to be sustainable. For the most part, those involved in the practice of winter operations have inevitably balanced societal, economic, and environmental needs. The goals of winter operations almost require that such a balance be sought after and achieved. However, while the practice has been sustainable, the language describing that practice has been less so. It is important that both the practice and the language of the practice be seen to be grounded in sustainable processes.
Given the focus of this text on sustainability it is important to consider what exactly sustainability means and how applicable it is to winter maintenance. The standard definition of sustainable practices is as follows:
Sustainable operations meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Unfortunately, this is not particularly helpful when it comes to winter maintenance operations. For example, snow plows are not mentioned at all! The definition does not touch upon some of the very important research done on materials we use in winter maintenance, such as NCHRP Report 577. And quite frankly, the definition is sufficiently vague that it could mean almost anything depending on what you want it to mean. For example, what do we mean by “needs?” And what will “compromise the ability of future generations?” The danger with the vagueness is that not only does it lack guidance but it allows interpretation that can vary hugely.
One particular aspect of sustainability that is especially pertinent to winter operations is the so‐called triple bottom line. This approach suggests that rather than simply consider cost as the driving concern in operations, we should also consider societal needs and environmental impacts as having, if not equal weight, a similar weight in importance to budgetary concerns. In our field societal concerns relate to providing safety and mobility for the traveling public. Our environmental concerns relate to minimizing impacts on the environment. The latter is interesting because while, for example, using materials such as road salt does create a loading on the environment, so too does NOT using road salt. We know from a variety of studies that a well‐designed and implemented winter maintenance operations program will reduce crashes by between 85 and 90%. And each and every crash is a small‐scale environmental disaster – not only will various liquids (gasoline, diesel, engine oil, coolants and so forth) be spilled, but we will also have to replace the vehicles involved (not all the time, but it seems that even a small‐scale crash can lead to a vehicle being written off), which carries material and energy costs with their own environmental issues. So, good environmental stewardship may require us to use road salt (in suitable amounts and under the correct conditions).
Another aspect of sustainability that is not captured by the standard definition is what I call the “one size does NOT fit all” consideration. Not every community has the same needs and expectations when it comes to winter maintenance. Not every agency needs to plow residential streets for example. Many cities and towns in Colorado do not plow residential streets unless there is a large snow accumulation (in some cases, as much as ten inches) because in most winter events the snow is melted by the following day. It is a truism that the weather is different all across North America, so having the same approach to winter maintenance in Toronto and in Atlanta does not make much sense.
This book deals with the various aspects of winter maintenance operations and of course does so on a chapter‐by‐chapter basis. While each chapter is to some degree a stand‐alone document, it is not the intent of the book to suggest that there is no interaction between the various issues addressed within. Another aspect of sustainability when it comes to operations is to recognize that operations are part of a system and that each part of the system can impact other parts. Thus, by way of a simple example, the weather forecast should impact material application rates, but so too should the current pavement condition, and the traffic levels on a given segment of road. If the book becomes a collection of “silos” of knowledge, it will have not succeeded in its aims.
In conclusion, winter maintenance operations are critical to the safety and mobility of our transportation systems. Equally, those operations must be conducted in a safe and sustainable manner. This book aims to detail how such operations can be conducted in such a way.