Anti-Icing and Material Distribution Performance Measures for Achieving Level of Service Through Mobile Data Collection

摘要

Recent events have shaped the world's approach to transportation safety and the marshaling of resources to respond to several potentially damaging scenarios. Paramount to successfully managing these situations is the rapid movement of emergency personnel and vehicles, the control of vital transportation arteries, and the ability to react in real-time over a wide geographic area using a variety of communications means and a host of emergency and environmental services. This results in the overtreatment of roadways and bridge decks that might otherwise achieve the desired level of service (LOS) with the use of less anti-icing materials. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT/PF) and ThomTech Design, Inc., sought to determine the effectiveness of the material distribution methods employed during the snow and ice removal process in the Juneau, Alaska, area Accomplishing this task required accurate data collection procedures, LOS estimation, and analysis. The partners intended to develop particular performance measurements using a variety of in-vehicle sensors and post material distribution techniques that are subjective and objective in nature. The Alaska DOT/PF Southeast Region configured the snowplows in the Juneau area with data collection equipment tied to several types of vehicle sensors. The evaluation vehicle was the key vehicle and included a touch-screen computer, digital camera, and a mobile weather station. Several recommendations for integrating with road weather information systems' stations to introducing a friction (grip) meter on the evaluation vehicle were suggested by the project participants. The project was scheduled for completion on January 1, 2004.