No abstract

This paper presents the results of an extensive field study on the comparative performance of alternative materials for snow and ice control of transportation facilities. Approximately 300 tests were conducted in a real-world environment, covering four alternative materials, and 21 snow events. Each of the alternatives tested were compared to regular rock salt in terms of snow melting performance — bare-pavement regain time. The study confirmed the relative advantage of these alternatives over the regular salt, but also showed that their performance varied largely depending on some external conditions. Performance models were calibrated and then used for developing application rate adjustment factors that can be applied by maintenance operations for determining the optimal application rates for specific weather events and pavement conditions. The applicability of the results is limited to parking lots and sidewalks without the traffic effects, and as such cannot be easily applied to winter roadways maintenance.

This paper describes an empirical study aimed at investigating the performance of the anti-icing strategy for snow and ice control of parking lots and sidewalks. The research is motivated by the need to address several key questions concerning various operational decisions related to the anti-icing strategy, including its relative effectiveness under different weather and site conditions, treatment options, and optimal application rates. Extensive field tests were conducted under traffic controlled environment and variety of weather events using regular solid road salt, brine, and two other liquid alternatives. Data collected from these tests was used to analyze the performance of anti-icing operations such as friction level, bare pavement regain time, and the effects of various external factors such as pavement temperature and application rate. The research has concluded with findings that are directly applicable in real world winter maintenance practices.Résumé : Le présent article décrit une étude empirique d'examen du rendement d'une stratégie antigivrage pour le contrôle de la neige et de la glace sur les stationnements et les trottoirs. Cette recherche découle du besoin de traiter de plusieurs questions clés concernant diverses décisions opérationnelles reliées à la stratégie antigivrage, incluant son efficacité relative sous différen-tes conditions climatiques et de site, les options de traitement et le taux optimum d'application. Des essais de terrain à grande échelle ont été réalisés dans un environnement de circulation contrôlé et sous diverses conditions climatiques et de site; du sel de voirie solide ordinaire, de la saumure et deux autres liquides ont été utilisés. Les données colligées lors de ces essais ont servi à analyser le rendement des opérations antigivrage quant à la friction, le temps requis pour revenir à la chaussée dégagée et les effets de divers facteurs externes tels que la température de la chaussée et le taux d'application. La recherche a conclu les résultats sont directement applicables dans les pratiques concrètes d'entretien des chaussées durant l'hiver. [Traduit par la Rédaction]Mots-clés : antigivrage, sels déglaçant, stationnements.

No abstract

Over five million tons of salt (NaCl) is applied in Canada every winter to improve pavement friction in the winter season. While effective for improving pavement surface condition, salts at high concentrations are detrimental to the environment and corrosive to vehicles and infrastructure. New alternative salts (bio-based products), are increasingly available in the market as an alternative to regular salt; however, limited information on the performance of these alternatives is available for transportation agencies to make informed decisions for the usage. In this study, a set of bio-based products were selected and their performances were compared using pavement friction improvement as a measure. A multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors influencing pavement friction by utilizing these new materials. The analysis has indicated that using bio-based materials resulted in 10%-40% improvement in the friction level. However, these materials did not significantly outperform each other. The study also concluded that an application rate as low as 3L/1000sqft should be applied for parking lots or low volume roads, which is 25% less than the current application rates that are used in general for parking lot pavement maintenance.