By Dewey Amsler
AFM Engineering Services
A nature of the human condition is to
resist change. However, in most cases, change
turns out to be a good thing, particularly in the areas of science and technology.
In the snow and ice control community, one
of the most difficult changes for an agency to make is to change from a policy of
abrasives treatment priority to a policy of chemical treatment priority. Abrasives priority is a policy of using some
mixture of abrasives and ice control chemicals, or straight abrasives, to treat every snow
and ice situation. A chemical priority policy, on the other hand, is using straight ice
control chemicals, without abrasives, when it is likely to produce the desired result. Here, it is recognized that straight chemicals
cannot be used in every situation. The
strategy of anti-icing (trying to prevent ice/pavement bond) is inherent in most chemical
priority programs.
Agencies that have successfully
transitioned from an abrasives priority policy to a chemical priority policy have used
most of the elements from the following model:
·
Decide that chemical priority is something
you want to try and WHY
·
Gather and digest relevant literature and
web based information
·
Get help from knowledgeable peers, LTAP
centers, state highway agencies, FHWA or consultants
·
Decide what type(s) of roads or area(s)
you want to try it on
· Conduct designed experimentation that yields data on cost, operational characteristics and performance
·
If successful, get management buy-in and
educate your agency by using local “champions” who have seen the experimental
results first hand.
·
Educate your customers
·
TRAIN,
EVALUATE AND REFINE, TRAIN, EVALUATE AND REFINE, AND TRAIN, EVALUATE AND REFINE
We will look at how three agencies
successfully managed the transition from an abrasives priority policy to a chemical
priority policy.
WARREN
COUNTY, NY — ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND IMPROVED LEVEL OF SERVICE
Warren County is substantially situated in
the Adirondack Mountains of Northern New York State.
Nearly the entire western watershed of the pristine 32 mile long Lake George
is situated in Warren County.
In the early 1990’s the loadings of
silt and abrasives accumulating in Lake George were generating a high level of
environmental concern. The New York State
Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Warren County Department of Public Works (DPW)
installed many containment features designed to trap silt and abrasives before they
reached Lake George. They also instituted
aggressive sweeping programs to pick up abrasives before they entered the drainage system.
In the late-1990’s Warren County DPW
wanted to further reduce abrasives loadings by moving away from its long-standing
abrasives priority policy, and generally improve the level of snow and ice service, by
moving toward a chemical priority policy. As
luck would have it, researchers from NCHRP (National Cooperative Highway Research Program)
Project 6-13 contacted Warren County DPW to see if they would be willing to participate in
a field study that compared the cost and performance of chemical priority policy with
those of an abrasives priority policy – A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN.
Warren County agreed to collect the
necessary data (no small task) and the researchers provided substantial training, the
experimental design, data collection forms and data analysis. The results of the
three-winter study were compelling. The
data showed that an equal or higher level of service could be provided, at less cost, by
using a chemical priority approach when compared with an abrasives priority approach. Also,
the total chemical (salt) loading was less with the chemical priority approach.
Armed with favorable experience, Warren
County DPW has fully implemented the chemical priority within the DPW. Brian Humphrey, Highway Operations Manager for the
DPW, facilitated the research work and is implementing the results. As with most change there is some institutional
inertia to overcome. Brian feels that by
pre-wetting solid sodium chloride (salt) with a liquid magnesium chloride product that
contains an organic ice control chemical the implementation is easier for the customers
and the maintenance workers. The organic
chemical colors the salt and makes it visible to motorists and DPW personnel.
Warren County accomplished their
objectives by having a clear understanding of what they wanted to accomplish, gathering
good data that supported their position and implementing the policy change over a period
of several years.
ANTI-ICING BY MAINE DOT CUTS COST AND
INCREASES& POLLUTION AND IMPROVE LEVEL OF SERVICE
The model for change in the State of
Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) was similar to that of other agencies. In the early 1990’s WSDOT began to search for
ice control chemicals that may be more environmentally friendly and corrosion limiting
than the salt/abrasive mixtures in general use and, the straight salt that was being used
as a pavement treatment on a limited basis. The
result was to begin using magnesium chloride and calcium magnesium acetate in winter
maintenance.
WSDOT also hoped to provide a higher level
of service by using straight chemicals as an
ice control pavement treatment where possible (a chemical priority policy) rather than
chemical/abrasive mixtures being used most of the time (an abrasives priority policy).
To verify this theory, WSDOT signed on to
provide test sections for federally funded anti-icing projects under the Strategic Highway
Research Program and the Federal Highway Administration Test and Evaluation Program. Under these programs, designed experiments
provided hard data on the cost and effectiveness of the chemical priority approach when
compared with the abrasives priority approach.
The results were dramatic – cost
savings as high as 10 to 1 and huge reductions in accidents were observed in the chemical
priority test sections. As a result, WSDOT
has been implementing the chemical priority approach as quickly as funding for equipment
and chemical storage facilities became available. In
the process, WSDOT has become a leader in developing technology, methodology and chemical
specifications associated with using liquid ice control chemicals as a pavement treatment.
WSDOT is continuing the implementation
process with an emphasis on public and internal awareness of the benefits and costs of the
chemical priority approach. They
commissioned a consultant review of the entire snow and ice program in one region. That review, among other things, verified that
they were on the right track with the chemical priority approach.
Ed Boselly, the WSDOT Program Manager for
Snow and Ice Control, said that WSDOT is currently using a variety of liquid ice control
chemicals. Most of these are chloride
chemicals that are enhanced with organic products to make them more environmentally
friendly and provide a measure of corrosion protection.
One region is going to be using sodium chloride (salt) brine and solid
sodium chloride (salt) as pavement treatments on an experimental basis during the winter
of 2002-03. They are also doing comprehensive
training in materials and methods that support their anti-icing and chemical priority
strategies.
Washington DOT met their objectives by
keeping current with technology, having a willingness to experiment with new materials and
methods, gathering supportive data and implementing the new policies through equipment
acquisition and training.
The
above three agencies all used the essential elements of the model for change previously
described. The neat thing about that model is
that it can be used for almost anything that is in need of change.
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