Eutectic point doesn’t determine melting capacity; friction as a performance measure
These and other significant research results were presented in last week’s quadrennial Snow and Ice Symposium sponsored by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences held in Indianapolis, IN.
Cargill Salt’s Scott Koefod explained that solubility is the key for deicer effectiveness, not the eutectic temperature. Lowering the freezing temperature alone is insufficient to unlock the ice-melting capacity of a deicer, he said. The colligative concentration of a deicer is a better predictor of deicing performance, he concluded.
MTO, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, has developed a probabilistic model based on road friction measures, a step towards using friction as the metric for determining the snowfighting effectiveness of its area maintenance contractors. MTO’s Max Perchanok explained that use of friction is complicated, involving roadway materials, elevation and other factors. Roberto Tokunaga of Japan’s Civil Engineering Research Institute for Cold Regions in Hokkaido reported similar, encouraging results in his agency’s continuous testing protocols using friction as the method of determining road surface condition. The same theme was investigated by Tom Maze at Iowa State University who reviewed friction measurement investigations in Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado and Utah and Jeff Tilley of the University of North Dakota.
These and other inputs are being gathered and synthesized by Opus Hamilton consultants for the Transportation Association of Canada; their report is expected this Fall.
Other interesting papers dealt with progress in the MDSS (Maintenance Decision Support System), the particulate air pollution problems caused by use of abrasives for roadway application (the research also documented pavement damage from the abrasives), and progress in the vehicle infrastructure interface as a means of monitoring road surface condition and sharing the data with other nearby vehicles and/or snowfighting managers.
Disturbingly, some researchers voiced concerns that, despite exciting developments in snowfighting technology and techniques, public expectations for increased Level of Service seem to be increasing even faster. Stay tuned.