WRS studies ways to make state's roadways safer in winter

When most of the public prepares for a winter storm by getting what they need in place so they can avoid going out in the weather, a group of WYDOT’s employees braves the storm collecting data to make Wyoming’s roadways safer.

While bad weather is an inconvenience to most of us, WYDOT’s Winter Research Services (WRS) team sees each storm as an opportunity to develop better ways to provide a safer transportation system for Wyoming’s driving public.

“We go out during the storm event and take measurements on the surface, and we’ll follow plows and also see how their treatments are working,” said Cliff Spoonemore, Maintenance Staff engineer and Winter Research Services Team program coordinator.

Team members collect video and audio data, and pavement and ambient temperatures with a specially equipped truck and six portable weather stations during storms.

“We also now have a new device called the Teconar sensor, and we collect surface grip that's available,” Spoonemore said. “It measures the thickness of water.”

Sensors also measure hot or cold spots that may indicate where ice may build up more frequently, he said.

To ensure that the department is making decisions based on the most comprehensive data, Spoonemore said the WRS team shares research with other states to expand the data available upon which to make decisions.

The data collected is used to make recommendations such as snow fence placement, earthwork design, maintenance operations and evaluate the performance of specific application rates of salt and other road chemicals (magnesium chloride, calcium chloride) to better understand how they should be used for the greatest effectiveness, all of which reduce the number of crashes on Wyoming’s roads as well as reduce maintenance costs and wear and tear on equipment.

“It’s easier to store behind snow fences than it is to plow it,” Spoonemore said. “It’s basically for every dollar we spend on plowing, if we store it, we save three dollars.”

The department may reap the benefits of the storage of that ton of snow many times over for each storm in a given year, and a number of the department’s snow fences have been in place for 30 years, he added.

The efficiency of the snow fence that the department uses now is based on decades of research, begun by Dr. Ron Tabler, who Spoonemore said innovated the industry in his time at WYDOT. Tabler, who was dubbed the Blizzard Wizard, had a 40-year career designing and redesigning snow fences that reduce winter crashes.

Because of the extensive research, WRS knows a drift produced by snow fencing with 50 percent porosity will have a tail 35 times wider than the height of the fence, while less or more porosity will capture less snow.

The team has more than 400 miles of snow fence currently to collect data from and protect the state’s traveling public.

The group is always evaluating new opportunities to improve the safety of the state’s transportation system, and Spoonemore said when problems are identified, the team will set up a portable weather station to study conditions like the prevailing wind to help the team determine the most effective design of new fencing.

The WRS is also currently involved in research to help the department make decisions on what types of snowplow blades to use.

Snowplow blades have a sacrificial edge, which is currently made of carbide steel. The blade edges can be used for between 80-150 service hours of use before they must be replaced. And Spoonemore said each set costs $750. Three 4-foot sections are used each time and changed out on average of once a month during the seven winter-weather-maintenance months. This is an average cost of $5,250 a season per plow in service with the department.
Spoonemore said the department is studying the usefulness of other materials, some of which may have 3-4 times the lifespan of the materials the department currently uses, but the materials being tested also cost more, between $2,000 and $3,000.

Spoonemore said the department will need to get between 600-700 hours to cover additional costs. And with some of the new materials the department is testing, it may be getting the durability for which it is looking.

One blade set has been in use in Lovell for two years, he said, but the department needs to evaluate the actual hours of usage to determine why the blade has lasted so long.

In addition to the extended life, Spoonemore said there may be other cost savings that will not be as easy to quantify.

The department is finding that plows with the new blades require less maintenance and have reduced tire wear because the new materials are lighter than what it is currently using. This means the vehicles not only cost less to maintain but are also out of service less frequently, Spoonemore said.