Talkin Winter Ops

Latest Episodes:

Episode 79: 4th National Briefing - MDSS Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation. This briefing features the Maintenance Decision Support System Pooled Fund Study.
This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the AASHTO Maintenance Committee, the Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group, and the Winter Weather Management Technical Service Program - SICOP.
Watch the video at this link:
https://youtu.be/x1ZTNzOm41E
For more information contact:
Dave Huft Dave.Huft@state.sd.us
Shawn Truelson shawn.truelson@dtn.com
Visit the MDSS website at https://mdss.dtn.com

Sign up for email notifications on future episodes and other communications associated with winter maintenance and winter weather management by clicking on subscribe on the Talkin' Winter Ops website at TalkinWinterOps.com
Thanks for listening in and stay safe out there!

Episode 78: 4th National Briefing - Aurora Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the AASHTO Maintenance Committee, the Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group, and the Winter Weather Management Technical Service Program - SICOP.

Watch the video at https://youtu.be/iJo_v1GmRXM

For more information Contact :
Tonya Lohman tonya.lohman@modot.mo.gov
Zach Hans zhans@iastate.edu
Visit the Aurora website at
https://aurora-program.org/

Episode 77: 4th National Briefing - Clear Roads Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

Watch the video at https://youtu.be/Aqa0KU0dguM

For more information Contact :
Craig Bargfrede craig.bargfrede@iowadot.us
Greg Waidley greg.waidley@ctcandassociates.com
Visit the Clear Roads website at
https://clearroads.org/

Episode 76: 4th National Briefing - Winter Weather Management - SICOP Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

Watch the video at https://youtu.be/YbPUTsB7C9o

For more information Contact :
Rick Nelson rnelson@aashto.org
Brad Darr bdarr@nd.gov
Joe Thompson Joe.Thompson@dot.ny.gov
Heath Patterson hpatterson@mdot.ms.gov
Becky Allmeroth Rebecca.Allmeroth@modot.mo.gov
Doug McBroom dmcbroom@mt.gov
Visit our website at
https://sicop.transportation.org

Episode 75: 4th National Briefing - Maintenance Operations TWG Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

Watch the video at https://youtu.be/L9k7pcz4sZY

For more information Contact:

Brad Darr bdarr@nd.gov
Emily McGraw emcgraw@ncdot.gov
Natalie Roark Natalie.Roark@modot.mo.gov

Episode 74: 4th National Briefing - Introduction Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

For more information about this national briefing or the Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group contact:
Brad Darr bdarr@nd.gov
Rick Nelson rnelson@aashto.org

Episode 73: The MODOT Management System - The next generation Jun 19, 2023

Show notes

When your agency is responsible for vast amounts of infrastructure and performs hundreds of activities with thousands of employees having a robust management information system is imperative. On this episode Michael Middleton of the Missouri Department of Transportation and Project Director for MoDOT Management System talks about the development and implementation of their new maintenance management system.

Easy to input data for the employees, easy to extract information for managers, this system is a one-stop shop for employees. It’s not just maintenance activity based, this system includes a safety management component focusing on employee safety. This MMS has become such a powerful tool for the agency that it has become the MODOT Management System
Chapter marks
0:00 Intro with Becky
4:10 Kicking off the project / system requirements
9:55 COTS vs develop in house?
18:31 Roll out - champions
22:54 initial system functions
28:51 Safety module
40:28 Additional resources-videos
43:44 wrap up
For more information on the MoDOT Management System contact the Project Director, Michael Middleton at michael.Middleton@modot.mo.gov
or Check out these MODOT videos on the MODOT Management System
MMS Phase 1 – Documentation and Dashboards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjPBFRuxwlA

MMS Phase 2 - Work Plans and Budget module.
https://youtu.be/lcOjUlCxe1E

Safety Management Module
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BZJMQ8evSco?rel=0%20

Story Board for Safety Module
https://youtu.be/kkNf06eGDro

New Incident reporting module
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx1Edm6EShs&t=3s

Episode 72: Designing in salt reduction May 22, 2023

Show notes

Management of salt and salt reduction isn’t solely on the shoulders of maintenance operations. In many cases salt use is necessary to address problematic areas that maybe could have been mitigated with a more winter sensitive design. On this episode were visiting with Connie Fortin, Todd Hubmer, and Chris Chromy of Bolton & Menk on their approach with a new perspective on designs to optimize winter operations and minimizing the need for salt.

Designing new facilities or retrofitting existing facilities is the result of hundreds of tradeoffs and compromises with the goal of reaching the optimal sub-optimal solution. Long term operational costs of a highway facilities can include pavement maintenance, rehabilitation schedules, safety benefits, and other costs but seldom include the costs of winter maintenance like chemicals, equipment, and level of effort to provide a resilient network. Maximizing solar radiation, minimizing drifting snow, and eliminating the repeat offenders where melt water refreezes can dramatically reduce the need for chemicals throughout the life of the facilities.

For more information about winter sensitive design considerations you can contact Connie Fortin, Senior Project Manager at connie.fortin@bolton-menk.com , Todd Hubmer, Principal Water Resource Engineer at Todd.Hubmer@bolton-menk.com, or Chris Chromy, Senior Principal Transportation Engineer at Chris.Chromy@bolton-menk.com
0:00 Introduction
1:14 Chloride use is a blessing and a curse
4:03 unique things to consider in design
7:50 The maintenance worker has to live with the design we give them
11:53 Design possibilities for existing infrastructure
13:18 Vegetation options
14:28 A different thought process
17:45 Geometric considerations
20:40 Safety considerations
22:30 Challenges
28:02 Advise to owners contemplating a design in winter regions
33.14 Listening vs understanding
35:28 Signoff

Episode 71: Alternate fuels for winter maintenance part 2 Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

As soon as that first snow plow was attached to a horse drawn wagon folks have been looking a other fuels to accomplish the winter maintenance mission for a variety of reasons including performance, availability of fuels, or environmental considerations. What defines an alternate fuel depends on your current situation with regards to fleet, engines, and powertrain. A recently completed Clear Roads project, 21-05: Evaluation of EVT and Alternative Fuels for Winter Operations provided a comprehensive look at this topic.

In this episode project champion Justin Droste, Michigan DOT and the research team lead by Kate Vigneau, Matrix Consulting Group, and Russ Owens of Energetics set the stage for transitioning a winter maintenance fleet to alternative fuels.

For more information you can review the Clear Roads report at this link: https://clearroads.org/project/21-05/

or you can ask specific questions or discuss this topic with our guests by sending them an email at the above links.

Episode 70: Alternate fuels for winter maintenance-Part 1 Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

As soon as that first snowplow was attached to a horse drawn wagon officials have been looking at other fuels to accomplish the winter maintenance mission for a variety of reasons including performance, availability of fuels, or environmental considerations. What defines an alternate fuel depends on your current situation with regards to fleet, engines, and powertrain. A recently completed Clear Roads project, 21-05: Evaluation of EVT and Alternative Fuels for Winter Operations provided a comprehensive look at this topic.

In this episode project champion Justin Droste, Michigan Department of Transportation and the research team lead by Kate Vigneau, Matrix Consulting Group, and Russ Owens of Energetics set the stage for transitioning a winter maintenance fleet to alternative fuels by looking at the requirements for winter maintenance and the alternative fuel possibilities.

For more information you can review the Clear Roads report at this link: https://clearroads.org/project/21-05/ or you can ask specific questions or discuss this topic with our guests by sending them an email at the above links.

0:00 Introduction
1:30 Clear Roads project development
3:47 Considerations for alternative fuels
8:23 Alternate fuels currently being utilized
9:27 Biodiesel and biodiesel blends
13:35 What do the engine and truck manufacturers have to say
16:48 Renewable fuels
19:18 Compressed gasses for fuels
22:59 Fuel cells and battery electric vehicles (BEV)
26:07 Operational requirements
31:09 What’s next
31:44 Sign off

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