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Browsing by Subject "Snow removal"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Automated Route Planning and Optimizing Software
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1997-02) Gini, Maria; Zhao, Yiyuan
    This report presents the results of a study of automated route planning and optimizing software to be used by Mn/DOT Metro Division and by Hennepin County for snow plow and for snow and ice control logistical planning. The study has: 1. Produced a uniform set of specifications for the two agencies; 2. Identifyed and analyzed a large number of commercially available software simulation packages for route and logistical planning; 3. Prepared recommendations on how to proceed with the project with a detailed analysis of their advantages and shortcomings.
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    Economic and Environmental Costs and Benefits of Living Snow Fences: Safety, Mobility, and Transportation Authority Benefits, Farmer Costs, and Carbon Impacts
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2012-02) Wyatt, Gary; Zamora, Diomy; Smith, David; Schroeder, Sierra; Paudel, Dinesh; Knight, Joe; Kilberg, Don; Current, Dean; Gullickson, Dan; Taff, Steve
    Blowing and drifting snow on Minnesota's roadways is a transportation efficiency and safety concern. Establishing standing corn rows and living snow fences improves driver visibility, road surface conditions, and has the potential to lower costs of road maintenance as well as accidents attributed to blowing and drifting snow. It also has the potential to sequester carbon and avoid the carbon emissions of snow removal operations. In recent years the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has paid farmers to leave standing corn rows to protect identified snow problem roadways. They have paid farmers $1.50 per bushel above market price. With increasing demand for corn to fuel the ethanol industry, paying $1.50 per bushel above market price may not be sufficient incentive for leaving standing corn rows. Also, with MnDOT’s memorandum of understanding with USDA to plant living snow fences through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), now is an opportune time to review MnDOT’s annual payment structure to farmers and prepare a new one. This project has: 1) developed a calculator to estimate payments for farmers that includes consideration of safety and snow removal cost savings; 2) estimated potential income from carbon payments; 3) worked closely with MnDOT engineers and plow operators, estimated the safety and snow removal costs and carbon emissions avoided by MnDOT through establishing living snow fences; and 4) evaluated farmers’ willingness to establish living snow fences and identified farmers/landowners’ constraints to adoption. Data is provided to MnDOT to assist staff in its decision making related to their Living Snow Fence Program.
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    Effects of throughfall reduction and snow removal on soil physical and biogeochemical properties in aspen forests of northern Minnesota, USA
    (2022-04) Stockstad, Anna
    Climate change is projected to alter precipitation patterns across northern latitudes, with decreased snow accumulation and summer rainfall predicted. These changes may alter soil physical and biogeochemical properties, which would have implications for the operability and productivity of forest soils. Reductions in summer and winter precipitation were simulated using a paired-plot design with throughfall reduction and snow removal across four drainage classes at each of three locations in northern Minnesota, USA. Soil temperature and water content were measured every fifteen minutes to a depth of 60 cm, and soil frost depth (winter) and soil strength (summer) were monitored for two years. Soil respiration and extractable nitrogen were measured during two growing seasons, and a laboratory incubation was performed to test the response of carbon and nitrogen fluxes under controlled conditions. Soil temperature and water content increased from well-drained to poorly-drained soils during the winter and growing season, respectively. Snow removal caused large declines in soil temperature and significantly deeper penetration of frost that varied by drainage class, and there were strong relationships between frost depth and freezing degree days. Throughfall reduction had no effect on soil strength, soil respiration, or extractable nitrogen concentrations. Drainage class was a significant, although limited, indicator of soil strength, soil respiration, and extractable nitrogen concentrations. The laboratory incubation confirmed the lack of treatment effect on soil carbon and nitrogen fluxes, and instead showed that drainage class and soil moisture controlled these fluxes. These findings show that the dominant response of forest soils to reduced seasonal precipitation will occur during the winter with decreased soil temperatures and increased frost depth across drainage classes, which has implications for seasonal timber harvesting in northern latitudes under a changing climate.
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    Estimation of Winter Snow Operation Performance Measures with Traffic-Flow Data, Phase 2
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2015-08) Kwon, Eil; Park, Chongmyung; Hong, Seongah; Jeon, Soobin
    An automatic process is developed to determine the normal condition regain time (NCRT) using the traffic flow data for a given snow event. To reflect the different traffic flow behavior during day and night time periods, two types of the normal conditions are defined for each detector station. The normal condition for day time is defined with the average speed-density patterns under dry weather conditions, while the time-dependent average speed patterns are used for representing night time periods. In particular, the speed-density functions for the speed recovery and reduction periods were calibrated separately for a given location to address the well-known traffic hysteresis phenomenon. The resulting NCRT estimation process determines the NCRT as the time when the speed level on a given snow day recovers to the target level of the normal recovery speed at the corresponding density for the day time periods. The sample application results with the snow routes in Twin Cities, Minnesota, show the promising possibilities for the estimated NCRT values to be used as the reliable operational measures, which could address the subjectivity and inconsistency issues associated with the current bare-lane regain times determined through visual inspections.
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    Web-Based Preventative Blowing and Drifting Snow Control Calculator Decision Tool
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2015-05) Wyatt, Gary; Zamora, Diomy; Smith, David; Gullickson, Dan; Current, Dean
    Blowing and drifting snow on Minnesota's roadways are transportation efficiency and safety concerns. Establishing standing corn rows, living and structural snow fences or proper grading during road construction improves driver visibility and road surface conditions and has the potential to lower costs of road maintenance as well as crashes attributed to blowing and drifting snow. These snow control solutions can also provide environmental benefits including carbon sequestration and avoidance of carbon emissions of snow removal operations. In recent years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has paid farmers to establish snow control practices to protect identified snow problem roadways. Using public funds to pay landowners to establish land practices, which benefit the public and reduce MnDOT winter costs, needs to be justified. In 2012, our research team created a Microsoft Excel cost-benefit-payment calculator to estimate payments to farmers that included consideration of safety and snow removal cost savings to the public and the transportation agency. We worked closely with MnDOT engineers and plow operators to estimate the safety and snow removal costs. This project translated the Microsoft Excel tool to a web-based tool that can be used on laptops, smartphones and tablets. Beta testing has been done with transportation officials to improve the web tool. Outreach plans are being conducted to inform transportation agencies of this tool and the cost benefit analysis it offers.