Optimize Pre-Wetting for Sustainable Winter Road Maintenance

This research presents the findings from a field study aiming at comparing the performance of different pre wet ratios using salt for their impacts on snow melting performance/friction of road surfaces under different weather conditions. The research was motivated by the question, whether or not more sustainability can be achieved by using higher ratios of pre wetting. Field tests were conducted on three sections of a provincial highway in Southwest Ontario in the winter season 2016/2017 comparing the performance of higher pre wet ratios (10% and 20%) compared to the 5% conventional figure. Using comparative analysis, results shows that use of pre-wet salt at both 10% and 20% improves road surface conditions by approximately 10% compared to the 5% pre wet rate whereas the difference between the performance of 10% and 20% pre wet rate is minimal.

 

KEYWORDS: Winter Road Maintenance/ Pre-Wet Salting / Sustainability