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Safeguarding the roads

The use of innovative de-icing technologies spreads in Canada
There are many reasons why alternatives to salt, or methods for reducing its
use, are becoming more popular across Canada. Environmental impact and cost are
two of them, but some new de-icing
methods are also providing greater
motorist safety.
Cargill SafeLane is one of
these methods. Part of Cargill Deicing
Technology (with offices in Ontario,
Quebec and the Maritimes), its an
anti-icing and anti-skid overlay system
which protects infrastructure from
water and common contaminates. It
comes in one version for pedestrian
areas and another for roads and
bridges. The adhesive materials in
SafeLane seal the pavement to create a durable bond with the aggregate, and while
installation costs are higher than that of standard overlays, SafeLane extends bridge
life by minimizing water seepage and intrusion of corrosive agents like salt.
But its SafeLanes anti-icing on-demand aspect thats truly unique. The
aggregate in the overlay stores de-icing chemicals and releases them when needed
(these chemicals must be reapplied periodically). The ant-icing action helps prevent
wintry precipitation from bonding to the surface, which can create dangerous
conditions, Cargill Deicing Technology sales leader Sean Riley says. Not only will this
make the surface safer, but it will require less salt to de-ice than normal, reducing
operations costs even further [and reducing run-off to surrounding vegetation].
Because it maintains a higher degree of chemical residual than typical asphalts and
concretes, it allows the maintenance agency increased time between retreatments,
especially in trouble or hard-to-get-to areas.
There have been over 100 SafeLane installations so far in the U.S. and
Canada, including bridge decks, intersections, on/off ramps, and parking
ramps/garages. In terms of how much SafeLane can affect road safety, Riley points to
an independent study conducted by the Colorado Department of Transportation in
2010. Department staff measured the performance of SafeLane on two bridge decks
and concluded it showed excellent skid resistance for both ribbed and smooth tires
after one to two years, and they expected it to continue to be an excellent wearing
surface for at least several more years. The study authors also found that SafeLane
should be considered for use on high-crash rate bridges, where its high cost can be
offset by an increase in traffic safety.
In terms of an exact cost, Riley says its hard to compare SafeLane to other
alternatives. A normal asphalt or concrete overlay will cost less to install, but will not
provide the anti-icing benefits, he notes. A different type of anti-icing technology will
not provide the high friction wear surface or the infrastructure protection that SafeLane
does. He is certain that after installation, the product provides cost savings and
increased safety versus traditional overlays and winter maintenance practices.

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SafeLane must be installed by a contractor whos been trained and licensed by
Cargill. Before placing the overlay on a concrete bridge deck or road surface, it must be
thoroughly cleaned by steel shot blasting. Asphalt surfaces (which m ust be older than
six months) may be sandblasted or planed and textured to an approved depth and
must be free of dust, oil, rubber and other extraneous materials before SafeLane is
applied.

FAST
Fixed Automated Spray Technology (FAST) is a fully-automated system which
applies an environmentally-friendly anti-icing agent onto bridges, based on actual realtime weather pavement conditions, as measured by special sensors installed on the
bridge deck. The technology has been proven to reduce ice build-up, and is most
suitable for surfaces particularly susceptible to early frost. The anti-icing agent is
potassium acetate, which does not corrode steel, concrete or vehicle parts. Its a
biodegradable by-product of potash production that dissipates from the road surface
after about two weeks. FAST is used by most major North American and European
airports to treat their runways.
The FAST system continuously monitors
conditions, and when critical threshold parameters are
detected, spray nozzles at the edge of the shoulder
(flush with the surface) automatically fire the potassium
acetate onto the surface in the direction of travel. After
spraying, the system continues to monitor road
conditions and can do things like reapply the anti-icing
chemical, or in the case of a heavy snowfall, deactivate
itself.
FAST was first used in Ontario in 2000. We are not sure who the actual
inventor of the system is, senior media liaison officer with the Ontario Ministry of
Transportation (MTO) Bob Nichols says. The first known FAST systems were installed
in Europe in the 1990s. The MTO currently operates eight bridge FAST systems, with
the first installation being in Prescott on the Highway 401/416 bridge. Subsequent
bridge installations are in Niagara Falls (QEW/Welland River), Cambridge (Highway
401/Highway 8), Burks Falls (Highway 11/Magnetawan River), Arnprior (Highway
17/Madawaska River), Shannonville (Highway 401/Salmon River), Toronto (Highway
401/Highway 404) and Kitchener (Highway 8/Conestoga Parkway). The MTO is
currently gathering data on these FAST installations to gain a full understanding of their
effectiveness before planning future ones.
Safety has been improved, but the MTO only has limited data to share on that
front. Nichols can tell us that, in the first season of operation at the Highway 401/416
site, there was a 100 per cent reduction in weather-related incidents. Prior, there were
14 reported weather-related incidents in the winter of 1999/2000, he says. We do not
have collision analysis for before-and-after installation available at the other FAST
sites, but observations by field staff suggest a reduction at all sites.
Nichols believes the rationale for installing a FAST system should be based on
a cost/benefit analysis, which takes into account accident statistics. Savings would be
measured in terms of increased safety and improvement in operational response, he
notes. Capital up-front cost and maintenance costs are high. Under specific road and
weather conditions, highway maintenance crews may apply Direct Liquid Application
(DLA) to the road surface. This is an anti-icing solution that is applied prior to a storm
event to address the same objectives as the FAST system sprayers.

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The MTO has not changed the hardware much on its existing FAST systems,
but the agency has installed a Micro-FAST system at Burks Falls on a trial basis to see
how it works. It uses very small spray misters along the crown of the road, rather than
larger spray heads on the shoulders. So far, both systems are operating as expected,
but havent been operating adjacent long enough to demonstrate a complete statistical
analysis of trends or differences, Nichols says. This is the first winter of operation of
the Micro-FAST system and it will be monitored closely to ensure that it works as well
as conventional systems.
In Alberta in 2011, a FAST system with 34 nozzles was installed at the edge of
the eastbound lanes of the North Saskatchewan River bridge in Edmonton. The
Anthony Henday Drive bridge was selected for the provinces FAST pilot program
before its original construction, when the necessary plumbing infrastructure was
installed. A similar device is being used on a Highway 63 bridge near Fort McMurray, a
public affairs officer with Alberta Transportation, Melanie Nolan, says.
No hardware changes have been made to any of the sensors, nor has the
density of nozzles changed since installation, Nolan says. We still use the same spray
programs as originally designed by the FAST vendor. The average annual operating
cost of the system for two winters was approximately
$72,000 We have not compared this to any other
alternative maintenance efforts, she says. Evaluation
of the FAST sites will continue for several more years
before any decisions on further installations will be
made.

Other technologies
This winter, MTO plans on conducting more
tests on some of the newer pre-treated salt options
available. Nichols adds, Mobile road sensors are being
tested this winter that detect and transmit information
on road surface conditions back to the maintenance
patrol office instantaneously to help crews effectively
plan plowing and salting operations.
In the Niagara Region, road crews are using a sugar beet juice compound to
reduce the amount of salt on the roads by as much as 30 per cent. On its website, the
municipality states the sugar beet juice compound is made of equal parts salt brine and
the by-product of the sugar beet juice refining process. Its applied to dry roads as an
anti-icing agent, or as a pre-wetting agent to help salt stick to the ground, reducing the
amount of bounce and scatter of the salt, as well as reducing the amount that has to
be applied. The use of sugar beet juice will trim down the amount of road salt from 85
kg per lane kilometre to 78 kg per lane kilometre, while still achieving the same results,
Nichols says. The Region will see a cost savings of almost $2 per lane kilometre by
using the sugar beet juice. The beet juice will be piloted in Niagara-on-the-Lake,
because of its agriculture and tender fruit areasidentified as high risk in a previous
road salt study.
http://www.rocktoroad.com/roads-paving/technology/safeguarding-the-roads-3069