...for slippery road residue that led to a fatal accident. A 1993 report from the Turner-Fairbanks Research Center found cases where the pavement swelled and cracked as the product absorbed moisture.

But Verglimit promoters says it got an unfair rap. The 1988 accident “was due to a faulty mixing procedure where our guidelines were not followed. Verglimit was cleared of fault,” says Cam Kamula, spokesperson for Ontario-based Infrastructure Ltd., a supplier. Moreover, the chemical makeup has been modified over time. “We now add the bags to the hot-mix asphalt without pre-opening and screening the material. This provides easier addition and better quality control,” Kamula says.

Ron Cione,  public works director for Whitpain Township in Blue Bell, Penn., says the application has worked well on a steep connector to a state highway after application 20 years ago. “It has saved my department numerous overtime hours and many tons of salt,” he says. 

Boschung America, LLC Anti-icers keep ice from bonding with road surface, which creates slipperiness.

Cione notes that installation takes a bit of understanding. “The encapsulating material for the anti-icing pellet sometimes leaves a residue on the surface of the new pavement, causing it to attract moisture on a humid day. This may cause tires to lose traction,” he says. Applying sand, brooming the surface and flushing it with a high-pressure washer three or four times post-installation solved the problem, he adds. 

High-tech ways of deploying the de-icer of one’s choice are proliferating as well. Iowa DOT mechanics customized trucks that can mix 500 gallons of liquid and salt and then distribute it evenly, says Dennis Burkheimer, IDOT winter operations administrator. They also designed multiple-blade plows for slush and for catching snow that the front blades miss, so that fewer passes are needed.

Ocie Adams, project director with Alaska’s Dept. of Transportation and Public Facilities, says testing began in 2003 on an intelligent specialty vehicle system developed at the University of Minnesota. The system uses GPS and collision avoidance tools to help the driver stay in the lane during a storm.

In the $140,000 test installations on a snowplow and snowblower truck, “the system produces a picture of the roadway displayed on the plastic player inside the cab. It lets the driver see the center lines, and objects in the road,” Adams says.

Other deployment systems are not mobile, but fixed and automatic. Fixed  Automated Spray Technology (FAST) systems are a high-tech investment that some DOTs are embracing. But others are waiting for more hard proof and proceeding cautiously due to unfamiliarity, cost or bureaucracy.

Switzerland-based Boschung Inc. in 1999 sold its first American FAST system to Pennsylvania DOT. On three bridges, PennDOT spent about $400,000 to install deck spray nozzles that “know” when and how much to spray deicing agents by measuring moisture, temperature and other factors. Pipes connect the nozzles to a 150-gal fluid reservoir. “We’re still gathering facts about paybacks and dividends,” says PennDOT district manager William Monstrola, noting that he would like to have more systems.

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation in 2000 tested Boschung’s system on a 165-meter stretch of the 401/416 interchange, the first test of its kind in Canada. “In the first season of operation, there was a 100% reduction in weather-related collisions,” says Rick Hofstetter, a ministry maintenance superintendent.

MinnDOT’s St. Paul district has two installations, and maintenance engineer Chris Beckwith says crashes were reduced by 60% in one year. The $1.2-million installation on an Interstate 35 bridge is sprayed with potassium acetate, an environmentally friendly deicer. “It’s almost $3 a gallon as opposed to less than 50 cents for salt—but it’s only sprayed when needed,” she notes.

Some U.S. firms got into—and out of—the FAST business, and DOT officials note glitches and maintenance issues with some installations. Boschung’s major competitor is Chicago-based Quixote Inc., which sells a system that can be activated by cellphone or computer. FAST has been a niche since 2000, with 31 installations, says Don Pyde, a Quixote spokesman. Acknowledging that Boschung invented the concept, he adds: “We’ve brought in several iterations and improvements to be on par with them.”

Industry officials generally regard Boschung as the “Cadillac” of the FAST market. Boschung officials claim a comprehensive package for road surface management, including diagnostics, precise deployment of chemicals, software and training, plus greater accuracy when determining a road’s true freezing point.

Penn. DOT	Penn. DOT
Disks in road deploy anti-icing chemicals before road freezes.

Boschung’s biggest showcase is in Austria, where it is managing the deployment of 1,500 miles of fully integrated surface management, including 700 weather stations and FAST systems where needed. Although “still in its infancy” in the U.S., 15 states installed 40 systems in the past six years, says Bill Gorse, general manager for Boschung America LLC. A $2-million system will be installed on the $80-million, 1,722-ft Galena Creek Bridge near Reno, plus an RWIS station, says NDOT’s Nelson. “We visited the Minnesota DOT system and that decided us,” he says.

Boschung has debuted a micronozzle model that features smaller disks at fewer intervals along a deck, says Chris Ragucci, president of Centurion Systems, New York City. That can cut 30% off the typical cost, he says. Centurion and Yonkers Contracting, Yonkers, N.Y., are in a joint venture to act as certified installers or consultants to area firms. 

Slow Going

The concept of FAST still faces some resistance. A 2002 Transportation Research Board report described a homegrown FAST system of nozzles spaced 20 ft apart on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1998/

1999. The author recommended further research. But Paul Schwartz, New York City DOT’s bridge preventative maintenance director, says he started his job in 2003 after the decision was made to discontinue the nozzles. “We still have to look into [FAST systems] and decide what the pros and cons are,” he says.

Oklahoma DOT uses a FAST system developed by a former employee, but “we don’t automate it,” says maintenance engineer Kevin Bloss. “We don’t want to rely on the computer. We’d rather put the decision-making in the power of real live person.” Mike Owen, roadway design engineer with the Nebraska Dept. of Roads, says it nixed installing a $3.5-million Boschung system on a 4,000-ft-long twin-span bridge several years ago because it was “an expensive risk.” But it now is reconsidering, he says.

Officials concur that special deicers and FAST systems are best for high-risk, remote locations not easily reached by crews. “They are good for spots, but so expensive that you can’t use them everywhere,” says Dan Roosevelt, research scientist with Virginia DOT. New Jersey DOT is successfully using a Boschung system on Route 78, but is also increasing its use of pre-applied salt brine. “We can’t put all our eggs in one basket,” says Jeff Callahan, NJDOT assistant commissioner.

Sophistication and choices in environmentally friendly deicers, technology and predictions will increase, says Nixon, who hopes for better methods of measuring deicing residue. “We are now a vibrant community of winter maintenance and new things are always happening.”

FHWA next month will choose regional partners to develop and demonstrate Clarus, an initiative to expand on MDSS concepts and create an all-weather management system for roads and rail, says Pisano. “We see Clarus as a way to create products that we may not even have envisioned yet,” he says. Nationwide deployment could begin in 2009.