AASHTO Liaison
Rick Nelson, SICOP Coordinator
rnelson@aashto.org
Have you ever been part of one of those conversations that you wished others could have been in on too? The SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast is just that opportunity to listen in on thought provoking conversations with experts and practitioners who have walked the walk. Devoted to all things winter maintenance and road weather related, our guests and topics range from practical to academic, tactical to strategic, and the folks who get the job done.
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When it comes to winter operations it’s easy to become focused on the tasks at hand but getting information to the motoring public is critical to helping them make smart…
What are some key elements to improve winter resilience of roads to severe winter conditions? In 2020 Mark Corbin, Highways Key Route Network Manager at Transport for West Midlands, received…
How do maintenance managers know what’s in deicing chemicals and do they meet the specifications? Many years ago a group of states in the pacific northwest region of the US…
There are many different alternative methods and equipment available to perform winter maintenance. In this episode Jed Falgren and Jeff Perkins from the Minnesota DOT talks about a new strategy…
The Federal Highway Administration Road Weather Management Program plays an important role in winter maintenance across the nation. Contributing significant work in the development of Maintenance Decision Support Systems and…
What is El Nino and how do the Tradewinds influence the weather on the east coast? We’ve all heard the terms atmospheric rivers, the polar vortex, Siberian Express and others,…
There are many different alternative methods and equipment available to perform winter maintenance. In this episode Laura Fay from the Western Transportation Institute at the University of Montana talks about…
We’ll probably all agree that in person training is preferred and the social networking with colleagues is an added benefit. However, in todays environment of social distancing, instructor lead training…
Having sustainable winter maintenance practices is one of the Top 10 things for a world class winter maintenance program. Environmental considerations is one of the three pillars of sustainability along…
The Covid pandemic has dramatically altered the way we do business and maintenance has not been immune. In this episode we’re having a discussion with the leadership of the AASHTO…
In this episode of SICOP Talks Winter Ops were visiting with Frank Rizzardo, President of Emcon Services, an employee owned construction company, with maintenance contracts across Canada that includes providing…
Road Weather Information Systems or RWIS provides invaluable data about road weather and the real-time condition of the roadway during winter events. When RWIS began to be deployed back in…
Maintenance Decision Support Systems or MDSS are an excellent tool to help maintenance managers evaluate all the important information about a storm including the output from advanced forecasting tools and…
Colorado DOT and Front Range Community College collaborated in the creation of the first Highway Management Program in the nation. Developed strictly for current highway maintenance personnel this two-year degree…
The most important element of a successful winter maintenance program are the employees. Having a well trained, efficient, and alert workforce is a key to success. However, working long hours…
Lots can be learned from see how others approach winter operations. James Morin of the Washington State DOT had the opportunity to interact with the Norwegian Road Authority and compare…
One of the primary missions of SICOP is to promote work advancing winter maintenance operations. Clear Roads is a consortia of states conducting practical research in winter maintenance. In this…
In the 4th State Showcase webinar Vince Garcia, Wyoming DOT, along with Jeremy McGuffey, Indiana DOT and Darcy Bullock, Purdue University describe projects to improve safety and mobility during winter…
Recording at the TRB Annual Meeting, Wilf Nixon returns to SICOP Talks Winter Maintenance to visit about winter maintenance and the new Professional Snowfighters Association (PSA). The PSA is a…
In this episode Steve Lund, SICOP Chairman and Rick Nelson, SICOP Coordinator, recap SICOP activities from the past year. From producing episodes of SICOP Talks Winter Ops to hosting State…
When you talk about maintaining mobility during inclement weather, one group of folks that can make it or break it for the maintenance crews are the weather forecasters. On this…
No part of the country is immune from the effects of winter weather. Winter storms in the southern reaches of the US are particularly difficult to deal with. Events severe…
In this 3rd State Showcase webinar Natalie Roark and Travis Teter of the Missouri DOT discuss the development of an automated highway flagger station centered around a trailer mounted impact…
SICOP Talks Winter Ops with Rod Schilling from the Nevada DOT as he talks about Integrated Mobile Observations. Obtaining data about the weather and other things happening onboard snow plows…
SICOP Talks Winer Ops with Laura Fay. Who are you going to call when you have a perplexing problem in Winter maintenance. Why,Laura Fay at the Western Transportation Institute of…
SICOP talks winter ops with Dan Eriksson from the Swedish Road Administration. While State DOT’s here in the United States self perform the vast majority of winter maintenance they are…
SICOP talks winter ops with Paul Pisano. Paul had a very productive career with the Federal Highway Administration retiring as the Road Weather Management and Work Zone Team Leader. During…
One of the benefits of the Connected Vehicle Pilot Project is the ability to generate weather alerts including high wind blow over hazard warnings. This system is proving to be…
In the 2nd State Showcase webinar Joe Thompson, New York State DOT Snow and Ice Program Manager and Todd Cook, South Carolina DOT District Maintenance Engineer present their use of…
Weather Responsive Management Strategies is one of the rapid deployment initiatives that is part of the FHWA program Every Day Counts. Every Day Counts is a program that helps states…
Controlling drifting snow has been a winter maintenance challenge for as long as there has been the desire to have mobility. Departments of transportation have using these structures for many…
Keeping the public moving in all weather conditions is an orchestrated dance between the maintenance forces, the network operators, and the public. The actions of one influences the reactions of…
Observing the approach our colleagues take in addressing a particular situation is the purest form of grass-roots technology transfer. Even if your particular situation doesn't exactly match theirs, their approach…
Maintenance is used to responding to severe weather but when the storm escalates into a state of emergency maintenance becomes just one of the players addressing the event. Clear Roads…
SICOP exists to support member states in fulfilling their winter maintenance mission. As one of AASHTOs Technical Service Programs we are supported through voluntary contributions made by state DOTs. Throughout…
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Agencies have been performing winter maintenance in one manner or another for a hundred years. Measuring how well we’ve been doing is a…
Why do travelers make the decisions they do during bad weather is a much more difficult question than many transportation agencies are geared up to answer. The trinity of successful…
The Transportation Research Board is a lot more than the week long Annual Meeting that happens every January. Listen in as SICOP Talks Winter Ops with James Bryant, TRBs Maintenance…
How did the evolution of modern winter maintenance take place? What significant milestones ushered in the tools that make up the modern winter maintenance tool box? Lee Smithson, formerly of…
Many agencies have been collecting a lot of data, GPS/AVL coordinates, RWIS, mobile observations, photos and the like. Now comes the time to ask So What? Until you do something…
Wisconsin liquid truck Agencies have been using salt brines and a variety of other liquid concoctions for years as a winter maintenance strategy. Pre-wetting stockpiles, pre-wetting at the spinner, slurries,…
Having an efficient and effective winter maintenance program is built largely on having the right resources at the right place at the right time. This begs to question, Which way…
It’s no surprise that having the right equipment, in the right place is one of the top-10 things you should have to be a world class winter maintenance operation. Caltrans…
The true value in a forecast is when folks actually use them and make smart decisions in response to the weather. Road weather forecasts are specifically focused on how the…
Having timely and accurate road weather forecasts is one of the top-10 things you should have to be a world class winter maintenance operation. Utah DOT has a program where…
Using sustainable winter maintenance practices is one of the top-10 things you should be doing to have a world class winter maintenance program but what does being sustainable mean? Sustainability…
In the struggle to second guess Mother Nature when preparing your winter maintenance budget winter will always win, often at the expense of other maintenance activities. Having adequate budget is…
A short while back SICOP took to social media with the goal of identifying the 10 most important things an agency should do to have a world class winter maintenance…
A short while back SICOP set about to identify the Top-10 things that would be necessary to have a world class winter maintenance program. Using crowd-sourced data we hit upon…
Tina Greenfield and Kathy Ahlenius give some insight into the Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees they chair and how you can participate in this enriching activity. Tina chairs TRB Committee…
Steve Lund, SICOP's Chairman and State Maintenance Engineer for the Minnesota DOT visits with Rick Nelson about the SICOP program. We discuss what SICOP is, what we do, and the…
Introduction to the SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast. The podcast of AASHTOs Winter Maintenance Technical Service Program - SICOP https://www.buzzsprout.com/91730/568361-welcome-to-sicop-talks-winter-ops.mp3 Send comments to Rick Nelson, SICOP Coordinator Start a…
