Talkin Winter Ops

You would think that it wouldn’t be difficult to see something as big as a snowplow but during a winter storm event at night you’d be surprised how hard it is recognize a slow moving maintenance vehicle.  In this episode Jeff Pifer, Director of the Equipment Division at the West Virginia Division of Highways discusses techniques that are being used to make snowplows and other maintenance vehicles more conspicuous.  Vehicle color, l...

Whenever you mix snowplows, winter storms, and motorists on the same stretch of pavement everyone needs to be at the top of their game in vehicles equipped for conditions.  Most of the time folks get where there headed and the roads get cleared without incident. But, there are times when vehicles get tangled up with a snow plow and the outcomes can be catastrophic. 

On this episode we’ve got Jed Falgren, State Maintenance Engineer f...

When it comes to liquid deicing products how do you know you’re getting what you paid for and that it’s likely to perform as promised?  The Nebraska DOT has been working on developing a easy to run, repeatable, and cost effective test method to determine the ice melting capacity of liquid deicing products.

Mike Mattison and Jasmine Dondlinger of the Nebraska DOT take us on the journey this test method has taken from the initial idea...

There’s lots of discussion going on these days regarding artificial intelligence or AI.  Like it or not you’re probably using or at least taking advantage of AI applications right now and you might not even know it.  Winter operations takes place in an environment well suited for AI applications to provide assistance across a broad spectrum of activities from road weather forecasting to decision support to operator assistance in th...

Public works agencies have struggled for years recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce. These challenges have reached critical levels for many agencies since the pandemic. In this episode were Talkin’ Winter Ops with the City of Columbus Department of Public Service Human Resource Officer Lauren Hunter and Infrastructure Operations Coordinator Scott Lucas about a recruiting program that takes them into the Ohio Reformatory for...

Part 3 of our workforce recruiting and retention series showcases a grass roots program the Washington State DOT launched a few years back to encourage high school students to consider a career in transportation maintenance.  Pasco Bakotich, State Maintenance Engineer for the Washington State DOT explains the program, the benefits they’ve seen, and success they’ve witnessed by bringing these young adults into the maintenance family...

Part 2 of the workforce series focuses on the No Boundaries synthesis Innovation strategies in Recruiting and Retention with Sandi Sauter, Deputy Director of Operations for the Maryland State Highway Administration. This episode zeros in on recruiting and retention and steps that some states are taking to include all segments of the applicant pool. Check out the No Boundaries synthesis at this link https://maintainroads.org/respons...

The topic of workforce, recruiting, and retention has dominated the discussion for years, but nowadays the issue seems particularly acute. In Part 1 of a 4 part series on workforce we’re focusing on a domestic scan conducted by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) recently conducted titled Leading Practices in Strategic Workforce Management by Transportation Agencies.  During the Committee on Maintenance annual...

Introducing the transformation of SICOP to the AASHTO Winter Weather Management Technical Service Program and SICOP Talks Winter Ops to Talkin Winter Ops.  With the re-branding of SICOP we're re-branding the podcast as well.  Same program, same podcast, with a new look.

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There’s a lot of ways we use salt in winter operations from solids to pre-wet, brines straight up or blended, and combinations of all of the above.  regardless how you use it there a lot of chemistry going on when you put it on a snow packed or about to be snow packed road.  Our guest for this episode is Dr. Scott Koefod who's an inorganic chemist with 30 plus years of experience researching various aspects and uses of salt wh...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the FHWA Road Weather Management Program.

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the A...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the No Boundaries Pooled Fund Study.

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the AASHTO...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the  Northwest Passage Pooled Fund Study.

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the A...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the American Meteorological Society's ITS and Surface Transportation Committee

This briefing seri...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the American Public Works Association (APWA) Snow and Ice Committee.

This briefing series is produced ...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the Professional Snowfighters Association.

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with the ...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the PIARC Winter Service Technical Committee

This briefing series is produced in collaboration with th...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the Transportation Research Board Road Weather Committee AKR50.

This briefing series is produced in co...

4th National Briefing on Winter Maintenance and Road Weather give organizations working in the severe weather and maintenance operations space an opportunity to showcase their recent efforts to advance the state of the practice through collaboration, research, technical support, and implementation.  This briefing features the Transportation Research Board Winter Maintenance Committee.

This briefing series is produced in co...