Print this page FHWA Best Practices for Road Weather Management
Mark P. Rossow, PhD, PE Retired
Course Outline
This five-hour online course describes three types of mitigation measures: advisory; control; and treatment strategies. Advisory strategies provide information on prevailing and predicted conditions to both transportation managers and motorists. Control strategies alter the state of roadway devices to permit or restrict traffic flow and regulate roadway capacity. Treatment strategies supply resources to roadways to minimize or eliminate weather impacts. Many treatment strategies involve coordination of traffic, maintenance, and emergency management agencies. These road weather management strategies are employed in response to various weather threats including fog, high winds, snow, rain, ice, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, and avalanches.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Methods for informing drivers about predicted adverse weather;
- Use of various devices to detect poor visibility and road conditions automatically, without the need for transportation personnel to be present;
- Strategies for minimizing road damage caused by winter storms;
- Effectiveness of various warning systems and road-maintenance techniques as measured by improved safety or reduced costs;
- Implementation problems that may arise with some of the warning systems and road-maintenance techniques;
- Protocols and devices for communicating to transportation managers that potentially dangerous weather conditions exist at some locations in the road network;
- Descriptions of specific system components, including hardware, software, and personnel; and
- Strategies for discouraging or, in severe cases, completely restricting drivers’ access to highways, as storm intensity increases.
Intended Audience
This course is intended primarily for transportation engineers and managers concerned with the operation and maintenance of highway systems.
Benefit to Attendees
Persons completing this course will be familiar with best practices in road weather management practices and will be able to judge which practices are appropriate for their agency.
Course Introduction
Weather threatens surface transportation nationwide and impacts roadway safety, mobility, and productivity. Weather affects roadway safety through increased crash risk, as well as exposure to weather-related hazards. Weather impacts roadway mobility by increasing travel time delay, reducing traffic volume throughput and speeds, increasing speed variance (i.e., a measure of speed uniformity), and decreasing roadway capacity (i.e., maximum rate at which vehicles can travel). Weather events influence productivity by disrupting access to road networks, and increasing road operating and maintenance costs.
Course Content
This course is based on the document, “Best Practices for Road Weather Management,” Version 3.0 of the Federal Highway Administration Technical Report No. FHWA- HOP-12-046, June, 2012.
FHWA Best Practices for Road Weather Management
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Course Summary
Various devices, procedures and methods are described that are useful in the operation and maintenance of highway systems under adverse weather conditions.
Related Links
For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publications.htm#rwm
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
