Integrated vegetation management (IVM) for INDOT roadsides.

Details

• Creators:
  Herold, Jamie M. ; Lowe, Zachary E. ; Dukes, Jeffrey S.
• Corporate Creators:
  Purdue University. Joint Transportation Research Program
• Corporate Contributors:
  Indiana. Dept. of Transportation ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Roadside
  • Right of way (Land)
  • Vegetation
  • Landscape maintenance
  • Mowing
  • Herbicides
  • Native plants
  • Cost effectiveness
  • Field studies
  • Weed control
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/IN/JTRP-2013/08
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Indiana
• Corporate Publisher:
  Purdue University. Joint Transportation Research Program
• Abstract:
  With over 90,000 miles of road in Indiana, it is important that adjoining vegetation be maintained for safety concerns, road structure ; maintenance and aesthetics. Mowing is currently the main form of vegetation management on INDOT (Indiana Department of ; Transportation) roadside. Ever‐increasing fuel costs and the high labor demand associated with mowing leads to millions of dollars spent ; on in‐house and contract mowing cycles each year. Drastic cost reductions can be achieved by reducing mowing cycles through the ; incorporation of other management tools including herbicide and native plantings. This study provides data on six herbicide tank ; mixtures (Milestone/Escort; Milestone/Escort/Plateau; Perspective; Perspective/Plateau; Viewpoint/Streamline; and 2,4‐ ; D/Escort/Plateau) and two mowing cycles (one‐cycle and two‐cycle) at six sites across the state. All herbicide treatments decreased ; broadleaf cover better than mowing treatments. Herbicide treatments containing Plateau, a plant growth regulator that retards coolseason ; grass growth, had the shortest grass height. Herbicide mixtures without Plateau were still shorter than mowing plots due to the ; seedhead suppression qualities found in the selective broadleaf herbicides. A cost savings of over 40% is achieved with one application ; of herbicide in lieu of one cycle of mowing. Further cost savings can be achieved through the planting of native vegetation, which was ; the focus of the second portion of this project. Four native seed mixes (western wheat, short grass, tall grass and short grass with forbs) ; were analyzed for use on right‐of‐ways. Successful native plantings have reduced maintenance costs for many DOTs across the country ; by eliminating mowing and herbicide needs. Drought and persistent weeds at study sites resulted in a sparse covering of native species ; during the year after planting. This is not uncommon for native roadside planting studies since many native grass species require two to ; three growing seasons to establish.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SPR-3414
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27785/dot_27785_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.61 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:99eb779d4c5f7b4379f5b1d158c9eeda80761df396f324880e1fb9eaecf9d968