South Dakota Blowing Snow Mitigation Strategies, Prioritization, and Implementation

Details

• Creators:
  Villwock-Witte, Natalie ; Fay, Laura ; Clouser, Karalyn ; Ahlenius, Kathy ; Bell, Matthew
• Corporate Creators:
  Montana State University. Western Transportation Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  South Dakota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Blowing Snow Implementation Interviewing Literature Reviews Living Snow Fence Maintenance Methodology Prioritization Methodology Rural Highways Snow Fences Snow Removal Structural Snow Fence Traffic Mitigation Travel

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  SD2023-06-F
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; South Dakota
• Edition:
  Final Report: March 2024 – December 2025
• Corporate Publisher:
  South Dakota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research
• Abstract:
  Blowing and drifting snow on the roadway can cause major challenges for safety and mobility, as well as increased maintenance needs. This challenge can be particularly problematic in more rural locations where the distance for a snowplow to travel to treat an impacted roadway can be longer. In addition, if a road were to shut down due to weather impacts, there may be fewer alternative routes available for the traveling public, resulting in decreased access to potentially critical services. The 2021-2022 winter in South Dakota resulted in record-breaking snowfall, and with it, significant costs for winter maintenance operations. As a result, the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) is seeking to reduce the need for mechanical snow removal by controlling the blowing snow before it impacts roadways. To do so, literature on the topic of blowing snow mitigation was reviewed, interviews with surrounding states were conducted to gain insight on snow fence implementation and challenges, interviews with SDDOT maintenance staff were conducted where blowing snow problem areas were identified, blowing snow problem areas on South Dakota rural highways were mapped, the top 100 problem areas were prioritized utilizing a data-driven approach, and finally, a guidance document was developed to assist users with planning-level mitigation measures that could be applied to the identified areas.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  311625
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:25afbcae99a29b60703dd309cee7ec58ba782fa6813953b87ce824d3dce4d3762ace9bec8f1de81e0fb4070ba5ed440bb079d7742f61d63535d5af19ef9de9df
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/89190/dot_89190_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 18.91 MB ]