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NS769: Best practices to prevent seal coat damage from underbody plow blades

Problem and objectives

Snowplows are a critical part of roadway maintenance during the winter; keeping roadways clear of snow is critical to the continued operational effectiveness and safety of roadways. Despite these benefits, plowing operations can incur incidental costs, most notably related pavement damage (sealcoats) caused by plowing; especially from underbody blades (trucks and motor graters). To be effective, plows must apply constant downward pressure to remove snow; however, excessive pressure can cause damage to both the underlying pavement and the blade’s cutting edges.
To address these concerns, this project will synthesize current best practice on the operation of snowplows as it relates to the plow pressure, effective snow removal and the resulting effect on a pavement’s surface. There are several questions around plowing that will be addressed:

  • What impact do variables like plow angle have on damage/cost?
  • What types of cutting edges are ideal for underbody plow use?
  • For underbody plows, what is the optimal downward pressure setting? Plow angle/tilt setting?
  • Is damage to seal coat roadways caused by the plow or issues with the seal coat?
  • How does the size of chip (FA2 vs FA3 or FA3 modified) affect potential damage from underbody plows?
  • Does type of chip (granite, trap rock, etc.) have any effect?

To achieve this research goal, the research team will complete the following:

  • Synthesize current best practices for plowing and plow downward pressure.
  • Conduct a statewide survey to identify best practices for plowing and the impact to various roadway types (seal coat, chip seal, etc.).
  • Develop a document with identified best practices.
  • Develop training materials for plow operators of best practices.

Suggested deliverables

  • A guide of best practices for snowplows, including underbody snowplows, with details on plow downward pressure.
  • Training material detailing the best practices for snowplow operations.
  • Research report detailing study findings

Expected benefits

The numbers 1 and 2 indicate whether the source of the benefit measurement is from: 

  1. A specific research task in your project that supports measuring this particular benefit, or
  2. Implementation of the research findings (anticipating positive results)
  • Decrease Engineering/Administrative Cost: (2)
    • Support engineers and staff in using designs and operations that will maximize performance
  • Increase Lifecycle: (2)
    • This work could inform design and operations that maintain the integrity of the chip seal during plowing.
  • Operation and Maintenance Saving: (2)
    • Implementation of results could support reduced maintenance costs from damage caused by blades.

Possible members for technical advisory panel

  • Jed Rhubee, Cottonwood County
  • Al Peterson, Ottertail County
  • Joe Wiita, Scott County
  • Matt Morreim, City of St. Paul
  • Nick Klisch, Cottonwood County
  • Paul Kauppi, City of White Bear Lake
  • Phil Wacholz, Freeborn County
  • Tim Plath, City of Eagan

Previous research

MnDOT Library Literature Search

Resources searched: TRID
Summary: Results are compiled from the databases named above.  Links are provided for full text, if applicable, or to the full record citation.  I completed my searches using the following terminology: Underbody plow, plow down pressure, pavement damage by snowplow, peeling road surface, damaged seal coat, seal coats AND plows, plow pressure AND pavement, road surfaces and plows, plow blades

Title: Comparing plow blade wear and tolerances on NHDOT trucks and roads (in progress)

Source: New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Link: https://trid.trb.org/View/2083741
Description: Different plow blades wear at different rates. There are varied technologies and systems being promoted at a range of pricing. Plow blades that are changed less frequently and wear longer enable staff to focus more on plowing saving time and the associated labor costs. A more expensive, lighter plow blade can also result in fewer injuries to highway maintainers and NHDOT personnel and potentially fewer workers comp claims. The goal of this research is to determine which blades are the most cost effective and to share this research data with national organizations collecting similar data from other states. The research consists of sampling 3 to 5 different types of plow blades on trucks with Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) installed to accurately measure the miles plowed and to record plowing speeds. Research results are dependent on snowstorm weather so trucks with the blades can be used in real time and authentic conditions. A tally of related injuries during the use of these blades would be factored into the total cost with comparison to heavier plow blades.

Title: Technological aspects of increasing the wear resistance of the working surface of the dump with a modified surface

Authors: Anastasia Drobot, Etibar Balaev, Vladimir Eliseev
Source: Transportation Research Procedia, 2022
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2022.06.340
Description: One of the most common tools used for plowing is the moldboard, which is a curved steel plate at an angle to the furrow wall. So the plow blades work under conditions of abrasive wear and significant static and dynamic loads, while the soil is an aggressive environment, which creates conditions for corrosion damage, so the plow blade as a tillage tool must meet the requirements for wear resistance, corrosion resistance, have high strength characteristics and ensure the preservation shape and size during operation. To improve the operational characteristics and service life of dumps at a low cost, there are various approaches, the general principle of which is based on obtaining layered or matrix-type coatings on the working surface of the dump by various metallization methods. Thus, the creation of a coating of a material with a shape memory effect on the surface of the plow blade will increase the durability and, as a result, the service life. In this case, adhesion is ensured by applying a coating with a gradient in composition along the thickness, changing from the surface of the substrate to the functional wear-resistant layer NiAl/FeMnNiAl from 99/1 to 1/99 with a thickness of 0.2 mm, and the functional wear-resistant layer FeMnNiAl is a material with thermoelastic phase transformation, providing high resistance to abrasive type of wear I=11.4×10-6 g/m3 (with wear rate for steel U10 I=23.3×10-6 g/m3) and corrosion.

Title: Winter Operations Decision Support Tools for the Iowa DOT Maintenance Bureau

Source: Iowa State Institute for Transportation
Link: https://www.intrans.iastate.edu/research/completed/winter-operations-decision-support-tools-for-the-iowa-dot-maintenance-bureau/
Description: This research serves as a beginning point to explore new ways to support timely and accurate decision-making during winter operations given the massive stream of data coming from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) snowplow fleet. The Iowa DOT Maintenance Bureau manages roughly 900 snowplows, which are equipped and continuously transmitting important operational data every few seconds during winter operations. These data provide truck locations using automated vehicle location (AVL) pings and report operational status such as whether the plow is up or down and which materials, if any, are being applied to the roadway. This research project created visual and tabular summaries of one day of winter operations data to provide practical information based on the interest and needs of both administrative and district maintenance staff. Future efforts can consider integrating these summaries and similar tools into daily operations. This report includes the results of an attempt to conduct an analysis of snowplow blade performance using periodic measurements from specific trucks at the beginning of, and regularly throughout, two winter seasons. Unfortunately, the analysis was not possible given that snowplow operators are faced with too many demands and providing these driver-reported blade measurements was problematic, even with the significant efforts made and refined to secure the data over a second winter season. These efforts are described along with a framework that can be used for future efforts to complete this analysis.