1. Idaho Transportation Department Winter Maintenance Best Practices
Dennis Jensen, Winter Operations Coordinator
Bob Koeberlein, HQ Operations Engineer
NWS September 2015

2. Outline Overview Performance Measures Data Collection and Analysis
Cultural Shift
Accountability
Performance Management
NWS September 2015

3. Idaho Geography Highest Mountain Pass: 8,700 feet
Lowest Road Elevation: 750 feet
Centerline Miles: 4,986
Lane Miles: 12,284
Bridges: 1,824
Districts: 6
Foreman Areas: 46
NWS September 2015

4. Idaho District Boundaries
6 Districts
Varying terrain
Varying weather
NWS September 2015

5. Performance Measures RWIS uptime Winter Mobility Index
Percentage of time safe grip maintained during winter storm events
High numbers are the goal
Winter Performance Index
Duration of time (hours) the grip is below 0.60 divided by the Storm Severity Index
Storm Severity Index =Wind Speed Max (mph) + Water Equivalent Layer Max (mm) + 300/Surface Temperature Minimum (degrees F)
Low numbers are the goal
RWIS uptime
Percentage of time valid data is provided
NWS September 2015

6. Data Collection and Analysis
There are 128 RWIS sites with non-invasive pavement sensors that measure surface grip along with atmospheric parameters
Three addition sites are under construction.
RWIS sites are polled every 15 minutes
Data and video images are displayed on the Vaisala Navigator website
Both Idaho Winter Performance Measures are automatically calculated and displayed
NWS September 2015

7. December

8. Cultural Shift in Winter Maintenance
Prior to the Winter Performance Measure Program there was little guidance on basic maintenance practices; crews responded to storm events on an ad hoc basis
As staff training and RWIS reliability increased, the maintenance practices evolved into structured storm responses, driven by the RWIS data and the Performance Measure calculations.
NWS September 2015

9. Accountability
The Winter Performance Measures have become integrated into the rating factors for annual employee performance reviews
Under the new transportation technician (operations) job series, pay increases are linked to several factors including winter performance measure results
Each foreman area has at least 1 RWIS site to generate performance measurement data
The highest performers are recognized by ITD
NWS September 2015

10. Performance Management
Statewide goals are established for each performance measure
Performance measures are tracked down to the highway segment level
Training and other resources are directed to those regions that need to improve
Performance trends have shown steady improvement
NWS September 2015

11. NWS September 2015
Mobility was improved annually since implementation. The prevention of adverse surface conditions has a very positive effect on winter accident reductions. It also reduces operational costs and resources needed for traditional snow plowing practices. Severity of the season does not have as much impact on the mobility annual scoring since each individual event is scored and aggregated. With productive BMP similar results can be expected whether 10 events or 25 events occurred.
Mobility Index = percentage of time grip maintained above 0.6 when surface layer is below 32 degrees

12. Established consistency for operations and customer service statewide
NWS September 2015
Breaking the numbers down by district, we can see that consistency in operational results occurred.
Established consistency for operations and customer service statewide

13. Winter Performance Index-Mobility by Foreman Area and Highway
Western States Regional Operations Summit Nov 2015
The Mobility Index is collected for each foreman area and route.

14. Winter Performance Index-WPI #1
December
The second winter performance measure is the Winter Performance Index. This measure tracks how successful the maintenance practices are at reducing the ice and snow floor. The index is an empirical calculation that is automatically calculated in Vaisala’s Navigator website.
Winter Performance Measure Index rates the treatment effectiveness to the storm (recovery time to safe grip)
FORMULA:
Winter Performance Measure Index = Ice Up Time (hours) / Storm Severity Index
Ice up time is the duration of the event when the grip is below 0.60 for more than ½ hour

15. Winter Performance Index-WPI #2
Storm Severity Index rates three storm parameters
FORMULA:
Storm Severity Index = Wind Speed Max (mph) + Water Equivalent Layer Max (mm) + 300/Surface Temperature Minimum (degrees F)
Lower values indicate light storm events
Range normal events with severe cold and high winds as high as 500
December
The storm severity index is the denominator of the previous equation. The storm severity index attempts to normalize the return to safe grip.

16. FY 2016 Uptime for RWIS Network
December
The critical factor in collecting data for measuring winter performance is the RWIS network. So RWIS uptime is essential for supporting the performance measure program.

17. Questions???
December