UDOT at the present time leads a pool fund study that is supported by surrounding states and allows the members to host an annual conference along with studies and research into maintenance related activities. The WASHTO SCOM is made up of mostly western states that share common challenges and come together to collaborate and share ideas that will improve the operations, safety, and efficiency of State Maintenance forces. See Figure 8.9.1 for states that are part of the WASHTO SCOM.

The Clear Roads research program brings together transportation professionals and researchers from around the country to drive innovation in the field of winter maintenance. By evaluating materials, equipment and methods in real-world conditions, the program identifies the most effective techniques and technologies to save agencies money, improve safety, and increase efficiency. For more information regarding Clear Roads please contact the statewide maintenance engineer. 

The Aurora program is a partnership of highway agencies that collaborate on research, development, and deployment of road weather information to improve the efficiency, safety, and reliability of surface transportation. It is administered by the Center for Weather Impacts on Mobility and Safety (CWIMS) which is housed under InTrans at Iowa State University. 

This committee promotes research that will provide winter maintenance professionals with current and reliable information for effective procurement and implementation of materials, technologies and processes for controlling snow and ice on highways. The committee does this by promoting and facilitating research, technology transfer and education in technical areas that impact winter maintenance operations. Subjects that are important to the committee include: physical properties, geographical distribution, and management of winter precipitation (frost, ice, snow, fog) and frozen ground, and their impact on road safety, traffic flow and traffic control; the management of winter maintenance forces through performance measures and standards of service; storage of winter materials and their environmental impacts; mobile and road-based equipment for monitoring and controlling snow and ice accumulation.

The AASHTO Committee of Maintenance (MaC) is a collection of state transportation officials who represent the individual states when it comes to all aspects of maintenance activities. The AASHTO committee has five current standing technical working groups (TWG) which help to further the advancement of all areas of maintenance. These standing committees propose research subjects and topics that are deemed important by the AASHTO MAC. 

The five standing TWG’s are:

• Pavement - Promotes the preservation and maintenance of pavements

• Bridge - Promotes the preservation and maintenance of bridges

• Roadway/Roadside - Focuses on the highway maintenance issues including traffic services, vegetation, safety appurtenances, signs, striping, drainage, and lighting

• Equipment - Addresses equipment issues and champions the principles and practices of effective equipment management

• Maintenance Operations - Focuses on highway maintenance operations issues including work zone safety, snow and ice control, and emergency response

Each TWG has a well-defined leadership structure that helps to achieve the goals of each TWG.

The AASHTO MaC meets in person on an annual basis to vote on initiatives being brought forward by the TWG’s for acceptance and to help provide funding for approved initiatives.

In 1993, a team of winter maintenance professionals set about to study the winter maintenance practices and equipment of Nordic countries and Japan. After witnessing their equipment and methods the team quickly realized enormous opportunities existed to improve winter maintenance in the United States. Recognizing the potential of those newly found examples, AASHTO administrative resolution 94-3 was approved, launching a program that was to become the snow and ice pooled fund cooperative program.

AASHTO leadership challenged the SICOP program to find technologies not in use in the US, research them, and implement them in a systems oriented framework. Technologies continue to evolve along with the needs of member States, and SICOP remains committed to improving winter maintenance through identification, research, and technology transfer.

To facilitate Utah’s FY23 commitment, as posted on the TPF project page for the Transportation Avalanche Research Pooled Fund Project TPF-5 (337).

The pool funds mission is to support collaborative research efforts in the field of avalanche hazard assessment and mitigation, with the goal of improving the safety, efficiency, and quality of control efforts, along with providing better information gathering and analysis techniques and seamless integration of new technologies to further these goals. The participation of many transportation related agencies in this study will also further cooperation in this industry, leading to improved future development of beneficial technologies and improved sharing of information and avalanche data, greatly furthering the safety, efficiency, and quality of the work done in this field for all relevant agencies.

Scope of Work to the Pool Fund:

The group will fund research and development efforts to achieve the program goals, with initial proposed research focusing on:

• Infrasonic sensing and mapping/ LiDAR

• Avalanche safety/ risk management

• Avalanche information exchange platform for information sharing

• Mobile blast shield – further development

• Explosives techniques, including an extension to an existing case charging contract

• Avalanche asset management

• Other new technology

Projects coming from this pool fund have been implemented in Utah. One example is using gazex avalanche control systems to improve safety of manmade avalanches.