Enhancement of Winter Maintenance Material Ordering and Inventory

2009Keith Swearingen; Diana ClonchState Job Number 134266PDFResearch PaperFHWA/OH-2009/1Deicing chemicalsGuidelinesMaterialsWinter maintenanceHighwaysMaintenance and PreservationMaterialsI30: MaterialsI62: Winter MaintenanceOhioUnited StatesUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationCiarallo, Frank W.Brown, NicholasNiranjan, SumanWright State UniversityUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationOhio. Dept. of TransportationUS Transportation CollectionExpenditures for winter maintenance materials total nearly $20 million annually. During an average winter ODOT uses approximately 666,000 tons of rock salt and has the capacity to store roughl y 617,000 tons of material at various locations. Despite the enormous cost and magnitude of this particular element of winter maintenance, current syste ms in place for ordering, inventory management and storage requirements are not well defined or established. Current systems are the result of years of practical application and evolution and numerous proble ms occur that are directly related to the lack of detail, specifics and mini mum require ments as related to these areas.