Development of Maintenance Decision Support System David Huft South Dakota Department of Transportation

2 TPF-5(054) Partners Federal Highway Administration Indiana DOT Iowa DOT Minnesota DOT North Dakota DOT South Dakota DOT Rudy Persaud, Henry Lieu, Bruce Hunt Tony McClellan Dennis Burkheimer Curt Pape Jerry Horner, Ed Ryen David Huft, John Forman

3 Research Contractor Meridian Environmental Technology Grand Forks, ND  Bob Hart  Leon Osborne  John Mewes  many more

4 Winter Maintenance Challenges Rising expectations of traveling public and commercial carriers Constrained agency funding and staffing Reliable, timely, specific reports of conditions difficult to obtain Some weather conditions are difficult to forecast Pavement response to weather conditions and maintenance treatments is not well established Effects and effectiveness of innovative maintenance treatments not well understood Retiring maintenance staff replaced by less experienced workers

5 MDSS Basic Functions Assess current road and weather conditions Provide time- and location-specific weather forecasts along transportation routes; Predict road conditions under forecast weather and candidate maintenance treatments Notify state agencies of approaching conditions and suggest optimal maintenance treatments Evaluate prediction reliability and maintenance treatment effectiveness

6 Project Objectives Assess need, benefit, and receptivity to MDSS in participating DOTs Define functional and user requirements for an operational Maintenance Decision Support System Build and evaluate an operational Maintenance Decision Support System Improve the ability to forecast road conditions in response to changing weather and applied maintenance treatments

7 Research Tasks Meet with the project’s technical panel Critically evaluate results of the federal MDSS project Interview front-line and mid-level maintenance supervisors to identify and prioritize needs Assess participating states’ current and near-term capability to report current roadway conditions and track maintenance activities on specific routes Assess institutional receptivity to maintenance management decision support

8 Research Tasks (continued) Propose high-level functional and user requirements for an operational MDSS and architecture, identifying:  Some can be met immediately  Some will require research Construct prototype MDSS incorporating those requirements that can be immediately satisfied. Prepare plan for pilot deployment and evaluation of the basic prototype MDSS in a multi-state test region spanning portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota

9 Research Tasks (continued) Deploy prototype MDSS in multi-state test region and evaluate performance during the winter of Develop and test system new components that need fundamental research, incorporating ongoing and emerging technology Recommend needed improvements and design modifications and identify operational limitations requiring additional research and development

10 Research Tasks (continued) Make system improvements, deploy an improved prototype MDSS in state agency offices in the multi-state test region, and evaluate performance winter of Final report Executive presentations and electronic copies

11 3-State Test Area

12 Issues Availability and update of federal software Diverse practices among 5 participating states Effects of some parameters unknown  Treatments  Traffic  Wind/drifting Location-specific weather forecasting Feedback of evolving road conditions Need for simplicity Institutional receptivity Funding

13 Questions? David L. Huft, SDDOT Research Engineer 700 East Broadway Avenue Pierre, SD fax