Scalable Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS)

A New England Chapter Connects Series — Presented by the NEAPWA's Education Committee

When: Thursday, August 26, 2021, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. via Zoom Hosted by T2 Center at UCONN

Winter road maintenance represents a large portion of budgets for Public Works Departments and storm events demand significant resources. Managing public expectations is perhaps the biggest challenge, despite clear and growing environmental impacts. The Towns of Franklin and Sudbury engaged Woodard & Curran, Inc. to develop and implement Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) for local weather and pavement forecasting. RWIS is a management decision support tool to monitor road weather conditions using mini weather stations placed at strategic locations.

RWIS has been in use in the U.S. for nearly two decades at a state level, but implementation of RWIS at the local municipal level was previously cost-prohibitive with a low benefit-cost ratio. One game changer is the use of mini RWIS stations that have the same capabilities as their predecessors (but lower cost) to monitor road surface temperature, air temperature, dew point, and relative humidity.

This presentation will summarize the results of the 2019-2020 winter RWIS pilots in Franklin and Sudbury. Technology, costs, savings and the benefits of this management decision support tool will be discussed to help other municipalities understand the safety, economic, and environmental benefits. Additionally, both communities will discuss upcoming plans for RWIS and optimization of winter road operations for the 2021-2022 winter.

Presenters:

Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi
Director of Public Works
Town of Franklin, MA

Rich Niles
Project Manager
Woodard & Curran, Inc.

Daniel F. Nason
Public Works Director
Town of Sudbury, MA

To Register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkcu2qqjgtE9A4cJbun4iP1cpZz7nDp3F3