Guidelines for the selection of snow and ice control materials to mitigate environmental impacts PDF
Preview Guidelines for the selection of snow and ice control materials to mitigate environmental impacts
NCHRP NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM REPORT 577 Guidelines for the Selection of Snow and Ice Control Materials to Mitigate Environmental Impacts TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2007 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* OFFICERS CHAIR:Linda S. Watson,CEO, LYNX–Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Orlando VICECHAIR:Carol A. Murray, Commissioner,New Hampshire DOT, Concord EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR:Robert E. Skinner, Jr.,Transportation Research Board MEMBERS J. Barry Barker,Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY Michael W. Behrens,Executive Director, Texas DOT, Austin Allen D. Biehler,Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg John D. Bowe, President, Americas Region, APL Limited, Oakland, CA Larry L. Brown, Sr.,Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson Deborah H. Butler,Vice President, Customer Service, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Atlanta, GA Anne P. Canby,President, Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, Washington, DC Nicholas J. Garber,Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville Angela Gittens,Vice President, Airport Business Services, HNTB Corporation, Miami, FL Susan Hanson,Landry University Professor of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA Adib K. Kanafani,Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley Harold E. Linnenkohl,Commissioner, Georgia DOT, Atlanta Michael D. Meyer,Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Debra L. Miller,Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka Michael R. Morris,Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington John R. Njord,Executive Director, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City Pete K. Rahn, Director,Missouri DOT, Jefferson City Sandra Rosenbloom,Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson Tracy L. Rosser,Vice President, Corporate Traffic, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR Rosa Clausell Rountree,Executive Director, Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority, Atlanta Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Senior Professor,Washington University, St. Louis, MO C. Michael Walton,Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Steve Williams,Chairman and CEO, Maverick Transportation, Inc., Little Rock, AR EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Thad Allen(Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC Thomas J. Barrett(Vice Adm., U.S. Coast Guard, ret.), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT Marion C. Blakey,Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT Joseph H. Boardman,Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT John A. Bobo, Jr.,Acting Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Rebecca M. Brewster,President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA George Bugliarello,Chancellor, Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn, and Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC J. Richard Capka,Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT Sean T. Connaughton,Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT Edward R. Hamberger,President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC John H. Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT John C. Horsley,Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC J. Edward Johnson,Director, Applied Science Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, John C. Stennis Space Center, MS William W. Millar,President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Nicole R. Nason,National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT Jeffrey N. Shane,Under Secretary for Policy, U.S.DOT James S. Simpson, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT Carl A. Strock(Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC *Membership as of January 2007. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP REPORT 577 Guidelines for the Selection of Snow and Ice Control Materials to Mitigate Environmental Impacts LEVELTONCONSULTANTSLIMITED Richmond, BC Subject Areas Energy and Environment • Maintenance Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2007 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY NCHRP REPORT 577 RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective Project 6-16 approach to the solution of many problems facing highway ISSN 0077-5614 administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local ISBN: 978-0-309-09880-9 Library of Congress Control Number 2007925771 interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the © 2007 Transportation Research Board accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of COPYRIGHT PERMISSION cooperative research. Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials published or copyrighted material used herein. initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of Transportation. any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of NOTICE modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed research directly to those who are in a position to use them. or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 577 Christopher W. Jenks,Director, Cooperative Research Programs Crawford F. Jencks,Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Christopher J. Hedges,Senior Program Officer Eileen P. Delaney,Director of Publications Hilary Freer,Senior Editor NCHRP PROJECT 6-16 PANEL Field of Maintenance—Area of Snow and Ice Control Daniel P. Johnston,South Dakota DOT, Pierre, SD(Chair) Jeanne Hewitt,New York State DOT, Albany, NY Robert Chenier,Environment Canada, Hull, QC Edward Fink,Colorado DOT, Grand Junction, CO G. Michael Fitch,Virginia DOT, Charlottesville, VA Rod Frederick,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Retired) Jeanne Hewitt,New York State DOT, Albany, NY Deborah J. O’Bannon,University of Missouri–Kansas City, Kansas City, MO Leland D. Smithson,Iowa DOT, Ames, IA Paul Pisano,FHWA Liaison Frank N. Lisle,TRB Liaison AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research report herein was performed under NCHRP Project 06-16 by Levelton Consultants, Ltd., in cooperation with Ice and Snow Technologies; Dr. William M. Lewis, Jr.; and Dr. Brian Chollar. The work undertaken by Ice and Snow Technologies, Dr. William M. Lewis, Jr., and Dr. Brian Chollar was under subcontract with Levelton Consultants Ltd. The Principal Investigator for this report was Brent T. Mussato, Levelton Consultants, Ltd. The other authors for this report were Oliver K. Gepraegs, Phil T. Seabrook, John P. Davidson, and Robert S. Char- lton, Levelton Consultants Ltd.; Richard D. Parker and Dale G. Keep, Ice and Snow Technologies; Dr. William M. Lewis, Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder; and Dr. Brian Chollar. The work was con- ducted under the general supervision of Wayne C. Edwards, P.Eng, Principal, Levelton Consultants Ltd. F O R E W O R D By Christopher J. Hedges Staff Officer Transportation Research Board This report presents guidelines for the selection of snow and ice control materials through an evaluation of their cost, performance, and impacts on the environment and infrastruc- ture. The guidelines should be useful in helping maintenance managers develop a program that will minimize the environmental impacts of snow and ice control without compromis- ing effective maintenance strategies. The Guidelines will help highway agencies fill their dual role of providing safe roadways for the driving public while serving as stewards to protect and enhance the natural environment. Every year, considerable quantities of snow and ice control products are applied to high- ways, and environmental and regulatory agencies have questioned the environmental impact of these products. Transportation agencies are asked to use “environmentally friendly” or less toxic alternatives wherever possible, but there is no commonly accepted guidance for determining which products are acceptable. The traditional use of roadsalt has been prohibited in some locations, leaving highway agencies uncertain about how traffic safety can be maintained in bad weather. For example, Environment Canada has concluded that inorganic chloride roadsalts are harmful to the environment under the Canadian Envi- ronmental Protection Act, thus requiring development and implementation of improved management practices. Studies of the most common chemical alternatives—sodium chloride (salt), magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, calcium magnesium acetate, potassium acetate, and urea—have focused on performance and cost under various weather conditions without evaluating their relative impacts on the environment. Several new chemical preparations, including some that are trademarked, have entered the market as snow and ice control chemicals for use by transportation agencies, but there is limited information about their environmental impacts. There is a need for rational decision-making guidelines to assist DOT maintenance managers in selecting the most appropriate snow and ice control materials for the condi- tions that exist in their jurisdictions. Under NCHRP Project 06-16, a research team led by Levelton Consultants Ltd. con- ducted an extensive review of relevant technical information, then conducted a program of analytical laboratory testing on a wide range of products currently available in the North American market. The results were used to develop three products for the end user: a deci- sion tool for the selection of the most appropriate snow and ice control materials to suit the specific needs of any given highway agency, a purchase specification that can be used by an agency once agency staff have selected materials for use, and a quality assurance monitor- ing program that includes procedures and standard test methods to characterize snow and ice control products before their purchase or use. There are two major components to this report. Chapters 1 through 11 (a) summarize the review of technical information on the performance and environmental impacts of cur- rently available snow and ice control materials, and (b) present the results of an analytical laboratory testing program designed to address gaps in the current literature and to develop a matrix of properties of 42 chemicals. The second component presents guidelines for the user with three products: a decision tool for the selection of materials, a purchase specifica- tion, and the quality assurance monitoring program. An electronic version of the decision tool and several appendixes to the final report can be downloaded from the TRB website at http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=883. C O N T E N T S 1 Summary 8 Chapter 1 Introduction 8 1.1 Problem Statement and Research Approach 8 1.2 Scope of Study 10 Chapter 2 Operational and Performance Considerations 10 2.1 Products Used and Properties 10 2.1.1 Chloride Salts 11 2.1.2 Organic Products 13 2.1.3 Sand or Abrasives 13 2.2 Storage 13 2.2.1 Solid Snow and Ice Control Materials 13 2.2.2 Liquid Snow and Ice Control Materials 13 2.2.3 Sand or Abrasives 13 2.3 Handling and Application Methods 13 2.4 Agency Survey—Current and Future Status of Use in the United States and Canada 14 2.4.1 Product Use and Methods of Application 15 2.4.2 Natural Environment Concerns 16 2.4.3 Corrosion Concerns 16 2.4.4 Purchasing Issues 18 2.5 Application Strategies 18 2.5.1 Anti-Icing 19 2.5.2 Deicing 19 2.5.3 Pre-wetting 20 2.5.4 Dry Abrasive/Chemical Mixes 20 2.5.5 Abrasive Use 20 2.5.6 Stockpile Treatment 21 2.5.7 Application Strategy Studies 22 2.6 Materials Loading 22 2.6.1 Product Selection 23 2.6.2 Application Amounts 23 2.6.3 Strategy Selection 25 CHAPTER 3 Impacts to the Natural Environment 25 3.1 Environmental Pathways 25 3.1.1 Soil Transport 27 3.1.2 Air Transport 27 3.1.3 Water Transport 27 3.2 Framework for Protection of Environmental Systems 27 3.2.1 U.S. Regulations 28 3.2.2 Canadian Regulations 29 3.2.3 Others 29 3.3 Components of Concern 30 3.3.1 Ferrocyanides 30 3.3.2 Radioactivity 30 3.4 Aquatic Environments 30 3.4.1 Protection of Aquatic Resources 32 3.4.2 Potential Types of Impairment of Aquatic Resources by Snow and Ice Control Materials 42 3.4.3 Evaluation of Specific Snow and Ice Control Materials 46 3.4.4 Overview of Specific Snow and Ice Control Materials 46 3.4.5 Conclusions 47 3.5 Soils 48 3.5.1 Chloride 48 3.5.2 Sodium 49 3.5.3 Calcium 49 3.5.4 Magnesium 49 3.5.5 Potassium 50 3.5.6 Acetates 50 3.5.7 Organic Products 50 3.5.8 Urea 51 3.5.9 Abrasives 51 3.5.10 Ferrocyanide Products 51 3.5.11 Conclusion 51 3.6 Soil Biotic 51 3.6.1 Chloride-Based Salts 52 3.6.2 Urea and Potassium Acetate 52 3.6.3 Ferrocyanides 53 3.6.4 Conclusion 53 3.7 Vegetation 53 3.7.1 Aerial Deposition 54 3.7.2 Ion Uptake and Accumulation from Soil 54 3.7.3 Osmotic Stress 55 3.7.4 Species Sensitivities 55 3.7.5 Other Factors Affecting Impacts to Vegetation 56 3.7.6 Specific Effects Associated with Select Snow and Ice Control Materials 59 3.7.7 Conclusion 59 3.8 Air Quality 60 3.9 Animals 60 3.9.1 Wildlife 61 3.9.2 Birds 61 3.9.3 Toxic Effects 61 3.9.4 Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals 62 3.9.5 Conclusions 62 3.10 Human Health and Exposure 63 CHAPTER 4 Impacts to Infrastructure and Vehicles 63 4.1 Concrete and Concrete Infrastructure 64 4.1.1 Corrosion of Concrete-Embedded Reinforcing Steel 68 4.1.2 Effects of Snow and Ice Control Materials on Cement Paste 70 4.1.3 Concrete-Embedded Reinforcing Steel and Concrete Paste Conclusions
The list of books you might like
