Vaisala Corporate Responsibility Report 2011

“The biggest advantage of our RWIS network is that
now we can solve problems before they happen,”
says ITD’s District 4 Maintenance Foreman, Dennis
Jensen. “Vaisala’s non-invasive sensor data eliminates
the guesswork and lets us deal with knowns instead
of unknowns. We know how much grip our roads are
providing to drivers at any time. We monitor real-time
pavement temperature and moisture and know when
black ice is going to form. And we can see the effect
of each treatment and how long it takes to work. That
has helped us to identify the best actions, material
mix ratios and application timing for various types of
road weather conditions.”
Traditional RWIS stations comprise sensors that are
embedded in the road surface. Switching to noninvasive
sensors is a cost effective alternative that
gives road maintenance operators an opportunity to
improve their road weather information and increase
the density of their RWIS observations. What’s more,
the operators do not need to worry about replacing
sensors after pavement resurfacing or waiting for
suitable weather conditions to replace embedded
pucks during the winter months.
Environmental Concerns of Road
Maintenance Operations
Road authorities are coming under increasing
pressure to minimize the environmental impacts of
winter maintenance, particularly the use of de-icing
agents. The damage and risks posed by de-icing
agents have been studied widely, and the studies
agree that road salts entering the environment in large
quantities pose a risk to vegetation, animals, birds,
fish, and water systems, including ground water.
Road weather systems supply accurate information
on the road conditions that helps municipalities to
improve their winter maintenance programs, optimize
de-icing operations and balance the needs of mobility
and safety with environmental concerns.
Optimizing the routes and the amount of runs and
treatment materials also directly affect carbon and
pollutant footprints of road organizations. When
asked for reasons to acquire route optimization
services in a recent survey, our European road
authority customers listed the reduction of costs and
impact to environment, and the increased safety and
efficiencies equally important.
In the same survey customers reported to
have achieved as much as 20% cost savings as a
consequence of using Vaisala's route optimization
services and reductions of up to 75 tons of road salt
during the winter season, a significant improvement
to their environmental impact.
The RoadDSS Value Calculator quantifies both
financial and non-financial savings easily and gives
road operators and authorities a realistic view of the
efficiencies brought by an MDSS.
Vaisala Oyj Corporate Responsibility Report 2011
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