Talkin Winter Ops

The true value in a forecast is when folks actually use them and make smart decisions in response to the weather. Road weather forecasts are specifically focused on how the weather will impact the roadway. There are hundreds if not thousands of places where you can get some information on the weather but when a department of transportation collaborates with the National Weather Service and specialized forecasting services the impacts on travelers can be positive creating a safer commute. Paul Pisano from the FHWA talks about such a program called Pathfinder in this episode.

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Having timely and accurate road weather forecasts is one of the top-10 things you should have to be a world class winter maintenance operation. Utah DOT has a program where meteorologists are positioned in their traffic management center and are an integral part of their winter maintenance operations. Jeff Williams, UDOTs Weather Operations and RWIS Manager talks winter operations with SICOP and discusses how they deliver timely and accurate road weather forecasts to UDOT maintenance crews. 

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Using sustainable winter maintenance practices is one of the top-10 things you should be doing to have a world class winter maintenance program but what does being sustainable mean? Sustainability requires balancing three factors – economics, the environment, and the public need. Building a winter service program around these three legs creates a system that can provide optimal benefits to all. So how do you know just how sustainable your agencies practices are. Mark DeVries and Wilf Nixon have taught many winter maintenance professionals through the APWA and are here to share their thoughts on sustainability. 

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In the struggle to second guess Mother Nature when preparing your winter maintenance budget winter will always win, often at the expense of other maintenance activities. Here are 10 things to consider when formulating your budget for winter maintenance.

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A short while back SICOP took to social media with the goal of identifying the 10 most important things an agency should do to have a world class winter maintenance program. Using crowd-sourced data from winter maintenance professionals we hit upon the 10 most important topics, with a bonus, that would be necessary for a world class winter maintenance program. In this episode Dr. Wilf Nixon joins Rick Nelson to reveal the Top-10 and why they're important.  Follow this link for more information on the Top-10 

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A short while back SICOP set about to identify the Top-10 things that would be necessary to have a world class winter maintenance program. Using crowd-sourced data we hit upon 11 important topics that would be necessary for a world class winter maintenance program. In this episode Dr. Wilf Nixon joins Rick Nelson to discuss the process by which the Top-10 were identified and why. 

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Tina Greenfield and Kathy Ahlenius give some insight into the Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees they chair and how you can participate in this enriching activity. Tina chairs TRB Committee AHD65 Winter Maintenance and Kathy chairs TRB Committee AH010 Surface Transportation Weather. Become a friend of the committee by creating an account on the MyTRB Portal at https://www.mytrb.org 

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Steve Lund, SICOP's Chairman and State Maintenance Engineer for the Minnesota DOT visits with Rick Nelson about the SICOP program. We discuss what SICOP is, what we do, and the value of the program.

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Introduction to the SICOP Talks Winter Ops podcast. The podcast of AASHTOs Winter Maintenance Technical Service Program - SICOP.

Sign up for email notifications on future episodes and other communications associated with winter maintenance and winter weather management by clicking on subscribe on the Talkin' Winter Ops website at TalkinWinterOps.com

Thanks for listening in and stay safe out there!