Extreme weather events create additional safety, cost, and environmental challenges for highway maintenance and operations. TRB hosted a webinar on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern that explored current advancements for highway maintenance and operations, as well as long-term planning and reducing environmental impact in winter operations. Presenters provided strategies to achieve successful implementation of emerging technologies, novel uses of data, and new practices to improve operational response in extreme weather events.

This webinar is the first of three events exploring the themes of managing severe storms and environmental emergencies. The second event entitled, “Resilient and Sustainable Approaches for Road Weather and Winter Maintenance”, will be held during the TRB 2023 Annual Meeting. The third event is the TRB International Road Weather and Winter Maintenance Conference to be held in 2023.

This webinar was sponsored by the TRB Standing Technical Committees on Road Weather and Winter Maintenance.

The slides are available. Please contact trbwebinar@nas.edu for a link to the recording. There may be a $90 fee.

Webinar agenda and presenters

• Predicting road weather emergencies: advancements in storm forecasting and risk communication – Chad Hahn, National Weather Service
• Environmental implications of salt on road surfaces – Göran Blomqvist, The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
• Leveraging technology for better materials management and cost savings– Mark Goldstein, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
• Question and answer session moderated by Paul Pisano, Paul Pisano LLC and Anna Arvidsson, The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)

The first 60 minutes of the webinar were presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants were be able to:

• Identify methods to reduce road salt use
• Evaluate the effects of a changing climate on winter road maintenance
• Implement new technologies and methods for effectively managing disruptive road weather events

 Professional Development Hours

Professional Development Hours (PDHs) earned on completion of this program were reported to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Certificates of Completion are issued to all participants via the RCEP.net online system. Complaints about registered providers may be addressed to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Fl., Washington, DC, 20005.