Technical Papers
Apr 13, 2013

Fleet Size Estimation for Snowplowing Operation Considering Road Geometry, Weather, and Traffic Speed

Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 9

Abstract

Estimating truck fleet size for winter road maintenance, such as snowplowing, is a challenging task for highway maintenance agencies. To estimate the fleet size for a snowplowing operation, a mathematic model is developed considering road geometry, weather, and traffic speed, subject to service time limit. The complexity of the problem lies in the varying pavement width of road sections, different plowing patterns on the mainline and ramps, weather- and time-dependent traffic speed, and the use of mixed types of plows. With real-world data, the developed model is applied in a case study, and the model demonstrates itself to be considerably flexible in adapting to various circumstances in estimating fleet size for snowplowing operations.

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Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Transportation Engineering
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139Issue 9September 2013
Pages: 903 - 912

History

Received: Oct 2, 2012
Accepted: Apr 12, 2013
Published online: Apr 13, 2013
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
Discussion open until: Sep 13, 2013

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Authors

Affiliations

Steven I. Chien [email protected]
Visiting Professor, College of Automobile, Chang’an Univ., China; Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Shengyan Gao [email protected]
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102. E-mail: [email protected]
Jay N. Meegoda [email protected]
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102. E-mail: [email protected]

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