Citation

Ring SL. Transp. Res. Rec. 1980; 776: 8-12.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Modern highway design practices have, in general, created an aerodynamic highway cross section that is relatively snowdrift free. However, adjacent topographic features or obstructions may create localized snowdrift-prone locations. One such situation is the grade-separation structure over a freeway. Landscape and maintenance specialists have sought planting arrangements to reduce the problem. To study snowdrift patterns in the field is time consuming and demanding, since control of weather conditions is not possible. The objective of this research was to reproduce the phenomenon of blowing snow in the laboratory wind tunnel, on an appropriate freeway grade-separation three-dimensional model, and to analyze the effect of various plant configurations in minimizing snowdrift accumulations on the pavement. Seventy-seven separate experiments were conducted in the wind tunnel by using 49-um (0.001 93-in) glass spheres as the particulates to represent snow. Comparisons of snowdrift accumulations versus time were subsequently made to evaluate the effectiveness of various plantings. Similitude relationships were evaluated for relating the model results to known full-scale field conditions. Specific recommendations about plant types, densities, and spatial arrangements are presented for Iowa conditions.