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Other Resources
Snow and Ice Cooperative Program (SICOP)
a pooled fund administered by AASHTO
SICOP is a cooperative effort involving most of AASHTO's member departments, the Federal Highway Administration, and representatives of the
the National Association of County Engineers (NACE). It is strongly supported by the Highway Subcommittee on Highways (SCOH). Funding for the program comes from a pool currently generated by the participants, but which may also include private industry.
Under SICOP, technologies not currently utilized in the United States will be tested, evaluated and implemented, with the intended purpose of avoiding duplication or research and testing by different highway jurisdictions.
Source of Pooled Funding:
- Federal Highway Administration;
- State Department of Transportation;
- APWA;
- NACE; and
- Private Industry.
SICOP's objectives are to:
- Identify and benchmark best practices in winter maintenance within the states and around the world; and
- Test and evaluate technologies not currently utilized within the states, and subsequently deploy them to the highway agencies.
Three areas of activity are underway:
I. "State of the Practice Workshops" are designed to bring together experts to exchange state-of-the-art practices and R&D advancements for the following topics:
- Existing and Transferable Training Programs;
- Friction Measurement;
- Automatic Vehicle Location Applications;
- Chemical Specifications;
- Route Optimization Systems;
- Road Closing Technologies;
- Drift Prevention; and
- Outsourcing Performance Measures.
II. "Snow & Ice Roundtable Discussions" enables states to invite 3 or 4 adjoining states, along with the FHWA and local agencies, for "show and tell" meetings to compare the new winter technologies in practice. Due to the proximity of the bordering states, the meetings allow maintenance personnel at the field operational levels to share experiences and lessons learned through the application of new technologies and methods.
- First one sponsored by Wisconsin with participation by Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota.
- Second one hosted by Tennessee with participation by Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina.
- Third one hosted by Illinois with participation by Wisconsin, lowa, Missouri, and Minnesota.
III. "Networking Enhancements for Winter Maintenance Experts and enthusiasts" resulted in the development of a listing of 300 snow and ice experts in the U.S., with the objective of gathering and disseminating information on winter maintenance. Over 200 of these individuals have subscribed to an electronic mailing list, friction@isastate.edu, which has become a popular medium to dispatch questions and answers on snow and ice technologies. This list will be merged into the older and more established snow-ice@uiowa.edu, which was initiated by TRB's winter maintenance committee.
Relationships/Partnerships:
- Lead State Program (Anti-icing/RWIS);
- Ice Warrior Program;
- NCHRP;
- TRB Winter Maintenance Committee;
- AASHTO Subcommittee on Maintenance; and
- Web Site Electronic Mailing List.
The origins of the SICOP effort can be traced to an international winter maintenance technology scanning tour conducted in March 1994, during which a number of technologies new to the United States for dealing with snow and ice problems were observed by a team from AASHTO, FHWA, APWA and NACE. This led to the establishment of Winter Maintenance Policy Coordinating Committee (WMPCC) under SCOH with members drawn from AASHTO, NACE and APWA, and the creation of NCHRP 20-7(83). WPMCC was charged with planning SICOP, an effort that was aided by the NCHRP project. As part of the NCHRP project, a guide to snow and ice management is nearing completion.
For more information on SICOP, contact:
Leland D. Smithson
AASHTO SICOP Coordinator
Tel: 515-239-1519
Fax: 515-239-1005
lsmiths@max.state.ia.us
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
444 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 249
Washington, D.C. 20001
202-624-5800(tel)
202-624-5806(fax)
http://www.transportation.org/aashto/home.nsf/FrontPage
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