MANKATO – Plow drivers know their business. They know what works, and what doesn't.
"It's one thing to intuitively say, 'We've seen it. We know it,' " said Tom Peters, maintenance research engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
But without hard data, their observations are unlikely to change the practice of plowing.
That's where Minnesota State University, Mankato civil engineering professor Stephen Druschel and his team of undergrads come in. In a series of experiments last winter, they measured the effectiveness of de-icing and plowing methods on contract with MnDOT at a cost of $116,144.
Their task, broadly speaking, was to evaluate the methods and materials MnDOT uses to clear roads of ice and snow, and see if they could be improved, Peters said.
The work followed a 2010 MSU project that examined the effectiveness of 25 types of road salt. Though that earlier work was done in a lab, the second phase moved into the field during what happened to be the coldest Minnesota winter in 35 years.
Druschel said MnDOT and the department's other clients tend to appreciate how students gain experience carrying out the work.
One of the most involved students in this project, Amy Nguyen, is in her fourth semester at MSU.