Pavement Winter Operations in Cold Regions

Abstract

Deicing and anti-icing chemicals are both used to improve the mobility of motorists in cold climates. Deicers are applied to melt and break bonded snow and ice. Anti-icers are proactively applied before ice formation to prevent and weaken the bond between the pavement surface and ice. This study evaluated a laboratory testing protocol to examine the performance of different deicing and anti-icing materials under different conditions for efficient winter maintenance operations. For this purpose, this study used three deicers—liquid calcium chloride (CaCl2), liquid potassium (K), and granular sodium acetate (NaCl) (i.e., D1, D2, and D3)—and two anti-icers—magnesium chloride (MgCl2) with two different inhibitors (i.e., A1 and A2). The proposed laboratory evaluation protocol included three tests: a friction test, an accelerated loading test, and a debonding test. The results demonstrated that the following: 1) All test products were effective at melting the ice and weakening the bond between the pavement surface and ice. 2) Better performance of various products was obtained at a higher application rates. 3) Various chemicals had comparable friction performance. 4) The accelerated loading test with a three-wheel polishing device indicated that all test products were effective on both asphalt and concrete surfaces; however, deicers D2 and D3 had better performances than the other products. 5) A new debonding test was used to evaluate the effectiveness of deicers/anti-icers at weakening the bond between the ice and test surfaces, and the test chemicals were found to reduce the shear force required to break the bond between the ice and test surfaces. On the basis of the results of this study, the proposed three testing protocols combined can provide a comprehensive assessment of the performance of various products under different environmental and operational conditions for efficient winter maintenance operations.