tamartoledonews.com – AMES (SPECIAL) – This winter, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is armed with an arsenal of road, weather and traffic technologies that are reducing labor and equipment costs, limit=

ing salt usage and its impact to the environment, and increasing the safety of Iowa roadways.

For instance, today, these technologies are keeping maintenance crews informed about trouble areas where icing is occurring so that roads can be treated. Sensors are also letting crews know where pavement and air temperatures are above freezing and resources are not needed because the roads remain wet.=

Some of the technologies being used include:

Pavement sensors embedded in bridge decks and roadways.

Subsurface temperature probes.

Traffic cameras.

Atmospheric weather condition monitoring towers.

Specialized meteorology services.

Sophisticated road weather and traffic software.=20

Traffic speed/volume sensors.

Information collected from these systems provides quick, real-time information for decision making and management of the state=92s roadways. A wide range of information is available, including the following.

Wind speed/direction

Relative humidity

Air temperature

Dew point

Precipitation type, occurrence and rate

Visibility

Barometric pressure

Pavement temperature=20

Pavement condition (wet or dry)

Chemical type and concentration on the pavement

Traffic volume, speed and occupancy rate

Visual observation of roadway condition and traffic movement

Some of the same tools that the Iowa DOT is using are available to the public at http://www.dotweatherview.com/.