Location
MnDOT and Local Road Research Board
Overview
“Bolton & Menk listened to their request for deicer guidance at their fingertips and led them through the process to accomplish this. They had the vision, we made it possible.”
– Carolyn Dindorf, Bolton & Menk Water Resources Limnologist
Sectors
Choosing the correct deicer to use can be confusing with the variety of brand names and different manufacturers available. Rock salt is the most common deicer used today and the chloride component of it is listed as a top concern pollutant by the MPCA. To be more effective and drive down salt use, the industry is starting to use enhanced rock salt products, brine additives, and non-chloride products. Research is available on these products, but it is difficult and time-consuming to find, read, and synthesize. This led Minnesota winter maintenance leaders to want an easy-to-understand summary of the pros and cons of alternative deicers.
Bolton & Menk helped create a new technical advisory panel (TAP), adding in chemists from different sectors of deicer manufacturing to the existing TAP, which had mainly included maintenance specialists. Our team led the panel through the process of selecting their top ten products, as well as the top ten criteria on product performance, availability, cost, side effects, and handling considerations. We led the TAP through gathering and approving the 50 pieces of literature they wanted to include in the report, then designed structures to store the data, ensuring it could be easily retrieved and queried for analysis.
Minnesota winter maintenance leaders now have an easily accessible, user-friendly guide to assist them in choosing the right solutions for Minnesota roads.
Bolton & Menk helped create a new technical advisory panel (TAP), adding in chemists from different sectors of deicer manufacturing to the existing TAP, which had mainly included maintenance specialists. Our team led the panel through the process of selecting their top ten products, as well as the top ten criteria on product performance, availability, cost, side effects, and handling considerations. We led the TAP through gathering and approving the 50 pieces of literature they wanted to include in the report, then designed structures to store the data, ensuring it could be easily retrieved and queried for analysis.
Minnesota winter maintenance leaders now have an easily accessible, user-friendly guide to assist them in choosing the right solutions for Minnesota roads.
