Road Weather Management Program
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Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Showcase

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Participants listen to a question and answer session at the Maintenance Decision Support System Showcase in Omaha, Nebraska.

Participants listen to a question and answer session at the Maintenance Decision Support System Showcase in Omaha, Nebraska.

Since 1999, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program has invested in the development of a Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) to help highway maintenance agencies provide for the safety and mobility of the traveling public. Through partnerships with a consortium of national laboratories and a stakeholder community of public, private and academic sector participants, the MDSS has evolved from concept to a functioning application.

So, what is a MDSS? Generally speaking, a MDSS is a computer-based, customizable tool that provides winter maintenance personnel with route-specific weather forecast information and treatment recommendations. Benefits of MDSS include: providing route-specific weather and road condition forecasts at various intervals; offering optimized treatment recommendations with respect to type and amount of material, and application times; and training new maintenance personnel using the customized rules of practice and historical playback capabilities. All of these translate into a safer and more efficient transportation system.

The MDSS Showcase is sponsored by FHWA, FHWA Resource Center, AASHTO, State Departments of Transportation, and National LTAP and TTAP programs. The program features an introduction of MDSS, demonstrations of MDSS from the Illinois, Indiana and Colorado DOTs and the City of Denver, plus discussion of mobile data collection and MDSS deployment issues. Presenters come from state and local governments as well as private entities supporting the MDSS technology.

In 2010, three MDSS Showcases were held as follows:

  • April 28, 2010 in Anchorage, Alaska
  • May 19, 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin
  • July 14, 2010 in Seattle, Washington

To schedule a Showcase, contact the Utah LTAP Learning Center at www.utahltap.org. You may also call 435-797-2931 or email utahltap@usu.edu.

Come see how MDSS technology is transforming the world of winter maintenance. For additional information, please contact:

Ray Murphy
FHWA Resource Center
Phone: 708-215-0979 or
E-mail: ray.murphy@dot.gov
Office of Operations