Author Description

Winter roadway maintenance in Indiana typically involves the removal of snow and ice from the roadway with metal plow blades. The interaction of the wearable metal portion of the plow and the roadway causes damage to raised pavement markers (RPMs) and painted line markings. Partial rubber snow plow blades (PRPBs) are currently available as an alternative to full metal blades. The purpose of this project was to conduct a limited study to evaluate the decrease in damage to the RPMs and pavement markings, and rate the snow removal performance of the PRPB verses the traditional steel carbide blade. Overall, there was no solid evidence supporting the premise that the PRPB equipped with rubber wingtips damaged RPMs and striping less than the traditional plow equipped with a steel cutting edge. Overall, the PRPB did not perform nearly as well as the steel blade based on the opinions of INDOT plow operators.