FHWA Plans 6^th Annual Winter Symposium and Equipment Exposition

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will join with the Massachusetts Highway Department to host the sixth annual "Eastern Winter Road Maintenance Symposium and Equipment Expo" on Sept. 5-6, 2001 at the Centrum Centre in Worcester, Mass.

"Safety and mobility are top priorities at the Federal Highway Administration, and we recognize that winter weather often affects the safety and the efficiency of roads," FHWA Deputy Executive Director Vince Schimmoller said. "This annual symposium offers an ideal opportunity for state and local officials who operate and maintain the region's transportation systems to learn about the latest winter maintenance techniques, new products and equipment, and ways to plan for and direct all aspects of storm management."

The symposium will feature more than 170 exhibitors and the display of 40 new snow-fighting vehicles such as snowplows and anti?icing sprayers. The symposium provides a forum for the exchange of information and technologies available to predict and combat the effects of winter on roads, bridges, and other transportation facilities.

The symposium is targeted at winter maintenance managers and other public works practitioners from cities, townships, counties and states, as well as other public agencies and private sector partners east of the Mississippi River. It also serves as a companion to the American Public Works Association's Western Snow & Ice Conference, held annually in Colorado in late September.

The symposium this year features presentations on "Cooperative Road Weather Information System Projects Between the FHWA and the National Weather Service and the State DOTs," "City Snow Melting" technology, and "Keep the Air Clean/Grass Green" during snow removal. In addition, two successful technologies, automated vehicle location systems (tracking the progress of snowplows during storms) and automated bridge deck de-icing systems, will be on the program.

The event has grown from its initial session in 1996 at the Armory in Washington, D.C., which featured 81 exhibits, 19 pieces of equipment on display and 700 attendees, to the 2000 event in Roanoke, Va., which included 110 exhibits, 54 pieces of equipment and 1,560 attendees.

The symposium is free for those wishing to attend, but those attending must pre-register. For more details and registration forms, visit the web site at http://www.easternsnowexpo.org or call Deborah Vocke at FHWA's Eastern Resource Center, 410-962-3744.