6/5/2013
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
ITD maintenance workers named top winter mobility performers
BOISE - The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) works hard each winter to provide safe roads and highways for the state's citizens, regardless of the conditions. A trio of maintenance workers from the southwest and eastern parts of the state were recognized in late May for leading the way toward that goal during the recent winter-driving season.
A pair of southwestern Idaho employees and one serving the Pocatello area were recognized for winter-driving safety and mobility this past season, based on ITD's innovative Winter Performance Measures (WPM).
Click here for pictures of Peryer, Couch and Paye.
Richard Peryer, foreman for ITD's Boise maintenance, and Ken Couch,
foreman for ITD's Caldwell maintenance, were recognized for keeping the road
free of ice during winter storms 94 percent of the time.
“In other words, if you were driving on Interstate 84 last winter, you
probably had a better chance of getting hit by lightning than sliding on
ice in the Treasure Valley,” quipped Highway Maintenance Liaison Ed
Bala.
Both Couch and Peryer acknowledged the hard work and
dedication of their crews as contributing to the accomplishment, explained ITD southwest Idaho District Engineer Dave Jones at the awards
ceremony May 22.
“I really appreciate the team approach to winter maintenance across the
district,” said Jones. “It means a lot that we aren’t satisfied with
accomplishing the minimums, but seek to exceed them when resources
permit, and to continuously find efficiencies within our existing
resources.”
“Ken and Richard have done an exceptional job of effectively using
resources to provide 24/7 coverage of highways in the Treasure Valley,”
added ITD southwest Idaho Operations Manager Tom Points.
“They have shared personnel and equipment, and worked with the striping
crew, construction inspectors, vegetation crew and bridge and building,”
Points added. “Both foreman are using weather forecasts to deploy
personnel and equipment and to apply the right product at the right
time.”
Shane Paye, leadworker of the Pocatello shop, was recognized for
his outstanding performance in the Storm Index WPM category. Measuring
the duration of ice per unit of storm severity, Paye and his road crew
recorded 0.07, well below the 0.3 goal. The lower the
number, the better the results.
The WPM's, a process for evaluating winter storm maintenance, was one of three national finalists in the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s 2013 Best of ITS Awards this spring. Data collected from Idaho’s 100 Road Weather Information System sites helps maintenance workers determine which materials to apply to highways, how much to apply and when to apply.
After the process was showcased at the annual WASHTO (Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) meeting in Colorado last summer, representatives from 14 states contacted ITD, including Kansas, Pennsylvania, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Maryland, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Several universities and research centers also expressed interest in the ITD process.
The Weather Programs Ministry of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure also requested more information. Interest in the WPM will spread even further this summer, as the program makes debuts in Europe and Asia. Vaisala, a partner in data collection for ITD’s Winter Storm Indexing, has been requested to give presentations at Intelligent Transportation Society meetings in Ireland, Japan and Andorra.
When ITD first began recording these performance standards in 2009, a score of 0.70 was common, said Bala.
“It’s remarkable how much winter maintenance practices have improved
thanks to involved, innovative and motivated employees like Richard,
Ken, and Shane,” Bala added.