Sponsor:

Missouri Dept of Transportation

Research Team:

Wooseung Jang, James S. Noble

Universities Involved:

University of Missouri

Start Date:

10/01/10

End Date:

09/30/11

Summary:

This project developed optimization models for fleet location/routing, inventory, and treatment procedures for winter/snow removal operations. Specifically, models allowed for the analysis of the desired level of service and required constraints, the creation of efficient route plans, and the evaluation of different treatments and equipment. The results of this project were both implemented and validated in St. Louis District.

In this project we will develop optimization-based approaches to address both winter maintenance system design issues (i.e. fleet size, selection and location of equipment and materials) and winter maintenance system operations (i.e. vehicle routing and material inventory policies). It is particularly important to consider the interaction between the design and operations issues from a systems perspective. This interaction is what makes this research unique, yet also very difficult to implement. It is envisioned that the solution methodology will entail the development of mathematical models to help in the analysis of the problem and to direct the solution procedures. Due to the complexity of the problem and the need for real time solution methodologies, it is assumed that heuristics, which look for a good solution based on certain approximations, will need to be developed.
The results of this project were both implemented and validated in St. Louis District.