A Recommendation to the Virginia Department of Highways Concerning the Use of Studded Tires in Virginia

About the report:

At the request ol the Highway Department, the writer has stayed abreast of the available information on the usage of studded tires and their effects on highway safety and pavement wear since their introduction into this country; and has prepared several reports to transmit current findings to the Department. The writer's service on the Highway Research Board Task Force on Studded Tires (chairman), NCHRP Panel 1-13 on the Effects of Studded Tires on Highway Safety, and the HRB Ad Hoc Evaluation Panel on Pavement Wear Study, the last of which evaluated the Minnesota experiments with studded tires made the task of staying abreast of current information much easier one than it otherwise would have been. As a member of the above NCHRP and HRB panels, the writer has made several trips to Minnesota to view firsthand the pavement damage inflicted by studded tires. Also, in conjunction with one of these trips, he visited the American Oil Company Laboratories in Whiting, Indiana to witness the laboratory wear tests that the Company was performing for the Minnesota study.

Based on the knowledge gained from the above assignments, supplemented by findings from extensive literature reviews stud simple yearly experiments in Northern Virginia in which the numbers of cars using studded tires have been estimated by monitoring vehicles in the Pentagon parking lot and pavement Wear has been monitored through periodic measurements of selected pavements, the writer submits the following recommendation: The Highway Department should concur in the extension of the legalization of studded tires for another two-year period. However, the Department should request that the winter use period be reduced from October 15 - April 15 to November 1 - April 1.

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