Editing Snow (section)

===Transportation===
{{See also|Snowplow}}
Snow affects the rights of way of highways, airfields and railroads. The [[snowplow]] is common to all workers, though roadways take anti-icing chemicals to prevent bonding of ice and airfields may not; railroads rely on abrasives for track traction.

====Highway====
[[File:Cars covered in Snow on Lake Shore Drive Chicago Feb 2 2011 storm.JPG|thumb|Traffic stranded in a [[2011 Groundhog Day blizzard|2011 Chicago snowstorm]].]]
[[File:Snowy Higddhway 4012.jpg|thumb|Reduced visibility on [[Ontario Highway 401]] in Toronto due to a [[snowsquall]].]]
In the late 20th century, an estimated $2 billion was spent annually in North America on roadway winter maintenance, owing to snow and other winter weather events, according to a 1994 report by Kuemmel. The study surveyed the practices of jurisdictions within 44 US states and nine Canadian provinces. It assessed the policies, practices, and equipment used for winter maintenance. It found similar practices and progress to be prevalent in Europe.<ref name = Kuemmel/>

The dominant effect of snow on vehicle contact with the road is diminished friction. This can be improved with the use of [[snow tire]]s, which have a tread designed to compact snow in a manner that enhances traction. The key to maintaining a roadway that can accommodate traffic during and after a snow event is an effective anti-icing program that employs both chemicals and [[Snowplow|plowing]].<ref name = Kuemmel>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I3gxuwTE5_MC&pg=PA10|title=Managing roadway snow and ice control operations|author=David A. Kuemmel|page=10|isbn=978-0-309-05666-3|publisher=Transportation Research Board|year=1994|access-date=July 8, 2009}}</ref> The [[Federal Highway Administration]] ''Manual of Practice for an Effective Anti-icing Program'' emphasizes "anti-icing" procedures that prevent the bonding of snow and ice to the road. Key aspects of the practice include: understanding anti-icing in light of the level of service to be achieved on a given roadway, the climatic conditions to be encountered, and the different roles of deicing, anti-icing, and abrasive materials and applications, and employing anti-icing "toolboxes", one for operations, one for decision-making and another for personnel. The elements to the toolboxes are:<ref name=FHWA>
{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/mopeap/mop0296a.htm#eapappa2
 |title       = Manual of Practice for an Effective Anti-icing Program: A Guide For Highway Winter Maintenance Personnel
 |last1        = Ketcham
 |first1       = Stephen A.
 |last2       = Minsk
 |first2      = L. David
 |display-authors=2
 |author3=Robert R. Blackburn
 |author4=Edward J. Fleege
 |date        = June 1995
 |website     = [[Federal Highway Administration|Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)]]
 |publisher   = FHWA
 |access-date = December 1, 2016
 |quote       = Highway anti-icing is the snow and ice control practice of preventing the formation or development of bonded snow and ice by timely applications of a chemical freezing-point depressant.
 |url-status=live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161201084330/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/mopeap/mop0296a.htm#eapappa2
 |archive-date = December 1, 2016
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>
* ''Operations'' – Addresses the application of solid and liquid chemicals, using various techniques, including prewetting of chloride-salts. It also addresses plowing capability, including types of snowplows and blades used.
* ''Decision-making'' – Combines weather forecast information with road information to assess the upcoming needs for application of assets and the evaluation of treatment effectiveness with operations underway.
* ''Personnel'' – Addresses training and deployment of staff to effectively execute the anti-icing program, using the appropriate materials, equipment and procedures.
The manual offers matrices that address different types of snow and the rate of snowfall to tailor applications appropriately and efficiently.

[[Snow fence]]s, constructed upwind of roadways control snow drifting by causing windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are also used on railways. Additionally, farmers and ranchers use snow fences to create drifts in basins for a ready supply of water in the spring.<ref>{{Citation| first1 =R| last1 =Jairell| first2 =R| last2 =Schmidt| title =Snow Management and Windbreaks| contribution =133| series =Range Beef Cow Symposium| year =1999| pages =12| publisher =[[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]]| url =http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$Foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/frg4952/$FILE/snow_mgmt.pdf| url-status=live| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023359/http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$Foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/frg4952/$FILE/snow_mgmt.pdf| archive-date =May 7, 2016| df =mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090129113327.htm|title='SnowMan' Software Helps Keep Snow Drifts Off The Road|date=February 6, 2009|journal=ScienceDaily|access-date=July 12, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416122409/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090129113327.htm|archive-date=April 16, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

====Aviation====
{{See also|Ice protection system}}
[[File:2008 aircraft deicing at gate.jpg|thumb|right|Deicing an aircraft during a snow event]]
In order to keep airports open during winter storms, runways and taxiways require snow removal. Unlike roadways, where chloride chemical treatment is common to prevent snow from bonding to the pavement surface, such chemicals are typically banned from airports because of their strong corrosive effect on aluminum aircraft. Consequently, mechanical brushes are often used to complement the action of snow plows. Given the width of runways on airfields that handle large aircraft, vehicles with large plow blades, an echelon of plow vehicles or [[rotary snowplow]]s are used to clear snow on runways and taxiways. Terminal aprons may require {{convert|6|ha}} or more to be cleared.<ref name=Vinson>
{{Citation
 |first1            = Becker
 |last1             = John C.
 |first2           = David C.
 |last2            = Esch
 |editor-last      = Vinson
 |editor-first     = Ted S.
 |editor2-last     = Rooney
 |editor2-first    = James W.
 |editor3-last     = Haas
 |editor3-first    = Wilbur H.
 |title            = Roads and Airfields in Cold Regions: A State of the Practice Report
 |contribution     = Road and airfield maintenance
 |series           = CERF Reports
 |year             = 1996
 |page             = 252
 |publisher        = ASCE Publications
 |url              = https://books.google.com/books?id=VfO8QuV0q0sC&pg=PA252
 |isbn             = 978-0-7844-7412-9
 }}</ref>

Properly equipped aircraft are able to fly through snowstorms under [[instrument flight rules]]. Prior to takeoff, they require [[deicing fluid]] during snowstorms to prevent accumulation and freezing of snow and other precipitation on wings and fuselages, which may compromise the safety of the aircraft and its occupants.<ref>Transport Canada, Ottawa, ON (2016). [http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/tp14052-chapter8-312.htm "TP 14052. Guidelines for Aircraft Ground-Icing Operations. Chapter 8. Fluids."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220255/http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/tp14052-chapter8-312.htm |date=May 27, 2014 }} Retrieved May 14, 2016.</ref> In flight, aircraft rely on a variety of mechanisms to avoid rime and other types of icing in clouds,<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = http://www.airspacemag.com/how-things-work/electro-mechanical-deicing-6660440/
 | title = Electro-mechanical deicing
 | last = Wright
 | first = Tim
 | date = March 2004
 | website = Air & Space Magazine
 | publisher = Smithsonian
 | access-date = February 20, 2017
 }}</ref> these include pulsing [[deicing boot|pneumatic boots]], electro-thermal areas that generate heat, and fluid deicers that bleed onto the surface.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.aopa.org/-/media/files/aopa/home/pilot-resources/asi/safety-advisors/sa22.pdf?la=en
 |title       = Aircraft Deicing and Anti-icing Equipment
 |last        = Ells
 |first       = Steve
 |date        = 2004
 |website     = Safety Advisor – Weather No. 2
 |publisher   = Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
 |access-date = December 1, 2016
 |quote       = Anti-icing equipment is turned on before entering icing conditions and is designed to prevent ice from forming. Deicing equipment is designed to remove ice after it begins to accumulate on the airframe.
 |url-status=live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161203000432/https://www.aopa.org/-/media/files/aopa/home/pilot-resources/asi/safety-advisors/sa22.pdf?la=en
 |archive-date = December 3, 2016
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

====Rail====
Railroads have traditionally employed two types of snow plows for clearing track: the [[wedge plow]], which casts snow to both sides, and the [[rotary snowplow]], which is suited for addressing heavy snowfall and casting snow far to one side or the other. Prior to the invention of the rotary snowplow ca. 1865, it required multiple [[locomotive]]s to drive a wedge plow through deep snow. After clearing the track with such plows, a "flanger" is used to clear snow from between the rails that are below the reach of the other types of plows. Where icing may affect the steel-to-steel contact of locomotive wheels on track, abrasives (typically sand) have been used to provide traction on steeper uphills.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last = Bianculli
 | first = Anthony J.
 | title = The American Railroad in the Nineteenth Century – Cars
 | publisher = University of Delaware Press
 | series = Trains and Technology
 | volume = 2
 | date = 2001
 | location = Dover
 | page = 170
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2fh0H0USx-0C&pg=PA170
 | access-date = December 2, 2016
 | isbn = 978-0-87413-730-9 }}</ref>

Railroads employ [[snow shed]]s—structures that cover the track—to prevent the accumulation of heavy snow or avalanches to cover tracks in snowy mountainous areas, such as the [[Alps]] and the [[Rocky Mountains]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5376e/x5376e04.htm
 |title       = Avalanche and torrent control in the Spanish Pyrenees
 |last        = FAO
 |first       = Staff
 |website     = National Forests Organization of Spain
 |publisher   = Patrimonio Forestal del Estado
 |access-date = December 1, 2016
 |url-status=live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140432/http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5376e/x5376e04.htm
 |archive-date = September 24, 2015
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>
<gallery caption="Snowplows for different transportation modes" mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:TowPLow front view2.JPG|Trucks plowing snow on a highway in [[Missouri]]
File:Winter Operations @ Brussels Airport January 2013 (8387468508).jpg|Airport snow-clearing operations include plowing and brushing
File:RhB ABe 8-12 Allegra mit Spurpflug bei Ospizio Bernina.jpg|Swiss low-profile, train-mounted snowplow
</gallery>

====Construction====
Snow can be compacted to form a [[snow road]] and be part of a [[Winter road|winter road route]] for vehicles to access isolated communities or construction projects during the winter.<ref name = Abele>Abele, G., 1990. Snow roads and runways, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Monograph 90-3, Washington, D.C.</ref> Snow can also be used to provide the supporting structure and surface for a runway, as with the [[Phoenix Airfield]] in Antarctica. The snow-compacted runway is designed to withstand approximately 60 wheeled flights of heavy-lift military aircraft a year.<ref name="usap4212">{{cite web| url=http://www.usap.gov/News/contentHandler.cfm?id=4212| title=A New Runway for McMurdo Station is Named| publisher=National Science Foundation| date=7 April 2016| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423090553/http://www.usap.gov/News/contentHandler.cfm?id=4212| archive-date=April 23, 2016| df=mdy-all}}</ref>