STUDDED TIRE EVALUATION IN NEW JERSEY

A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN NEW JERSEY TO EVALUATE THE OVERALL EFFECT OF ALLOWING STUDDED TIRES ON THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. DAMAGE TO PAVEMENT SURFACES WAS MEASURED. PAVEMENT SURFACE SKID RESISTANCE CHANGES WERE DETERMINED TO COMPARE TO VALUES ATTRIBUTED PRIMARILY TO GENERAL RUBBER TIRE TRAFFIC. A PROPOSED STUDDED TIRE ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURE DESCRIBING A SERIES OF TESTS, WAS EVALUATED. THE TEST PROGRAMS AND RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT ONLY COMPARATIVELY MARGINAL IMPROVEMENTS COULD BE ANTICIPATED IN NEW JERSEY BY THE INTRODUCTION OF STUDDED TIRES.