Improved Deicing Methods for Snow and Ice Removal: Evaluation of the Epoke Sander/Spreader for Caltrans Operations

The California Department of Transportation's (Caltrans) fleet of sand and salt spreading machines utilizes dated technology to handle a task that is both material intensive and important from a traveler safety standpoint. This study involved an engineering assessment of the Epoke Sirius Combi 4900 spreader (Epoke), which is being considered as a replacement for the existing fleet of salt and sand spreading equipment. The Epoke spreader and a conventional Caltrans fleet V-Box spreader were tested side-by-side to assess the improvements from one generation of equipment to another. The results of this research were positive, and Caltrans is moving to update the fleet with more modern equipment such as the Epoke Sirius Combi 4900 spreader. Incorporating the Epoke into Caltrans' snowfighting efforts will add capabilities such as combined liquid and solid pre-wet spreading, improved metering and material placement, electronic data acquisition for usage rates, vehicle location, and more, and will, overall, modernize the Caltrans' winter maintenance fleet. Beneficiaries are motorists, with improved safety and mobility, the environment, with a reduction of applied salt and abrasives, and taxpayers, through reduced snowfighting costs associated with improved efficiency and material usage reduction.