Here is the AccuWeather/Brett Anderson latest interpretation of the ECMWF long rang weather forecast for North America
and specifically Canada. This update goes through most of August. Looks like there won’t be a lot of grass cutting done in SW Ontario throughout August.
via AccuWeather.com – Brett Anderson | Extended Long Range Weather Model Forecast.
Centreline: Long range forecasting and winter road weather is important information for public works staff.
When I joined APWA in 2004, I received a very comprehensive package of promotional material in the mail which included a letter of thanks, information about their services, the Info Now network, the historical society, benefits of membership and a publications/resources catalogue. Needless to say, I was impressed and as we all know…you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.
Harry Campbell's graphic interpretation of the theme "Public Works: Above, Below & All Around You".
Over the years their publications and promotional materials have been consistently relevant, essential and timely. The National Public Works Week (NPWW) flyer that I received this week is no exception. The flyer cover – a copy of the 2010 NPWW poster by illustrator Harry Campbell – is an amazing interpretation of the theme “Public Works: Above, Below, & All Around You” .
Harry’s distinctive graphic line illustration work can be found in most major publications including The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and many others. A graduate of The Maryland Institute College of Art where he also has taught. Campbell has received numerous awards from The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and American Illustration.
National Public Works Week (NPWW) 2010 is celebrated on May 16-22. Instituted as a public education campaign by the American Public Works Association (APWA) in 1960, NPWW calls attention to the importance of public works in community life. The Week seeks to enhance the prestige of the often–unsung heroes of our society–the professionals who serve the public good every day with quiet dedication.
The Association of Ontario Road Supervisors (AORS) has formally partnered with the Ontario Public Works Association (OPWA) – A Chapter of APWA/CPWA. One of the goals of this agreement is to cross promote the partner’s significant events and awards including NPWW. OPWA has two awards available for NPWW in Ontario including:
Township of Scugog staff and elected officials - winners of the Roger Brown Trophy.
The 2009 winner in the first category was the City of Brampton and the second category was the Township of Scugog. Congratulations to both Municipalities and their staff or organizing such great programs that met the strategic objectives of the program.
In my opinion, NPWW activities are like APWA publications. They’re opportunity to make a great impression…a lasting impression of your Municipal public works department and its important role in providing essential quality of life services in our communities. From my conversations with representatives of the winning teams, it doesn’t take a great deal of time or resources to make any NPWW celebratory event memorable. On the other hand, the benefits – award and trophies notwithstanding – including increased morale, teamwork and pride amongst participating Municipal staff are enormous.
So….don’t forget those dates…..May 16-22. If you and your Municipality are interested in supporting NPWW in Ontario please contact anyone at OPWA or AORS or better yet, talk to the Municipalities who have participated in the past. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel.
These folks have lots of experience and good ideas so tap into it.
CentreLine: NPWW is an opportunity to shout from the rooftops “We are public works”.
Road Talk is a monthly publication of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and is distributed provincially, nationally and internationally. It is produced by the Division Services Office of the Provincial Highways Management Division. The Winter 2010 edition includes the following information:
MTO is testing hot water sanding technology in rural parts of Ontario.
The Ontario government is working on a number of ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions to meet its commitment to a greener Ontario. More…
What’s New in Winter Maintenance Technology
The Maintenance Technology Project (MTP) is the Ministry’s focus for identifying, evaluating, demonstrating, and implementing new technology in highway maintenance. Topics include (full document here):
CentreLine: MTO is a leader in Provincial winter road maintenance technology research and innovation. Many Municipalities have innovative programs that should receive more attention and promotion.
First impressions and lasting impressions really count
I don’t know what the final attendance was at the Landscape Ontario Congress 2010 but I’m sure they exceeded – so I heard – last year by a significant amount. I hope so because the Face2Face Congress really raised the bar for this type of event. For anyone interested in horticultural, lawn or garden equipment, services and supplies there was ample opportunity to network, learn and participate throughout the massive venue.
We had several hands on deck at the AORS booth (Education Section) so I had plenty of time to walk around, network, take pictures and just generally observe the features that make this event so successful and so consistent throughout the 4 days.
Face2Face registration staff were efficient and professional.
Monday, January 11th - Congress Symposiums
Although I didn’t attend the Congress on Monday there was a full slate of a full slate of all-day, specialty programs and conferences including:
I like the idea of offering educational/accreditation opportunities on a separate opening day. As well, Landscape Ontario’s partners in education have an opportunity to promote their related programs and services. This really enhances the overall experience for attendees because there is something on the agenda for everyone. The message is clear from opening day. If you want to learn and be successful in the landscape business then this is the event to attend and participate.
Tuesday, January 12th – Congress Conference (Day 1for those of us at the AORS booth)
Creighton Rock Drill booth featuring 'Greenplus'
Hassel free parking…check. Hassel free registration….check. If you are going to attend an event of this size you want to be able to get inside the venue as quickly as possible. Landscape Ontario staff, volunteers and contractors showed us how it’s done. Despite thousands of cars descending on the show traffic and parking control persons did a great job and there were many professionally staffed registration tables at the entrance. In no more than 5 minutes I had my badge, brochure bag and was at the AORS booth ready to work. Despite our location – perhaps a bit too close to the entrance – we had lots of interest in our educational programs (particularly the equipment operator safety and skills series), annual Trade Show and Spotlight directory. For attendees and suppliers to get the most out of this event – and all similar shows – you really have to be pro-active, participative and patient. You only get out of it what you put in so everyone in our booth took turns circulating throughout the venue, talking with some AORS current and potential supplier members.
For the other attendees there was a full slate of Prosperity Partner educational sessions centred around the six pillars of business success…. Sales, Financial Health, Developing Customers for Life, Professional Operations, Leadership Excellence and Technical Expertise.
Highlight Tuesday: If you want a dose of infectious enthusiasm for a ‘green product’ and AORS just have a talk with Peter Creighton (Creighton Rock Drill/CRD). So that’s what I did. As usual CRD’s award winning booth (CRD won the ‘Best Inside Booth Award at the 2009 AORS Trade Show) was busy and filled with lots of information and displays about their drilling, breaking, demolition and compaction tools/attachments. Also featured was Greenplus Hydraulic Fluid ES an environmentally safe high performance biodegradable/non-toxic lubricant made from vegetable oils.
Wednesday, January 13th
On Wednesday Mick Scott, AORS Support Services Coordinator and Lyle Morris, AORS (Past President, 1998) joined us in the booth. We a fairly good flow of traffic and the professional, proactive approach of the booth volunteers ensured that we made the most of our time at the show. Educational sessions focused on technical expertise, financial health and leadership excellence required for success in the landscape business. The Equipment Dealers Forum was new for 2010 and is an great idea to implement at the AORS Trade Show.
The 'Certificatied Wall of Fame' was my personal favourite idea from Face2Face.
Highlight Wednesday: “I can sell you a booth, but I’d rather sell you an opportunity”. These enthusiastic words were spoken by Lorraine Ivanoff, Trade Show Sales representative, Landscape Ontario. I encountered Lorraine at the Congress office while renewing the AORS booth for 2010. I mentioned the issues with our booth location near the main entrance and Lorraine took the opportunity to explain to me why and how we ended up there. Needless to say, I now understand why the ‘education’ booths are located where they are (i.e. we are not-for –profit so we don’t pay full fee). However Lorraine also explained that if AORS wanted to improve its profile (e.g. promote 50th anniversary in 2011) at this show there are many other options (e.g. forum, mini conference/symposium) available that we could consider for next year. I think some of her ideas have merit and I’ll be meeting with her soon to discuss them in more detail.
Thursday, January 14th
The final day of the Congress is perhaps a bit quieter than the previous two but surprisingly there is always a pretty steady flow of attendees – particularly students – throughout the morning. I decided to stay over for the final day and I’m glad I did.
The Welcome Centre was a well designed area to relax and get some Landscape Ontario information from enthusiastic volunteers.
Highlight Thursday: The 8 educational sessions on Day 3 included a technical expertise session – The Marketing Power of Good Photography. Being an avid amateur photographer I thought this session might be helpful. The session leader, Nik Milner (Nik Milner Photography) provided some composition techniques to maximize the visual potential photographs particularly for use in various media and on the web. Nik was very animated and enthusiastic and I’m sure that everyone at this well attended seminar got some useful tidbit to use to improve their work.
The Welcome Centre completely lived up to its name. This beautifully designed and professionally staffed area was the perfect place to relax, enjoy a cup of coffee, look for a job, get information on training/accreditation or just put your feet up and take a load off. The Certification Wall of Fame was the focal point for sure. This is a great idea for AORS 2011 Trade Show.
RoadMap: Garden and Floral Expo – October 20-21/2009
CentreLine: Face2Face Congress set a high standard for similar events. Organizations that partner with Landscape Ontario during this and future events stand to gain significant credibility and positive exposure.
Milestones is an excellent OGRA publication.
The Winter Maintenance Issue of the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) publication ‘Milestones’ is now available on their website.
This is an excellent publication with many pertinent public works related articles including:
Arden Carruthers (left) passes the President's gavel to Ross Gellately.
If you wanted an example of a well organized and active AORS Local Association (LA), the Eastern Ontario Road Supervisors Association would be the template. With 13 business meetings and social events each year this LA always has something interesting, relevant and fun to offer its members (34 municipal/101 supplier).
The meeting on Wednesday, November 18th was no exception. After the regular business agenda, Ewen MacDonald, AORS Representative on the Board of Directors conducted the elections for the 2010 LA Executive. Ross Gellately (Twp. of South Stormont), has moved into the President’s position replacing Arden Carruthers (Twp. of North Dundas), and André Bachand (Twp. of North Glengarry) was elected as Vice-President. Mike McLennan (United Counties of SDG) has retired from the Municipality and his position as Secretary. No one was elected to replace Mike so this position will be filled at a future date.
Matt Maxsom holding the PolarFlex snow blade.
As well, two informative presentations were on the agenda including:
CentreLine: AORS Local Associations are the foundation of the organization and are the ‘close to home’ opportunity to network with your public works associates and learn about new supplier technologies and services.
Don’t let this recent lingering November warm spell fool you. Winter is just around the corner. Snow plows, salt spreaders and blue lights will soon be a common site on provincial roadways.
These plows and wings will soon be attached to trucks.
When road authorities combat snow/ice build-up, their first concern is to utilize the most cost effective and environmentally sensitive materials available. Environment Canada’s Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts and the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Syntheses of Best Practices are the guiding resources for winter maintenance.
As well, several companies have stepped up to the plate and developed products that have the potential to benefit road maintenance agencies with more efficient operations, improved roadway safety and savings in material usage. Sifto Canada Corp. and Innovative Surface Solutions have produced a product that is ‘leading the way in deicing’.
THAWROXTM, an innovative new premium deicing product, contains rock salt, magnesium chloride and a viscosity modifier. Several Municipalities – including Wellington County in SW Ontario – are realizing some significant benefits from this product including:
RoadMap: CTV clip discussing Thawrox including interview with Paul Johnson, Mgr. Road Operations, Wellington County.
Related posts:
CentreLine: Ontario Municipalities and innovative companies are doing their part to ensure the safety of motorists on winter roadways.
The Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation (left) says hello to Bryan Clarke, AORS CAO.
On October 6/7th I attended another very successful, timely and informative OGRA Snow and Ice Colloquium (“Weathering the Economic Storm”). Representing the Association of Ontario Road Supervisors I was kept busy handing out our 2010 Training and Professional Development Program.
Eric Rutherford, OGRA President and Councillor, Municipality of Greenstone welcomed everyone to the event and John Parsons (Division Mgr., Transportation and Roadside Operations) City of London kept the agenda lively and on time as Master of Ceremonies.
The Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation was the keynote speaker on Tuesday. He outlined many of the successful infrastructure programs underway, complimented OGRA on their efforts and took time to visit the AORS booth.
The Association of Ontario Road Supervisors was well represented by our two of our Past Presidents – Gary Williamson/1994 (Mgr., Public Works/Township of Wellington North) and Ken Lauppé/2006 (Mgr., Road Operations/City of Brampton).
Gary Williamson’s Presentation – Salt Management In a Small Rural Municipality
Roadmap: OGRA Snow/Ice Workshop Presentations
CentreLine: Congratulations to the OGRA staff and volunteer presenters for another excellent Colloquium. There really is no other program like this in Canada. Well done!
Will solar roadways of the future eliminate the need for road salt? Just imagine.
I must admit that this one piqued my interest. Solar Roadways, an Idaho company has developed Solar Road PanelsTM that will collect solar energy to power businesses and homes via structurally-engineered solar panels that are driven upon, to be placed in parking lots and roadways in lieu of petroleum-based asphalt surfaces.
According to their website:
“The Solar Road PanelsTM will contain embedded LEDs which “paint” the road lines from beneath to provide safer night time driving, as well as to give up to the minute instructions (via the road) to drivers (i.e. “detour ahead”). The road will be able to sense wildlife on the road and can warn drivers to “slow down”. There will also be embedded heating elements in the surface to prevent snow and ice buildup, providing for safer winter driving. This feature packed system will become an intelligent highway that will double as a secure, intelligent, decentralized, self-healing power grid which will enable a gradual weaning from fossil fuels.
Replacing asphalt roads and parking lots with Solar Roadway panels will be a major step toward halting climate change. Fully electric vehicles will be able to recharge along the roadway and in parking lots, finally making electric cars practical for long trips.”
CentreLine: It may sound a bit whacky but they got $100,000 research contract from the US Department of Transportation.
Salt storage and loading can be done inside this dome to avoid negative environmental impacts.
Last night the local weatherman apologized for using the word ‘snow’ for the first time this year. Now, we aren’t going to get the white stuff in Ottawa for a while hopefully but he was pointing at Timmins on his weather map. They are used to that up on there on the 480 latitude.
However, that begs the question. Is everyone ready for some snowfall and are your salt/sand/abrasive storage facilities ready for winter?
This topic was on the agenda of an MTO (Maintenance Session) Fall Meeting I attended recently. Joe Stea, MTO Operations Officer, presented – MTO Patrol Yard Facilities; Damage and Maintenance.
The graphics in his presentation reminded me that I had taken numerous photos of maintenance facilities that are not well maintained and/or have not been upgraded to meet the basic requirements outlined by Environment Canada’s Code of Practice for Salt Management.
In particular I think that many municipalities can achieve some relatively quick fixes and wins in 1) drainage and storm water management and 2) salt storage/handling.
The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has some excellent resources on their website to address these issues including:
Synthesis of Best Practices Road Salt Management
I encourage Municipal and private sector employees to review these documents and compare the suggested best management practices to their own operation. Any discrepancies should also become obvious in your salt management plans.
The Association of Ontario Road Supervisors has a comprehensive program of winter training seminars and the Ontario Good Roads Association organizes international winter maintenance experts each year at their Snow and Ice Colloquium in Mississauga.
Learn More: Joe Stea’s presentation (.pdf)
CentreLine: Winter maintenance personnel have many resources available to ensure their operations stay within Environment Canada’s Code of Practice for Salt Managment.
These are some pictures I took of the new MTO/TWD maintenance facility at Hwy 401 and Hurontario in Mississauga. I’ll continue to visit there over the next few weeks to check on the progress and update pictures.
