News Releases

Date: May 31, 2007

Contacts:

Contact:	Company:	Phone:	Email:
Bill Brady	Cargill (US)	952-742-6608	bill_brady@cargill.com
Jackie Renner	RCC	612-859-2626	rennercomm@aol.com

 

New Report Confirms SafeLane ™ Overlay Helps Reduce Accidents, Makes Winter Roads Safer

2006-2007 Results “Confirm and Strengthen Preliminary Evidence”

MINNEAPOLIS – An analysis of SafeLane™ Surface Overlay’s performance during the 2006-07 winter season, conducted by a leading snow and ice control authority, concludes that Cargill’s patented road and bridge treatment improves safety and mobility during winter-weather conditions.

The report by Asset Insight Technologies, a consulting service for the winter highway maintenance industry, summarizes available performance data for SafeLane™ Surface Overlay at 26 roads and bridge test installations in 14 states.

“There was considerable preliminary evidence in the 2005-2006 season that SafeLane ™ overlay improved safety during the winter time,” said Wilfred Nixon, president of Asset Insight Technologies and professor of engineering at the University of Iowa. “There is now two years of consistent evidence that improved performance by SafeLane overlay under winter conditions…does indeed translate into safety improvements for the traveling public.”

Nixon’s 2005-2006 performance report, also commissioned by Cargill, found no weather-related crashes at any of the nine SafeLane overlay test sites then in place. Although cautioning that for statistically significant results, safety studies need to be conducted over a number of years, the 2006-2007 report again found dramatic accident reduction rates, including:

• No weather-related crashes on the Blatnik Bridge on-ramp, linking the cities of Superior, Wisc. and Duluth, Minn., where there were twenty crashes during the four years before SafeLane overlay was installed in 2005.
• No weather-related crashes on the eastbound lanes of the Ironwood Bridge on the heavily traveled US 20 bypass near South Bend, Ind, which had a long history of snow and ice related crashes before SafeLane overlay was installed in 2005. “If I can get 36,000 vehicles over that bridge in an ice storm without any crashes, it’s worth its weight in gold,” noted Steve Giese, operations manager at the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Plymouth sub district.
• No weather-related crashes on the Wolf River Bridge in Crandon, Wisc., which averaged three to four accidents a season before SafeLane overlay was installed in 2003. “Not one call about the bridge even being slippery, much less any accidents,” said Ron Cole, Forest County highway department. “I have to believe…that by doing this bridge we may have saved someone’s life or avoided some personal injury.”

SafeLane™ Surface Overlay is a unique anti-icing and anti-skid overlay that helps prevent frost and ice formation before it begins, while sealing roadbeds to prevent their degradation. Anti-icing chemicals are applied to the overlay before ice or snowstorms hit. The patented combination of epoxy and aggregate acts like a rigid sponge, storing those chemicals inside and automatically releasing them as snow and ice conditions develop.

The report concluded that:

• In nearly all cases, test sections remained clear of snow or ice at times when it was accumulating on untreated (control) sections of roads and bridges. In some cases those accumulations on control sections contributed to crashes.
• When accumulation did occur on test sections, the snow and ice did not bond to the surface as often as on the control sections, resulting in easier plowing.
• Treated segments of highway infrastructure maintained mobility for longer, and could be returned to full mobility more easily than non-treated sections. However, such gains are less likely to be observed in wet, heavy snow or other high moisture conditions.
• There were no concerns with chemical slickness or slipperiness even when chemical was applied in conditions where such slickness could be expected.

For a complete copy of the AIT report, call Cargill at 1-866-900-7258 or download it from the web site at www.cargillsafelane.com/.

 

About Cargill

Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 149,000 employees in 63 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. For more information, visit www.cargill.com.