822.4 Best Practices
The sharing of best practices among districts results in greater efficiency and effectiveness. This trend should continue as the department is faced with greater need to operate better, faster and cheaper.
Personnel engaged in mowing should be trained in the operation of mowers and must be familiar with the applicable safety guidelines as set forth in MoDOT’s Safety Policies, Rules and Regulations Employee Handbook.
Fleet
1. The department is moving away from leasing tractors due to the higher costs associated with leases.
2. Fleet composition should be examined and comprised of tractors and mowing attachments that are optimal for the terrain and obstacles that are present in specific areas.
3. Accurately enter and maintain mower attachments inventory in FASTER. Stagger equipment inspections according to season. This allows for equipment to be properly inspected and all repairs made prior to the beginning of season.
Materials
1. EPG 821 Herbicides and Roadsides should be used as a guideline for herbicide programs.
2. A pre-season meeting to discuss herbicide treatments should be held in early- to mid-February each year.
Communication
1. Implement pre-holiday statewide conference calls to discuss mowing plans. This should increase consistency between districts. This is also recommended on a district level to improve consistency between areas.
2. Develop a district specific vegetation management plan, including herbicides and mowing, and submit to Central Office by March 1st each year. The plan should also be communicated and readily accessible to maintenance personnel.
3. When a major route corridor spans district lines, the districts should work together to present a coordinated plan for the route. Provide speaking points for customer service representatives and other district personnel to consistently answer questions from the public regarding mowing practices.
4. Collaborate with district community relations personnel to create public information pieces to inform our customers on work that will be completed. Examples of successful public relations pieces are news releases, brochures, maps and information posted on the website.
5. Communicate herbicide and PGR plans (recently completed and upcoming) to mowing personnel.
Labor
1. Analyze the area with the purpose of mapping out a circular route to increase efficiency by eliminating or significantly reducing deadheading.
2. Actively monitor working hours and overtime of personnel by flexing work schedules during the work week once an employee reaches 40 hours.
3. Encourage short mowing cycles with all mowers operating, and make mowing a focused priority during scheduled mowing times. This will help save money on labor and mobilization.
Operations
1. Encourage the expansion of the Adopt-A-Highway Program for mowing.
2. Develop and encourage areas of native vegetation.
3. The mowing operations team will remain intact and will meet after the mowing season to review the effectiveness of the operations direction.
Trimming
1. Trimming should be evaluated for need at each mowing cycle, according to height limitations in EPG 822.
2. The use of total vegetation control (bareground) should be limited to a 24 in. radius around signs to limit erosion problems.
Mowing and Spraying Strip Widths
| Strip Width (ft.) | Approximate Acreage per One Mile | Miles Traveled to Equal one Acre | Strip Width (ft.) | Approximate Acreage per One Mile | Miles Traveled to Equal one Acre | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 0.12 | 8.25 | 8.0 | 0.97 | 1.03 | |
| 2.0 | 0.24 | 4.13 | 9.0 | 1.09 | 0.92 | |
| 3.0 | 0.36 | 2.75 | 10.0 | 1.21 | 0.83 | |
| 4.0 | 0.48 | 2.06 | 11.0 | 1.33 | 0.75 | |
| 5.0 | 0.61 | 1.65 | 12.0 | 1.45 | 0.69 | |
| 6.0 | 0.73 | 1.38 | 14.0 | 1.70 | 0.59 | |
| 7.0 | 0.85 | 1.18 | 16.5 | 2.00 | 0.50 |