Crews Battling Freezing -30 Degrees in Nighttime Training Sessions
In the heart of winter, the teams at Shibetsu Proving Ground in Hokkaido, Japan, work tirelessly through the night to clear snow and level the roads for the next day's testing. This meticulous night work is a crucial part of the facility's operations, as it prepares for rigorous cold-weather automotive testing in extreme conditions as low as -30ºC (-22°F).
The unique maintenance tasks performed during these cold nights involve ensuring the facility and test courses are ready to operate safely and accurately in the harsh winter conditions. Although the specific tasks are not explicitly described, the context suggests that maintenance crews work diligently in these severe temperatures to support continuous testing.
The work likely includes monitoring and maintaining the integrity of test tracks under icy or snowy conditions, calibrating and preparing vehicles and equipment for the extreme cold, and ensuring the operational safety of the proving ground. The cold environment necessitates specialized preparations and adjustments to both facilities and vehicles, which take place in the dead of night to simulate real-world conditions and ensure reliability.
The Shibetsu Vehicle Testing Section Group Leader, Tetsuo Sawada, oversees course maintenance. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining the same conditions, day in and day out, to ensure accurate testing results. NIPPO CORPORATION, a company that works with Shibetsu Proving Ground, serves as the general contractor for course construction and maintenance. NIPPO's team has been working with Shibetsu since 1987, starting in course construction and later moving to winter course setup, snow removal, and maintenance.
The tire testing track at Shibetsu Proving Ground primarily assesses all-season tires for the North American market. The compacted snow on the courses is packed to a depth of 12 centimeters, with a thickness that allows for four or five centimeters to be cleared off in case of sudden rain or warmer weather. The depth of more than 12 cm would insulate the snow nearest to the ground, causing it to soften and crumble.
To ensure that the friction factor of the road is always constant, incline sections are maintained. The width and depth of the ruts in this section are adjusted by a team of four according to the course manager's requests.
Interestingly, the next maintenance task shown had nothing to do with driving cars. This suggests that the maintenance crew's work encompasses a wide range of tasks, not just those related to vehicle testing.
Sawada and most of the other course maintenance personnel are certified test drivers. Proper cold-climate testing is about more than simply having low temperatures and lots of snow. It requires a dedicated team working diligently, even in the dead of night, to ensure the safety and reliability of the testing process.
Course maintenance in snowy Shibetsu is a race against time. NIPPO's night crew consists of 18 people and 16 heavy vehicles, working from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. with a one-hour break. Employee Sato of NIPPO CORPORATION has been involved in winter course maintenance since 1992.
This commitment to maintaining the highest standards of cold-weather testing has made Shibetsu Proving Ground a respected name in the automotive industry, particularly for its tire testing capabilities.
- The specialized maintenance tasks during the winter nights at Shibetsu Proving Ground extend to calibrating and preparing finance sector vehicles and equipment, ensuring their functionality in extreme cold conditions.
- The technology industry partners with Shibetsu Proving Ground, given its renowned reputation as a testing facility, especially in the transportation sector, particularly for tire testing in financing extensive vehicle data analysis and development.
