Preparing for snow removal...with an eye on cost savings

BEATRICE - A first blast of winter hit northern areas of Montana and North Dakota the past week, with upwards of a foot of snow. The question is, when is the central plains’ turn.  It’s an anytime proposition this time of year…..when that first wave of snow and ice will hit.

"We've got everything mounted on the trucks, right now. We're just going around right now and finishing up a few services on the trucks....and so, we've got all of our salt brought in for the year.......we're ready to go."

The last of street repairs is wrapping up for the fall, and Beatrice Street Superintendent Jason Moore says the focus shifts to the snow and ice season…which was mild last year.

"A couple, three or four years ago we had a pretty decent winter where we might have gotten about 50 inches of snow. 2009 and 10...that one still sticks out. Anyone who's done this type of work for awhile, they remember the two blizzards we had in December. I know that we're due another good winter."

The Beatrice Street Department has a snow crew of eight…and can draw from other utility departments and the garbage hauling service for additional personnel….handling daytime and overnight shifts.  Like last year, Moore says the crews will use a mix of salt and de-icer….with less gravel for treating roadways.

"We are going to a straight salt mix here in town. We'll still treat our salt with liquid de-icer to lower the melting point and have it activated when it goes out the door."

One of the newer tools in handling snow and ice is an onboard computer system designed to better measure out and evenly apply material for melting snow and ice.  Moore says the old way involved the snowplow truck’s hydraulics, speed and RPMs….regulating how fast, and how much material was applied.

"We went to a metering system that we've installed in the trucks. It controls the truck's application rate based on ground speed. We can enter in how many pounds of salt per lane-mile, that we want to apply. We shoot for 250 to 300 pounds of salt per lane-mile. (each of both sides of a street mile) We set our devices to 300, and based on the ground speed, it will slow the auger down or speed the auger up. If we stop at a street light, it will stop the auger without the operator having to do anything, whatsoever."

It allows tighter control of the amount of salt used….and more consistency from one storm to another. It costs about $5,000 per truck to install the systems.
Plow truck operator Nathan Rains calibrates the system used in the truck he’ll operate.

"You do a calibrated test....set it at 30-miles-per-hour, for two minutes. It's just telling that computer it's going 30-miles-per-hour and we set it at 100 pounds . You try to get as close as you can to that 100 pounds...all of the systems are within five pounds when we're done."

Moore says another cost-saving step is the use of truck blades fitted with carbide shields.  "We'll go an entire year, and not change blades. That's another cost savings for us because for the guys to have to come in and drop the blades off...it takes at least an hour. By the time you come in, you've got slop and slush dripping on everything. The guys have to get under there with impact wrenches and loosen everything off."

Concrete is harder on blades than asphalt, but Moore says the carbide protectors prevent extensive wear….and will last an entire winter for about $600 extra.
The carbide shields have been in use by the department for three years…and they’ll be installed on all five trucks in the snow fleet…this season.