Transcript Plow Residential Streets Using Non-Traditional Techniques and Save Money

Plow Residential Streets Using
Non-Traditional Techniques and
Save Money
APWA WESTERN SNOW AND ICE CONFERENCE
Estes Park, Colorado
September 23, 2008
Loveland Facts and Figures:
Loveland Facts and Figures:
 65,000 population
 36 inches of snowfall per year, average
 12 snow events per year, average:
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November – 6.8 inches
December – 6.4 inches
January – 6.0 inches
March – 5.6 inches
February – 5.0 inches
April – 4.0 inches
 City street network totals 358 centerline miles:
 Priority One [arterials] = 70 c/l miles [20%]
 Priority Two [collectors] = 133 c/l miles [37%]
 Priority Three [ residentials] = 155 c/l miles [43%]
Loveland Facts and Figures
• PRIMARY SNOW EQUIPMENT:
16 truck plows
 11 w/ salt spreaders
 5 w/ MgCl anti-icers
5
3
1
1
1
pickup plows
wheel loaders with plows
road grader
loader-mounted snow blower [1800
tons/hr]
sidewalk tractor w/ plow, broom &
blower
Snow fighting Chemicals Used
• Ice Slicer – average 1,500 tons per year
• Apex – average 160,000 gallons per year
General Snow fighting Operations
• 5 anti-icing trucks are deployed 3-5 hours before the
storm to delay ice formation on pavements.
• When snow starts falling, all plow trucks are deployed.
• We start deicing, as needed.
• We operate 24/7 until
streets are safe & our
downtown district is
cleaned up.
• Two 12-hour shifts.
• Utilize employees from
8 other City divisions.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Mother of All Winters”
December 2006 – February 2007
“Mother of All Winters”
• Within a 16-day period, over 80 inches of snow fell in
some areas of Front Range.
• Snowed every week for 6 weeks straight.
• On December 20th, “Holiday Blizzard I”: powerful
blizzard affected the Front Range and eastern plains of
Colorado and surrounding states.
• Up to 3 feet fell along the Front Range from Pueblo to
Fort Collins.
• Interstate and state highways were closed.
• Denver International Airport was closed down for two
days, causing a significant ripple affect across the U.S..
December 2006 – February 2007
“Mother of All Winters”
• On December 28th - 29th, “Holiday
Blizzard II” dropped another 8 – 24
inches along Front Range, with
strong winds.
• Much of the state was declared a
federal disaster area.
• Tens of thousands of livestock were
killed.
• Hay drops were implemented;
helicopters were deployed to break
the ice on stock tanks.
• On January 4th - 5th, “Holiday Blizzard
III” – yet another 12 inches.
http://www.drovers.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=715&ed_id=3983
December 2006 – February 2007
“Loveland’s Woes”
• On December 20th-21st , 25 inches fell with
strong winds, 4-6 foot drifts and cold temps.
• This was a record-breaking storm for December.
• By early pm on December 21st, Priority 1 and 2
streets were plowed; we then started plowing
Priority 3 residentials.
• With snow 2-3 feet deep, our plow trucks and
contract road graders became stuck dozens of
times. Very slow going…..
• Our trucks and graders left behind 3-4 foot
windrows which blocked all driveways.
December 2006-February 2007
“Loveland’s Woes”
• Because it was slow going – and
we blocked driveways – the
phones started ringing. Up to 800
calls per day!
• We asked the local construction
community for help in dealing
with this emergency situation.
• By December 27 – one week later
– nearly all residentials were
either plowed and/or passable.
• IMPORTANT POINT: residentials
that saw a plow early on were
mostly down to bare pavement.
Those plowed a few days later
were, at best, ice-packed and
rutted.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Loveland’s Woes”
• On December 28th, we received
another 8-14 inches, and we
started all over with Priority 1s,
2s and finally 3s again.
• It snowed each of the next four
weekends, for a total of six weeks
in a row.
• Due to cold temps, our plows
could not pop the bonded ice
loose – the plows just chattered
over the top. Road graders
worked only slightly better.
• On these “last-plowed” streets,
the norm was : severe icepack
and deep ruts, ice potholes, and
very slick surfaces.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Loveland’s Woes”
• Beginning early January, contractors and City
crews loaded and hauled many hundreds of
truckloads of snow/ice from our arterial and
collector roads and business districts.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Mother of All Winters”
• In late January, we again
attempted to plow off
ice and ruts from our
140 residential miles, by
deploying 20 contract
graders and 25 frontend
loaders.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Loveland’s Woes”
• With over 50 inches of
combined snows and resulting
snow piles and blocked
gutters, we had DRAINAGE
PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE!
• Only two solutions: load/haul
from key locations, and hope
for a warm-up.
• Ultimately, temps warmed up,
we could plow off the
snow/ice, and drainage finally
under-cut the piled snow
banks.
December 2006 – February 2007
“Mother of All Winters”
• The Cost?
$500,000 spent on plowing contractors
[$100/hour average].
$250,000 spent on loading/hauling, traffic control.
Untold curb/concrete damage throughout town
from heavy equipment.
Untold asphalt damage throughout town from
never-ending freeze-thaw cycle.
Bruised egos and frayed nerves….
Lessons Learned?
• Our arterial/collector S & I program works quite
well. However, our “Achilles Heel” is our
residential plowing program….
• Must plow fresh snow!! Waiting too long causes
it to become packed down by traffic, and then
freeze tightly to pavement.
• Must plow all streets simultaneously, and
continue to plow as needed.
• Heavy equipment contractors are unfamiliar with
the residential street network – miss too many
streets and even entire neighborhoods.
My [hopefully not-so] crazy idea?
Put snowplows on trash trucks….
Why might this be better than using
heavy equipment contractors?
• It’s already being done in
several cities: NYC,
Chicago, Milwaukee, etc.
• We have a ready fleet of
20 trash and recycling
trucks sitting in our yard.
• We have equipment
operators for every one of
these trucks.
• These residential trash
and recycling operators
know our street network
better than anyone.
www.innogize.com/adrian/tz/archive/2006/02/
Trash truck plows versus heavy
equipment contractors:
• With 10 plow-equipped trash trucks, it would
take approximately 4 hours to plow the center
1/3 of our 288 miles of collectors/residentials
[i.e. 576 plow-miles @ two passes].
• Assumes each truck could average 15 mph.
• Each operator would drive his normal
collection routes, plowing left to right,
eventually plowing both sides of each street.
Trash truck plowing:
• Timing of each snowfall would dictate our
strategy:
If an overnight snowfall, trash crews would plow
residentials first, then unhook plows and resume their
normal collections.
If a daytime snowfall, crews would complete their
normal daily collections, then hook up plows and plow
residentials.
• Collections are performed Monday-Thursday, so
snowfalls on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,
would not impact collections.
Cost Comparison:
• Grader/loader contractors typically charge about
$100 per hour.
• Our estimated cost for each trash truck plow and
operator is $60 per hour.
• However, our net out-of-pocket cost for trash
truck plowing = $10/hour [i.e. OT only]
• Capital cost = $26,000 retrofit – i.e. for
frame/bumper extension, hitch/plow and
hydraulic hookups.
• For 10 trucks = $260,000 +/-.
Other Advantages
• Can deploy trash-truck plows immediately versus
waiting for contractors to trickle in.
• Immediate deployment means plowing fresher
snow before residential traffic creates packed
snow/ice, ruts, etc.
• Trash trucks can plow faster than road graders.
• Residential streets can be
plowed concurrently with our
arterials and collectors.
Still More Advantages:
• The faster the entire street
network is opened up, the
faster our community returns
to normal:
Employees can get to work;
Students can get to school;
Buses can run;
Shoppers can get to the stores;
Sales taxes get rung up;
Fewer frustrations and frazzled
nerves.
Bottom Line?
• Big snowstorms are fairly common community
emergencies in the Snow Belt Region, and we
need to be better prepared.
• Being prepared means utilizing all of our existing
resources.
• The community will receive better, faster, and
cheaper service.
• Buying plows for existing trucks is a reasonable
expense, given the high cost and risk that snow
emergencies present.
Questions? Comments?
• Mick Mercer
• Streets and Solid Waste Manager
• City of Loveland, CO
• 970.962.2530
• [email protected].