Jan 03, 2009 - 04:06:07 CST
Hauling snow in record times is not exclusively a city problem. Ask the local county road engineers.December 2008 was the snowiest for any month for Bismarck-Mandan, which received 33.5 inches.
Burleigh County Engineer Marcus Hall has been tackling the challenge for the past two months.
Hall has been sharing duties with the now-retired Jon Mill since Nov. 1. Accustomed to the Duluth, Minn., area extremes, he knows what he is in store for here.
"There are about 1,550 miles of county and township roads to clear. We have 22 operators. That comes to about 70 miles per operator," Hall said.
"Our priorities are the main arterial roads, then the feeder roads and then the local streets," he said. "Since we've had these back-to-back storms, we barely get the main roads done, and then it's time to go back to the main roads."
Hall said the main roads typically require 36 hours to complete before they can tackle the feeder roads.
"It's often the fourth day before we begin on the local streets (subdivisions)," he said. "It can easily take us five or six days to clean up from one storm system."
Hall said residents who do their own hauling of snow from driveways can help prevent drifts on the roads by heaping it as far away from the road into the ditch or field as they can.
"We have it in the ditches, but the ditches are full now," Hall said. He suspects crews will be fighting the hefty snowfall for the rest of the winter, but he hopes for a break in accumulation in January.
One strategy they are using is ridging. It involves compacting snow in front of the loose snow. "This creates a barrier," Hall said.
He said some 1,100 tons of sand-salt mix have been applied to Burleigh County roads. Most of this is used on the primary roads and intersections of the subdivisions with stops.
Hall said many of the townships contract with the county to do the road cleanup.
He said those from the countryside who have plans in Bismarck should have a backup plan to stay with someone in town during these weather conditions.
Chuck Morman, road supervisor for Morton County, also said they have had to decide where to place the snow this year.
Morton crews handle a larger rural, less residential area that allows more ditch and field space to spread out more of the snow.
"It's been a normal North Dakota winter. We just haven't been used to it for a long time," he said, referring to recent dry years. "Now, we've got to be more efficient in where we put it. We have to do more ridging in the fields."
Morman oversees the clearing of some 1,300 miles of roads using 20 plow operators.
"We have first-, second- and third-day priority routes. We can usually get it done in 21/2 days," he said. "First-day routes are emergency routes, bus, mail and milk routes."
He said if milk producers have to dump their product, it's costly.
Morman said the record snow has posed a little more of a challenge. Areas less inhabited often must wait until the main roads are tended to.
"It has not been as bad in the southern part of the county. That allows us to catch up in areas like St. Anthony," Morman said.
He said a little break in weather will allow his crews to better redistribute the snow so it will drift less.
Morman said between 400 and 500 tons of sand-salt have been applied to icy county and township roads there.
(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@bismarcktribune.com.)
To Chet wrote on Jan 3, 2009 11:41 PM:
Chet wrote on Jan 3, 2009 11:04 PM:
westernite wrote on Jan 3, 2009 6:11 PM:
http://www.dot.nd.gov/roadreport/roadreport/roadreport.asp
It is not always accurate but it gives you an idea of what is going on out there. You can also call 511 from your cell. Follow the commands.
I drove Hwy 85 to TRNP and back to Dickinson yesterday to pick up a friend and the reports said visibility was 1 to 10 miles...in reality...it was more like 10 to 100 feet. NDDOT should have a blog posting area on that site so that people who have been out on the roads can post the actual conditions. "
Been there wrote on Jan 3, 2009 1:06 PM:
Internet Bully wrote on Jan 3, 2009 12:45 PM:
Michele wrote on Jan 3, 2009 12:32 PM:
Sk wrote on Jan 3, 2009 10:02 AM:
Been There wrote on Jan 3, 2009 9:21 AM:
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