SNOW REMOVAL OPERATIONS
MISSION
STATEMENT
Snow
removal activities will be conducted as effectively, efficiently, and
economically as possible. It is Facilities Management's responsibility to
ensure that the University's 5+ miles of campus roads, 7+ miles of walks, and
approximately 35 acres of parking lots are kept clear of snow and available for
use by faculty, staff, students, and visitors during the hours of operation. With an average annual snowfall accumulation
of over 200 inches, snow removal operations must be taken seriously in order
for the University to run smoothly.
GENERAL
INFORMATION
Facilities
Management is constantly updating the plan to accommodate changing campus needs
and begins making plans for the following winter's snow removal in the spring
of each year by reviewing established snow removal priorities, personnel, and
available equipment. Various types of
preparation for winter operations are carried out as time permits.
Early
morning scheduling of personnel is required on most winter days, to have all
campus facilities available by 7:30 a.m.
During the months of heavy snowfall, normal scheduling of grounds
personnel is changed considerably.
The
Manager of Grounds Operations determines the starting time of the snow removal
and sanding crew for the following day in late afternoon of the previous
day. This schedule may be revised in
late evening if heavy snowfall persists.
Conditions very often require the snow removal crew to start at 4 a.m.
In the
event of icy conditions or high winds causing drifting conditions, when there
is a concern for students and employees going to and from class or work, the
Public Safety Officer may telephone the supervisor and recommend a call out of
the Grounds Crew.
FALL
PREPERATIONS
1.
Bicycle
racks, waste containers, picnic tables and park benches are stored for winter.
2.
Marker
stakes are installed on steam tunnel vent stacks, fire hydrants, and all other
obstacles for snow removal guidance.
3.
Trees
and shrubs are protected as required at each location.
4.
Buckets
of sand are provided at each building, for use by building attendants and
custodians.
5.
Sand
with a rock salt mixture is stockpiled for sanding operations, at a ratio of 1,500
tons of sand to 200 tons of rock salt.
6.
Lawn
sprinkler systems are shut off and drained on the main campus, athletic fields,
and the Student Development Complex.
OPERATIONAL
PROCEDURES
The Manager
of Grounds Operations is responsible for supervising snow removal activities
and reassigning units as snow and ice conditions and other needs require.
One
Grader and four Front End Loaders are used to clear snow from all of the streets
and large student and staff parking lots.
Equipment operators generally operate the piece of equipment with which
they are most familiar in both operation and servicing. Although most operators can operate all
pieces of equipment available to them, some operators are more productive with
certain machines and are assigned to them.
Two all-terrain
4x4 utility vehicles with angle plows are used to clear the sidewalks
throughout the campus. Sidewalk plowing
is the first priority for these units.
These vehicles also use snow blower and rotary broom attachments to
complete the snow removal on the sidewalks.
At shift
changes in late afternoon and at the end of the school day, a final pass is
made with the under blade sander and utility vehicle plows along all campus
streets and parking lot entrances to aid in the flow of traffic. Late shift sanding is also done at
intersections, parking lot approaches, the MTU Apartments road, and the
Division Street walkway commonly used by students passing from McNair Hall to
the campus core.
The
grounds crew is responsible for plowing walks to all buildings within (5) feet
with equipment, in addition to main sidewalks, and University roads and
streets. Custodians and building
attendants share the responsibility of maintaining walks within a few feet of
buildings, the outside stairs and landings of their respective facilities, and
spreading sand as needed.
MTU
Apartments and resident student parking at Wadsworth Hall, Douglass Houghton
Hall, and McNair Hall Lots 4, 10, 17, 20 and 21 are cleared as much as possible
each day. The under blade sander plows
campus streets adjacent to the above areas and loaders plow between rows of
vehicles in the adjacent lots. As much
snow as possible is cleared away from the rear of parked cars in the
above locations, however, students are responsible for digging out their own
cars.
Whenever
possible, snow removal at the dormitories is limited to day shift operations so
as not to disturb students during rest and study periods.
There are
three predetermined dates each winter when students are required to move their
cars from MTU Apartments and dormitory units - Lots 4, 10, 17, 20 and 21 to
permit the grader and loaders to clean the lots. The Public Safety Department arranges for the
moving of all cars to a designated lot before the students leave for the
holiday period. Snow is cleared from
these lots during Christmas vacation, Easter vacation, and once between these
periods.
SITE
SNOW CLEANUP
When
normal operations are caught up due to a lull in snowfall, the snow removal
crews are scheduled to haul snow away as necessary. Snow from campus is taken to the snow dump
area on Cemetery Road.
Two
dump trucks are used for this activity.
Trucks are loaded using one of the front-end loaders equipped with a
snow bucket or by blowing the snow into them with the large Sno-Go unit. The Sno-Go is used to blow snow into the
trucks or to cut back the snow banks along roads and in parking lots.
WINTER
CARNIVAL
Special
snow removal work is carried out during Winter Carnival activities, when most
of the campus is cleared of excess snow to permit visitor viewing of the snow
statues. For this period of
approximately four weeks, the Grounds Department assists Blue Key and the
Statue Committee in snow statue site cleanup, hauling and stockpiling of snow,
and finally eliminating any hazardous conditions when the statues begin to melt
in the spring. The grounds crews are
usually able to incorporate most of these activities with normal snow removal
operations.
MISCELLANEOUS
REQUESTS
The
Physical Education Department requests snow to be removed, in early spring,
from the outdoor running track, and the Athletic Fields in preparation for
track and spring football practice. As a
normal function, the Portage Lake Golf Course roads and facility areas are kept
open year around.
Requests
are also received to open the road to the University owned Experimental Mine on
Quincy Hill in Hancock, whenever the Mining Department requires assistance.
Woodland
Avenue, Upland Road, Fairview Street, and First Street are City of Houghton streets
and are usually well plowed and sanded by City crews. Facilities Management crews have assisted in
these operations in an emergency for the purpose of aiding University students
and employees to get to class and work.
SNOW
REMOVAL EQUIPMENT
Grader #1:
1996 Champion 720 IV Articulate
Tandem Drive with 13' snow wing.
Loader #1:
2005 John Deer 624 Front End
Loader Rylind
snow blade, 13’ wide
Snow
Bucket Cap. = 6 C.Y.
Loader #2:
1992 Case 621 Front End Loader SAE Bucket Cap. = 2.5 C.Y.
Snow
Bucket Cap. = 6 C.Y.
Loader #3:
1994 Case 621B Front End Loader SAE Bucket Cap. = 2.5 C.Y.
Snow
Bucket Cap. = 6 C.Y.
Loader #4:
1992
John Deere 444E Front End Loader SAE
Bucket Cap. = 1.75 C.Y.
2007
International 4x4 truck with highway sander and under-blade.
Twe
each: 2006 Bobcat Toolcat
5600 Snow blade, rotary broom,
blower.
1992 Case 580 Super K
Loader/Backhoe SAE Bucket Cap. = 1.5 C.Y.
1974 Klauer Model MP3D Snow-go with American Coupler System.
1991
Chevy Kodiak tandem dump truck.
1987 Ford
L8000 tandem dump truck.
1996 Chevy 1 Ton 4x4 pickup truck
with Boss plow and small highway sander.
ROUTE
DESCRIPTION
Grader
#1 and Loader #3 work together as follows:
e. Proceeds
to Lots # 8, 9, and 14.
f. Proceeds
to Hockey Education Center.
g. Proceeds
to Student Development Complex to clean up parking lots and sidewalks.
Loaders
#1 and #2 work together as follows:
Loader
#4 works alone as follows:
The
two all-terrain 4x4 utility vehicles are used to plow the main campus mall,
including all sidewalks around the Administration Building, Alumni House, Old
Academic Office Building and ROTC. They
also assist in clearing the sidewalks around Wadsworth Hall and McNair Hall.
A
pickup truck with a sander mounted on the back is used in sanding the sidewalks
on the main campus, Resident Halls, Daniell Heights,
and at the Student Development Complex.
All campus sidewalks are sanded daily as conditions require.
A
4x4 highway truck sander equipped with a sand hopper and underblade
is used as required on University roads and Parking gate approaches. Special attention is given to intersections
and hills. Sanders operate daily as
follows:
AFTERNOON
SHIFT
An
afternoon shift equipment operator works from 2:30pm to 11:00pm Tuesday through
Saturday. This equipment operator works
at maintaining the streets and parking lot entrances and sidewalks during the
evening hours. He will also haul snow
from the stockpiled snow in the parking lots to the snow dump site on Cemetery
Road.