Coconino County Public Works is currently doing three plow shifts to keep plows and graters on the roads after this week’s storms.
One shift from midnight to noon and the other from noon to midnight, each with 13 county employees and contractors happily behind the wheel of the snowplow.
Meanwhile, a crew of 19th grade operators work from 4am to 4pm every day.
Marc Della Rocca, Community Relations Manager for Coconino County Public Works, said:
Mechanics spend a combined 72 hours each day operating and maintaining equipment. According to Della Rocca, the grueling schedule started last Saturday night with a storm. And the scale of this effort comes as close as possible to meeting the county’s enormous needs.
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“Coconino county is bigger than Denmark. It really is. It covers an area of about 19,000 square miles.
To maximize resource utilization, the county takes a targeted approach to snow removal.
“Right place, right time is our motto for snow operations,” says Della Rocca. “Years ago, every time it started to snow, the entire team in this sprawling county would go out no matter what. This also starts with dispatching pilot vehicles, mobilizing snow shift supervisors and making phone calls to the crew, in addition to regularly checking the radar. .”
A snowplow driver’s job is not an easy one during a storm of any size.
Just ask Joe Weas, Road Maintenance Manager for Coconino County Public Works. According to Della Rocca, he forgot more about road maintenance than most people know, but Weise himself remembers his first shift pushing snow for the county.
“I found a dirt route on the plow track and they told me to hit the plow if necessary. It’s called Hill 49. A tree had fallen in the middle of the road, so I had to stop in the middle of this steep hill, take this tree off the road, and try to go again, because I had to take the chain off. Because I didn’t have it on,’ he said. “Yeah, it was my first time, my first snow move.”
Everyone is a rookie at some point, but Coconino County entered with 40% fewer operators than usual this season. Workers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are in high demand, and today most of the workers driving plow trucks are newcomers.
“Think of such historic snowfall conditions and, especially if you are a beginner, what it means to plow the roads in whiteout conditions, armed with 40 tons of equipment. It’s an ice test.For many of these people, it’s their first time,” Della Rocca said.
One of the new employees was a former office worker who turned into a snow removal contractor this winter. She went from a public works front desk to working on the front lines of this week’s winter storm, plowing a route in Belmont.
In Coconino County, two-thirds of the roads that require cultivation are unpaved, so difficulties like Wiese’s battling fallen trees and limited traction are not uncommon.
“If you’re on a plow truck, you have to raise and lower the plow all the time, so you don’t want to cut through the soil. You fall, that’s how fast you are on a dirt road,” Wiese said.
I’m not saying the pavement is always easy to clear.
“If it’s hard pavement, you can just keep going. As a rule of thumb, pavement is much easier, but you’ll get into a lot of trouble as well,” Wiese said.
With relatively new employees working on removing snow and installing towing aids, Della Rocca said they are trying to get more input from the community than ever before.
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“They can call us here anytime. They can call us public works. Thank you to everyone who has contributed,” said Della Rocca. “Sometimes the caller will say, ‘Hey, you left a really big berm.’ I’ve lived here for a long time’ and I can give it back to the department supervisor. can. Their training is exponentially better. “
Calls to county public works are appreciated for information and training purposes, but Della Rocca said there are times when calling his department shouldn’t be necessary.
“I get a lot of calls from people who are frustrated. Say “Please call 911″. The sheriff’s office will determine what needs to be done so that first responders can be dispatched as soon as possible. Don’t call it public works. Call 911,” said Della Rocca.
County public works teams unload cinders as a towing aid in addition to clearing large amounts of snow. This is one of the reasons why construction workers can still be seen on the roads long after the snow has stopped.
“In wooded areas, the sun isn’t high enough yet to provide the solar radiation it needs to help it, so the little bit of melting it gets is actually exacerbating the icing problem. So this will be an ongoing effort for the better part of next week,” said Della Rocca. We go through about 5,000 tons of black traffic control cinders a year and of course when spring comes we will go out and pick them up. application.”
After a long few weeks and snow on and off since Christmas, the team is tired, Wiese said.
But they are still dedicated to getting out and getting the job done.
“I have to say I am very proud of our team, especially the new people who are really there. We appreciate people’s patience and hope they know that we are always doing the best for them,” said Della Rocca.
Here’s how to get to Sierra Ferguson: sierra.ferguson@lee.net.
