New Snow Removal System To Be Tested Monday Night

[Markham]

Hey guys

http://www.calgarybeacon.com/2010/11...-monday-night/

Markham

[captain134]

With a forecast calling for ten centimeters of snow on Monday night, the City of Calgary is getting ready to try out a new snow removal system.

The new system, called echelon plowing is a proactive approach to snow removal that will hopefully see the city avoid the usual road messes that follow a major storm. Echelon plowing is the practice where snowplows are operated across all lanes of a roadway in one direction. The snow will be plowed by passing a ridge of snow from one plow onto the next.

It has been proven safe and effective in other winter cities throughout North America. City crews will also be applying anti-icing agent to the usual trouble spots, such as bridge decks and hills throughout the city. This process will happen before the snow falls. Motorists may see a wet, striping effect in these problem areas – this is the anti-icing agent. Crews will also be applying salt, gravel or a mixture of the two for help melt snow and ice on the roads.

Drivers are reminded to stay at least 10 metres behind working sanders, graders and other snow removal equipment. Also, drivers are instructed not to pass working sanders or equipment.

The Calgary Police are also reminding drivers to keep safe during winter conditions. They are advising motorists to tune up and winterize their vehicles and install appropriate tires for the season. Be sure to clear snow off your car before driving and give yourself extra time to get to your destination. Reduce speed and turn on headlights and drive defensively. Leave extra distance between you and the car in front of you and if conditions are bad enough consider using Calgary Transit or delaying your trip until conditions improve.

[95EagleAWD]

You guys don't do this?

Been happening on major routes in Edmonton for like 15 years now.

[Scope951]

Yeah Calgary is VERY slow in this respect =(

[lellowrx7]

Hopefully it clears up deerfoot. Traffic sucks so much lol.
Aren't they implementing some sort of new communal snow removal plan as well? Some of the streets where I live see rivets bigger than a foot deep and make it impossible for some cars to move

[tobypaddock]

will this even affect deerfoot? cause isnt that handled by provincial gov't?

[BlackArcher101]

Province has been doing this on deerfoot before. And I'm sure I've seen this during the heavy dumps on roads such as Anderson before. It can work well and it could also backfire. Because the trucks are together, the time between trucks on a certain part of the road will become larger. Main benefit is that you have consistent clearing/traction throughout all lanes, but the time for the snow to accumulate will be larger. As well, this can only really be performed effectively during times of low traffic, ie late late night or early mornings.

It's a thing of beauty when done correctly though.

[ericchoweg]

Originally posted by 95EagleAWD
You guys don't do this?

Been happening on major routes in Edmonton for like 15 years now.

well you guys only had one up until the henday lol

[adidas]

On a 3 lane highway, they should clean the 2 right most lanes together with their new staggered method and then clean the furthest lane later or delayed by 10 min from the other trucks. (truck would be throwing snow to the left)

This way it wouldnt back up the traffic to edmonton when going down deerfoot.

2 lane highway would use staggered trucks and 4 lane highway would see 2 staggered trucks pushing left and the others to the right.

Hopefully this made sense, but i could see this method being much better.

[lellowrx7]

Seems to have worked. Roads are pretty damn good

[Darell_n]

Calgary always did this in the 90's when I first moved here. I never realized they stopped. Mind you I live outside the city now.

[Nufy]

Some idiot will try and pass...

I predict lifted truck or BMW.......

[sputnik]

Funny.

Winnipeg used to do this ALL of the time when I was a kid. Snow routes in Winnipeg are still enforced and overnight parking on most major routes (i.e. bus routes) is banned and cars get towed starting at midnight. Even in residential areas there are scheduled overnight parking bans so that the side streets can be cleared (unheard of in Calgary).

However the winters seem to be getting warmer in Winnipeg and it seems to be happen as often.

Now it looks like Calgary winters are getting worse and worse and is now using "new" methods for clearing snow.

[Sugarphreak]

....

[TurboMedic]

Originally posted by sputnik
Funny.

Winnipeg used to do this ALL of the time when I was a kid. Snow routes in Winnipeg are still enforced and overnight parking on most major routes (i.e. bus routes) is banned and cars get towed starting at midnight. Even in residential areas there are scheduled overnight parking bans so that the side streets can be cleared (unheard of in Calgary).

However the winters seem to be getting warmer in Winnipeg and it seems to be happen as often.

Now it looks like Calgary winters are getting worse and worse and is now using "new" methods for clearing snow.

Would work fine if they'd plow my alley first so I had some place to park. Most streets with houses without garages have parking nightmares at the best of times...

[ottamania]

didn't clear shit up on deerfoot. It was still a big mess in the AM.

[bignerd]

Was going to say it is Wednesday and 14th street appears untouched as far as plowing or any form of snow control.

I see they came around our neighborhood and added those markers to some corners and curbs but that is all.

[insanity]

Originally posted by bignerd
Was going to say it is Wednesday and 14th street appears untouched as far as plowing or any form of snow control.

[88CRX]

There's so much ice/packed snow/ruts from the rain freezing Monday night plowing isn't really doing much.

I don't think the City can really do anything about this kind of weather

[Cos]

Was behind them doing this on country hills today. Gotta say it worked really really well. Got some picks while we were parked. I'll try and post them up


Not sure how good they are. Yes you get stuck begin them but they do a wicked job the first time and there is no further backups later. I personally really like this.