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Fleets Fight Heavy Snow in Winter Storms

Winter storms ravaged several parts of the continental U.S. last week, with plenty of organizations having to use their entire snow fleet.

by Megan Satalich
January 7, 2017
Fleets Fight Heavy Snow in Winter Storms

Photo via Wikimedia

2 min to read


Photo via Wikimedia

Winter storms ravaged several parts of the continental U.S. last week, with plenty of organizations having to use their entire snow fleet.

The City of Charlotte, N.C., and surrounding areas were under a winter storm warning last Friday, with an expected four inches of snow. All 37 of their snow plows were deployed Friday to tackle the snowfall. CDOT crews had special training last October to prepare for heavy winter snowfall, reports WCNC.

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Crews in Eastern Tennessee treated roads with salt to prepare for expected snowy conditions. They started early Thursday morning, pretreating nearly 100 miles of road with brine before noon. Blount County, Tenn., has about 830 miles of road to cover, according to Wate.

In Arkansas, a large portion of the state will not have its roads and highways salted due to how rural it is. In certain counties, up to two-thirds of the roads can be dirt or gravel. Some counties do not budget for snow removal since it may or may not snow some years, according to a report by KATV.

Ocean County, New Jersey is preparing for winter storms with its 200-truck fleet, according to a report by The SandPaper. The largest truck in its fleet is a 5,500-gallon tractor trailer, which can cover the 35-mile route from Plumsted to Tuckerton and back.

To prepare for the storm last Friday, the North Carolina Department of Transportation treated a combined 1,600 miles of territory on Thursday. CBS North Carolina reported that the crews mostly focused on primary and secondary roads. Cumberland County’s maintenance engineer said that seven spray trucks, 22 snow plows and 35 crews will work 12-hour shifts.

With the newly-opened Ohio River bridges in Kentucky, more snow plows are needed this winter to cover the roads. Four new plows and two additional trucks will be used to tackle the new roads, reported WDRB.

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Several areas in Virginia were marked for a blizzard warning from the National Weather Service, according to a report from the Daily Press. The Hampton, Poquoson, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach areas were reported to have periods of heavy snow that created whiteout conditions.

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