Back to back winter
storms have kept Butler County road crews busy for nearly a week
but they may finally be catching a break as the worst appears
over for now. First pressed into service last Friday, BCEO Snowfighters
have been working around the clock to keep County roads safe
and passable.
"Our crews have
put in a lot of long, hard hours and time away from their families,"
said Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens. "Their only break
came late Sunday night into Monday, but even on Monday we had
a couple of crews out cleaning up the berms and spot treating
a few problem areas. And that was pretty much the case as of
this morning. We have just one truck out now, but through yesterday
nearly all of our road crews were still clearing areas of wind
blown snow and drifts."
Butler County was hit
with 4-8 inches of heavy, wet snow last Friday and Saturday.
Wet and slushy patches froze as temperatures dropped on Sunday.
By Tuesday another winter storm moved in dropping 5-6 inches
in the first round, followed by successive waves of dry, fluffy
snow Tuesday night and Wednesday whipped about by high winds
and 2-3 inches of additional accumulation. Drifting and re-freezing
of slushy roads compounded the problems faced by snow and ice
control crews.
BCEO Totals
and Stats
The numbers for both
storms have been tallied and have bumped up the season totals
substantially since there had only been one notable snowfall
prior to this. From the time County crews were first called out
a week ago Friday through yesterday afternoon at 4:30, the Engineer's
Office has spread 2,278 tons of salt, utilized 3,175 gallons
of calcium chloride, and accrued 1,947 labor hours. Total cost
for both storms -- $319,514.
Where does that put
us for the entire winter so far? "We're still on track to
meet the snow removal budget but a few more big storms like these
could push us over," said Operations Deputy Scott Bressler.
"But it all evens out in the long run because we plan for
an average winter. Some years we get a lot of snow and go over
budget, some years we see very little snow and come in under.
You can never know for certain what any given winter will bring."
The BCEO has spread
5,672 tons of salt on the County road system so far this winter
season. Bressler says that 6,000 tons is the average. "With
about another month of potential for winter weather, it's very
possible that we could end up this season above average."
# # #
For more information
contact:
Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public Information Supervisor
Greg Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
