If you think keeping your driveway clear of snow this winter has been a difficult task, try walking a frozen mile in the galoshes of UI Facilities and Services employees.
The winter of 2010-11 has dropped more than 39 inches of snow on the area – the third-highest accumulation total in history — and left F & S workers in an almost daily battle to keep university passages passable.
To make matters worse, the snow hasn’t fallen in just a few large events – it has kept coming all year.
According to the UI-based Midwestern Regional Climate Center, at least an inch of snow has been on the ground for a total of 58 days.
“We’ve had more snow than in an average year,” said Carl Wegel, director of maintenance at Facilities and Services. “And the cold temperatures have kept it from melting. But we were prepared.”
F&S is responsible for keeping 23 miles of roadway, 85 miles of sidewalks and bike paths, and 130 parking lots safe to traverse.
So far, more than 400 tons of rock salt, 3,000 gallons of brine (used to aid the salt’s melting power), 4 tons of sand, more than a ton of magnesium chloride ice-melt solution, and a half-ton of bentonite/silica (oil-dry cat-litter) have been spread across campus.
A storm that started in late afternoon on Jan. 31 caused classes to be canceled Feb. 2, but F&S workers went into winter overdrive.
“We had people in basically from 7 a.m. Tuesday through 5 p.m. Wednesday and then back at 4 a.m. Thursday to deal specifically with that storm,” said grounds superintendent Ryan Welch. The 40-member grounds crew put in nearly 2,500 hours that week.
Transportation department drivers and garage crews worked 16-hour shifts for several days and custodial services employees logged more than 2,500 hours in three 24-hour shifts.
The majority of the hours occurred while the rest of the campus slept, with more than 700 hours for the early evening shift and more than 1,600 hours during the deep night shift.
And then came the Feb. 5-6 weekend “surprise” snow, further compounding the efforts of those charged with moving it from underneath the boots of the rest of us.
Crews were just catching up with work from the previous week’s ice and snowfall when the un-forecasted storm hit.
“When we got the 4-inch surprise over the weekend,” Wegel said, “we had to call in people who had already extended themselves for the benefit of the campus.”
While the snow is melting with this week’s warm-up, the winter work isn’t over yet. The roofing department is identifying and clearing dangerous ice and snow buildup on campus buildings to prevent any problems as the melt rate accelerates.
A few days after the snow, crews were still touching up curb cuts and icy walks. “Things are pretty much back to normal following this event,” Wegel said this week. “Even when it’s extreme for campus, it’s routine for us.”
Even so, F&S and other campus units responsible for keeping the campus running received kudos from Bob Easter, vice president and interim chancellor, following the last storm.
“All across campus, you answered the call,” Easter said. “You took whatever steps were necessary to ensure that critical activities continued. Many of you had to make special arrangements for your own families, so you could serve the Illinois family.
“Thank you for your hard work. It’s a privilege to work with such dedicated colleagues,” he said.
UI has shut down the campus twice because of snow: one day in 1979 and two days in 2007.
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