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Show S Winter begins in August for the Utah Department of Jransportation-at least the preparation for wintet-(toes,,v". f; WHILE late snrnmerv temperatures are still ip'the,'-; !$0's, the department ,& . "purchasing and stockpiling ;the sand and salt which will e used on the state's high-ways high-ways during'bejipcoming Winter. t-. . ". ' ', a Long before, the snow , :begins to flypworkers in each i 1 ;f the Department's ;maintenancatfltiQns.,8r , ;busy equipping their vehicles :v.'itfesncmLliBe&-ajid antifreeze . tfind i attaching equalizer frames.' to trucks,: f I 5 THE FR'XMlES Mtttk a rantelever' principle" to more v evenly distribute the weight of a heavy steel snow plow so ihat it isn't all on the front itixie. 5 The snow plow blade and ,khe sander are not attached iintil the first snow storm, jbecause they bolt on quickly and easily and the trucks are needed to haul litter, gravel and other materials. , . WITH THfi showplow con-v con-v version, the UDOT is able to ', get iull use out of its truck fleet throughout the year and is able to keep its seasonal equipment to a minimum. The UDOT does not utilize . "seasonal '.-or specialized Vqrkers-ln its snow removal operations. Every maintenance worker in the department does many types 2 of jobs. , ; ..,, ; .. . THE SNOWPLOW driver that motorists see in the . " winter is the same person they see picking up litter, " painting lanes, straightening " guardrail and seal coating highways the rest of the year. Snow removal in Utah is a large and costly operation which does nothing to upgrade the state's highways but is undertaken strictly for the safety and convenience of the motorist. The UDOT has the responsibility of clearing the snow from about 5500 miles of highway.; , TO ACCOMPLISH this Hef-'' culean task, the department, has 450 maintenance workers; ' 438 pieces of snow removal equipment and a budget of some four million dollars which can be used for Snow . removal only..- '.,'. . Anything left over in the . budget goes back into the highway construction and maintenance fund. - THE NUMBER of snowplows and the number of maintenance workers the department has are about , equal, because every worker ' at a maintenance station is ! out plowing snow during a. storm. ; These workers are on call 24-hours a day, even if that - day happens to be Thanksgiving, Thanks-giving, Christmas or one of ,., 'heir children's birthdays, Each snowplow driver1 JoaoV" his own truck with sand,' ' because there is no one to , spare for this intermittent ' .'.task. UTAH experiences an average of about 22 major snow storms during a winter. i ach storm costs the depart-' jj nent. from $180,000 to $200,000; which is paid for -, solely from state highway user revenue. No federal funds are provided for highway high-way maintenance. |