Snow how

  • Published
  • By Catherine McNally
  • Hilltop Times staff
HILL AIR FORCE BASE --  When it comes to freezing cold, snowy days, most people prefer to snuggle up by a warm fire at home. For those who work in the snow barn, though, staying at home is not an option. Instead, they head out into the cold and keep Hill's mission going by plowing, shoveling and salting the majority of base roads and parking lots as well as the flight line and Little Mountain.

"We pride ourselves on keeping the base open and continuing the mission," said Steve Hunt, a pavements/horizontal repair foreman with the 75th Civil Engineering Squadron and retired master sergeant.

To keep the base open Hunt and his fellow workers must clear and salt almost 20,000,000 square feet of asphalt and concrete pavement when it comes to the airfield and approximately another 45,000,000 square feet when it comes to streets and parking lots. The only areas not cleared by the snow barn personnel are the housing areas and areas taken care of by base facility managers.

"Because of the size of this base not everyone can get plowed out at once," Hunt said, describing the priorities he and his crew must follow when clearing the snow. Of course, main thoroughfares, emergency routes and the flight line take precedence.

As with any real-time mission, priorities can change at the drop of a hat, but Hunt and his crew are always ready to go. Because part of Hill's mission involves aircraft maintenance, the snow barn regularly coordinates with the 309th Maintenance Wing to ensure any aircraft repairs can go on uninterrupted by the weather.

Other challenges include navigating narrow streets and alleyways as well as playing it safe around normal base traffic and pedestrians. Hunt noted that base workers and visitors can make the plows' jobs easier by giving them the right of way.

"Yield to all the equipment and stay back away from it. Just be vigilant and give them the right of way," he said.

Another way base employees and facility managers can ensure the plows have an easy time clearing the snow this season is by making sure common areas around their building, up to 75 feet from the building, are cleared. Hunt also cautions that snow shouldn't be piled up next to gates, fences and dumpsters and snow mounds shouldn't cover up parking signs or fire hydrants.

He also cites the 1200 area as a "snow removal nightmare" thanks to all of the narrow roads and tight parking. Most of the time snow must be trucked out of that area instead of being piled off to the side, which means that the snow removal effort near the 1200s is extremely time consuming. "Out of all the areas on base that's the most challenging one right there," he admitted.

To tackle these challenges and to ensure that Hill's mission continues even through the worst weather, Hunt brings in extra hands in the winter.

"There's 26 permanent people assigned and in the winter we bring in about 40 to 45 seasonal guys," Hunt said. Two emergency contractors are also readily available if more help is needed.

Along with the almost 70 or so people working nonstop during snow season, the snow barn also has a fleet of 55 vehicles dedicated to snow removal operations, including runway plows, bulldozers and front-end loaders.

"From November 1 to March 31 we have a crew on duty 24/7. They're just like the fire department," Hunt added. "We start our operation the moment it starts to precipitate."

To combat the precipitation and ensure the flight line is dry enough for aircraft to land and take off, the snow barn uses solid de-icer made of sodium acetate and liquid de-icer made of potassium acetate. For the rest of the base's parking lots and roads crews use road salt. Both of the airfield de-icers are noncorrosive to the aircraft and environmentally safe, Hunt said.

Though these materials may seem like normal, everyday items in the war against slick surfaces and snow build-up, the amounts are astronomical compared to what we might use on our driveways.

In 2009, the snow barn used 19.8 tons of solid de-icer, 56,000 gallons of liquid de-icer and 721 tons of road salt. During 2008, a heavier snowfall year, the crew used about 90,000 gallons of liquid de-icer and almost 1,100 tons of road salt.

Despite Utah's snowy tendencies, Hunt and his crew haven't run into a snowstorm they couldn't clear in a long time.

The efforts of the men who work in the snow barn haven't gone unnoticed, either. In 2008 Hill's snow barn won the Balchen/Post Award for best snow removal Air Force-wide. From 2008 to 2010 they have continuously won the Balchen/Post Award for best snow removal among all Air Force Materiel Command bases and plan to meet the same standards this year.

Hunt gives credit to the success of the snow barn over the years to all the help they've had from various other squadrons and people.

"There are a lot of people behind the scenes," he said and named the 309th MXW, 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 75th Security Forces Squadron, fire department and contractors as some of those who are key to the snow barn's mission.

"We couldn't do it without everybody else," Hunt said.

For questions about snow removal, please contact the 75th CES Help Desk at (801) 777-1856.