Lonnie Johnson, a light equipment operator with Covington’s Public Works Department, prepares to grab another load of salt at the City’s complex on Boron Drive this morning as crews continued to treat roads.
COVINGTON, Ky. – The snow fell, the wind at times raged, and the slush on the ground froze and then refroze as surface temperatures fluctuated … but the snow-fighters from the City of Covington’s Public Works Department worked through the night to protect drivers’ ability to hold the road.
“Everything’s been hit multiple times,” Forestry/Devou Park supervisor Jason Roberts reported this morning. “We had that super-fine snow for about seven hours, wind through the night, and then a little bit of refreezing, but we kept at it.”
Roberts, who is acting as “snow commander” under the Department’s rotating schedule, said the City had 15 trucks operating through the night, spreading salt and, at times, plowing.
Keeping streets cleared and safe for driving takes a lot of people and hours, even during a relatively minor snow “event” like this. How’s it work?
The City’s “Snow and Ice Team” is divided into two shifts of 16-17 people each.
Both crews worked full day shifts on Wednesday doing their “normal” duties. The first or “A” team stayed over and began the snow response at about 4:30 p.m., Roberts said, pretreating the streets and eventually working a double shift.
When they left around midnight, the second or “B” team arrived and worked through the night. This morning, the “A” team came back in as the “B” team began the second half of its double shift.
“So we’re still out there,” Roberts said. While it’s too early to tally how many tons of salt was used, “it was a lot,” he said.
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