SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Spokane County is equipped to handle the first round of winter weather this week, with plows, sanding and de-icing trucks, and stockpiles of sand.
A day ahead of that snowfall event, Spokane County Public Works provided an update on the plan to keep the roads clear.
"We handle 5,100 lane miles," said county commissioner Josh Kerns Tuesday. "It's a lot of road for us to clear."
Kerns says when snow falls, the plan will stay consistent with years' past: district road crews working 24/7 and focusing on priority roads like emergency routes and primary arterials before tackling secondary and residential streets. You can find more information and snow plow activity maps here.
While the newest tool in the arsenal may not be the biggest, it could make a huge dent in a common winter complaint.
"Some people call them a snow gate, some people call them a boot," said maintenance and operations administrator Andy Schenk. "Basically as the grader is operating and the snow is flowing off to the right and they're approaching a driveway, they can drop this down."
The new snow boots will reduce pesky snow berms blocking driveways on the county's curbed residential streets. Unfortunately, Schenk said, they can't be used on rural county roads.
"It's one of the biggest complaints I think we get in this area," he explained. "It's a pain, here you wake up in the morning to go to work and you have a two-foot berm you can't get across."
It's not just saving you a headache this winter. The new boots have already saved taxpayer money.
Each piece, 36 snow boots in all so far, was designed and built by fabricator welders in the county's central shop. Schenk says it was spurred on by complaints from the grader operators about the old snow gates they bought from a manufacturer.
"So the guys said hey, I think we can build something for the operators, won't get torn up as much and does what we need. We can do it cheaper than if we go buy it," Schenk said.
Cut from 20-foot-long metal sheets, each hand-welded boot costs half the price of purchasing from a manufacturer.
"I figure, just round figures, we saved a couple hundred thousand," Schenk said.
One welder tells KREM 2 News off-camera they're also quicker to remove and install onto the graders; the old boots could take a day to place onto the grader, especially in severe weather. The quickest time to install a hand-built one was nine minutes. It will also cut back on turn-around time for repairs, which would sometimes take weeks to get parts from the retailer.
A little bit of ingenuity will go a long way this winter.
"They've also talked to the crews to find out how they can make it better each time," Schenk said.
He points to a metal spring that holds up a hydraulic hose attached to the arm that raises and lowers the boot.
"These little tweaks like this holding it up. You might not think it's much but you tear off a couple hoses, you're down for an hour," he said.
There are now hydraulic boots on each of the county's 34 graders, with two extras on standby.
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