4.10. SR 02-17-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Kid's View of Snowplowing Written by: Tom Patterson, Street Maintenance Supervisor, City of Bloomington (Excerpts from an article reprinted from the December, 1993 issue of Minnesota Cities) In the winter of 1987, a first grade teacher from one of the Bloomington grade schools called Bloomington street maintenance and requested that someone visit her class and talk about what we do. It seemed to be a perfect opportunity to discuss snow and ice control and how the students could help us. We took along some equipment, a 950-B Cat Loader with a 12-foot plow and a 12-foot wing. We also brought a single axle dump truck with a 12-foot plow and a tailgate sander. Even though the weather was cold, our first presentation was an overwhelming success. The kids were thrilled to sit in the equipment and actually try the controls (under close supervision of the operators and with the equipment shut down). The biggest thrill was and still is blowing the air horns on the truck. Snow and ice control programs are the most visible activities performed by city maintenance forces. They may also be the most hazardous due to the road conditions, visibility, and traffic. It is extremely important to inform the public - especially children--about the procedures and hazards relating to snow and ice control operations. Since that first visit, street maintenance has been soliciting schools for the opportunity to visit classes and put on the presentation. About 12,000 students attend public and private schools in Bloomington. This means that there are many young people walking to and from school or bus stops, or waiting for the bus on the street comers. The goal of the school presentations is to make students aware of the things they can do to help the snow plow operators - things like walking way up into a driveway when a snowplow is coming, and not building snow forts in the snow piles on the boulevard, or maybe just keeping their sleds away from the street when they are not using them. A major point we make is to stay out from behind the trucks. Trucks back up frequently and visibility to the rear is very limited. We ask the kids to help us by telling their parents to stay way back from the trucks spreading sand, don't pass plow trucks while they are plowing, and keep garbage cans in the driveway if it snows on garbage collection day. After the classroom discussion, the students dress up warm and head outside where the operators show all of the functions of the loader and truck. It is here that the students learn about how the plows and sanders work and where the warning lights are and why they are there. This is also our opportunity to demonstrate the limited visibility directly behind the plows.