As a 13-year PennDOT operator, Mike Rogato of St. Marys, is familiar with area roadways and the care they require.

By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff

    When winter weather wreaks havoc on the Keystone state PennDOT employees are out in full-force to maintain the state’s highly trafficked roads and interstates.

“Its been very persistent and we’ve had an exceptional amount of heavy snowfalls this year. We had 30 inches of snow in Elk County prior to Thanksgiving, which is very, very unusual,” noted Dave Matheson, assistant county maintenance manager.

    District Two, which encompasses the nine county area of Elk, Cameron, McKean, Potter, Clearfield, Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Clinton counties, experiences some of the highest yearly snowfall amounts in the state, averaging 85 inches. The area is the largest geographical district in the state and is comparable to the size of the entire state of New Jersey.

    With 630 snow lane miles in Elk County, PennDOT operators utilize a myriad of equipment to treat area roadways as they attempt to stay ahead of winter storms.

    Road materials are stored in five stockpiles located throughout Elk County in  Byrnedale, Brandy Camp, downtown St. Marys, Johnsonburg and in Ridgway. These supplies vary from stockpile to stockpile as different material is needed for different areas

    PennDOT maintains a fleet of 16 trucks throughout Elk County with two stationed in Byrnedale, three in St. Marys, four in Johnsonburg, four in Ridgway and three in Brandy Camp.

    A total of 26 full-time operators, and when needed an additional seven temporary or seasonal employees, work in eight-hour day and evening shifts, 4 a.m. to noon and noon to 8 p.m., from Monday through Friday.

    When overtime is necessary, each shift remains on duty with overlapping shifts and all operators have the same hours of responsibilities on their days off on Saturdays and Sundays. Elk County staff includes snow plow, fuel truck, garage and night operators. A night patrol crew allows for an extra set of eyes on area roadways.

    Each operator is assigned a specific snow route which includes one main road they are to maintain. A typical snow route consists of 38 snow lane miles. Roads are prioritized from high volume, high speed roads such as routes 255, 219, 120 and progress downward to lesser volume, lesser speed roads.

    Operator Mike Rogato said the Chestnut Ridge and Byrnedale Hill on SR 255 and Bootjack SR 219 are among the most troublesome roads in Elk County.

    “If we can get through a storm without a truck getting struck on one of those hills then you’ve done something right. This is a frequent occurrence in Elk County, ” Rogato said.

    According to Matheson, PennDOT relies on a seven-year average when determining how much supplies to order. Elk County received 19,000 tons of anti-skid and 7,200 tons of salt, with the possibility of getting up to 9,600 tons of salt. At $50/ton the state could spend upwards of $450,000 in salt costs.

    “By our projections and winter calendar we’re 60 percent of the way through winter. Surprisingly our supplies are in good standing, so even with the difficult winter we’ve had the operators and foremen have been managing winter very well and we’re confident we have plenty of anti-skid remaining in our stockpiles and plenty of salt reserved to be ordered that winter won’t be a problem as far as materials go,” Matheson said.

    Currently there are about 1,000 tons of salt and 9,000 tons of anti-skid remaining in Elk County stockpiles. The county has used a total of 4,500 tons of salt and 10,000 tons of anti-skid, year-to-date.

    Because every winter storm is different, PennDOT foremen determines what specific type of material is used on roads depending on the different moisture content of snowfall. In order for salt to work properly the mineral needs moisture to melt snow or ice. An example is dry snowfalls which may require increased application rates.

    “We’re generally applying about 350 lbs. per snow lane mile, which is a 2-1 mixture - of two parts anti-skid and one part salt - so you’re looking at about 120 lbs. of salt per snow lane mile per application. Unfortunately some days there’s multiple applications up to 4-6 times within a 24-hour period,” Matheson said. “We exceed that when we need to if we have to adjust to conditions. Our main goal is always to keep the roads safe and passable for the motoring public.”

    PennDOT’s general application goal per snow event is 230 lbs per snow lane mile.

    “We exceed that when we need to if we have to adjust to conditions. Our main goal is always to keep the roads safe and passable for the motoring public,” Matheson added.

    All trucks are equipped with ground speed control which help in applying the desired rate of mix material. Therefore if a truck is traveling anywhere from five to 35 miles per hour,  the ground speed auger adjusts to put down a consistent coverage on the road.

    At the beginning of each shift, PennDOT operators perform a 15-minute pre-check on their trucks by hooking up the snow plows and loading road material mix. On a 12-hour shift, operators typically return to stockpiles up to  five times to reload and refuel their vehicles.

    Rogato explained that all PennDOT operators must participate in a Snow Academy which teaches them the different procedures for plowing the roads and different material applications.

    All operators are first hired as Transportation Equipment Operator trainees. Operators are then promoted to Transportation Equipment Operator A, after successfully completing a two-week truck and loader training at a PennDOT facility located in either the Quehanna Wildlife Area, Pittsburgh or Indiantown Gap. This course must be completed within the first six months of being hired. In addition a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and a tanker endorsement are also required to be hired.

    In October, operators begin to prepare their trucks for the winter season, by installing plows, spreaders and tire chains.

    “By our our maintenance manual all trucks will be prepared and calibrated for winter by Nov. 15. We choose to do it earlier in Elk County, by the second or third week of Oct. in case winter comes early, like this year,” Matheson said.

    “We fix everything that’s wrong with them so as soon as the first snowflake falls the trucks are 100 percent ready to go,” Rogato added.

    At least once a winter operators will replace snow plow blades on their trucks. On a more frequent basis operators replace broken pins, grease their vehicles and add various fluids.

    “We have to constantly watch them,” Rogato said of the care of PennDOT trucks. “Operators are responsible for their own cleaning while repairs are done by mechanics.”

    According to Matheson periodic maintenance is performed on the trucks twice a year.

    “The last two or three winters our equipment has ran extremely well, so I believe that the garage in Elk County and the maintenance program is performing very well,” he emphasized.