Lakes District Maintenance (LDM) now has 10 trucks working in the local area throughout the winter to keep the roads clear and safe.
According to LDM operations manager Steve Gailing, three brand new Mack trucks were added to the LDM fleet this year.
LDM’s jurisdiction is service area 24 which Includes the town of Burns Lake, Houston, Topley, Granisle and Grassy Plains.
The boundary is from Wakefield Road, West of Houston, to Priestly Hill East of Burns Lake.
The boundary also extends North to Babine Lake and South and includes Hwy. 35 and all roads on the Southside.
“The Southside has a compliment of three trucks and two graders.”
Gailing said it is the third year running that a graveyard shift will be in operation. “We run the graveyard shift to maintain safety on the roads,” he said.
There are three shifts running; a day shift and an afternoon shift, as well as the graveyard shift, so that LDM maintains a constant presence.
“We have a full crew of 25 working in the Burns Lake to Houston area as well as 10 crew members working at Grassy Plains.”
There are also a number of casual on call crew members standing by if needed.
He went on to say that while this winter, so far, has seen less snow than last year, the crew is focussing on a new strategy to improve road safety.
“We are applying a pre wet solution,” he said, explaining that the sand or salt goes through a spinner on the plow trucks and then drip nozzles spray a calcium chloride solution through the sand or salt before it is applied to the roads.
According to Gailing, the pre wet solution stops the sand or salt blowing off the roads.
“Our motto is to attack, not react” he said adding that all of LDM’s stock piles of sand and salt are fully replenished and ready to go.
