SNOWSWEEPERS | FEATURE
thirteen minutes what normally took up to eighteen minutes. The new equipment does not need to sit idle as it can make full passes up a runway in a timely fashion, work back down a taxiway and return to the start of the process once again.”
There is also the cost issue. For example, Thorsrud from Øveraasen points out that “a self-propelled snow blower is an expensive piece of equipment.”However, he says that airport operators have cost options. “Many airports are not willing to use that much money for snow clear- ing. If the airport has a suitable wheel loader or truck, they can attach a TV 360H Multi to it. They will then have a high capacity snow blower available with a much smaller investment.” In terms of new development and future investment in snow clear- ing technologies, Øveraasen has a continuous development strategy. Thorsrud hints that the next few years will see changes in diesel tech- nology with emphasis on lower emissions and lower fuel consumption. The big snow blowers are some of the most crucial pieces of equip- ment during winter due to the amount of snow that needs to be cleared. On occasion, such critical equipment can unexpectedly be sidelined for repairs when needed most.
A shortage in capacity to blow out snow can lead to problems such as the inability to keep friction levels on the runway or taxiway. However Ron Morin from Denver believes that any good snow removal operation should allow contingencies for failed equipment. “To give you an ex- ample, at DIA we have a number of pieces of equipment that are not frontline; older units are kept as spares for this reason.” “One of the key decisions that airports must make is right-sizing blower purchases to ensure that you are getting the type of blower need- ed to deal with the tonnages of snow you may need to blow off a taxiway or runway area.” As a side note Morin adds that the fleet of sweepers, sand and other chemicals used at DIA help in keeping the coefficient of friction values as high as possible during snow events. At HSIA the purchase of a new high-speed snow blower keeps up with the increased work created by the new high-speed sweepers. “To this end, it has met the challenge,” says Maynard. “However, in the event of a mechanical failure, sufficient spare parts were received with the machine and our mechanical staff has taken extensive training in the operation and service of all the new machinery.” He adds that with sufficient spares, and despite the substantial amount of time required to remedy the fault, the equipment operator
A shortage in capacity to blow out snow can lead to problems such as the inability to keep friction levels on the runway. Photo - Aebi Schmidt.
can fire up another unit and be back on the field in an expedient fashion. Preparations at Denver International are in full swing for the 2012/2013 winter. “We are always looking and working with vendors on enhancing snow removal equipment capabilities,” says Morin.
Details
provided by DIA for the next winter include swapping out 16 of the 3,000 ton per hour (tph) blowers with 5,000 tph blowers. “This will bring the DIA fleet in line with the rest of the blowers that we have on site. This will also help us to maintain our runway occupancy times during heavier snow events or heavier rates per hour during snow storms.” DIA will also be swapping out seven front-mounted ploughs and re- placing them with two tow-behind multifunction units. “We are upgrad- ing or replacing four of our runway sanders and we are upgrading or re- placing three of our runway chemical de-icer units,” Morin concludes.
Clayton Maynard, Manager for Airside Services at the Halifax International Airport Authority.
“Once off the active runway surfaces, the old style equipment would have to wait until the aircraft movements were done before going back to work”
THE PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT IN AIRPORT SNOW CLEARING
www.overaasen.no
The fascination, power and perfection in ØVERAASEN airport snow clearing equipment.
ØVERAASEN AS I Roald Amundsens veg 1 I NO-2816 Gjøvik I Tel +47 61 14 60 00
WWW.EVAINT.COM
MARCH 2012 | AIRSIDE INTERNATIONAL 5
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