We’ve all been through it — you’ve just finished clearing your driveway and front walk of snow and with a satisfied grunt you toss a last heavy load onto the pile — only to look back to the top of the driveway to realize you can start all over again. Now, imagine being responsible for clearing all campus roads, parking lots and 14 kilometres of pathways while the snow just keeps falling.
Such is the responsibility of the University of Lethbridge’s Grounds Maintenance team every time Mother Nature decides to blanket the sprawling Lethbridge campus with a fresh carpet of powder.
“Every year we receive a lot of questions about our snow clearing process and how we prioritize our work,” says Ed de Bruin, Director of Facility Operations & Maintenance. “We do the best we can with the people and the equipment we have available to us, always trying to make sure we create as safe an environment as possible for our campus community as they make their way around the grounds.”
For any snow event, de Bruin says Facilities has six to seven grounds staff available to clear the walkways, roads and parking areas. This includes two persons working the snow clearing gators, another two on the road and parking lot clearing machines and up to three people hand shovelling the various entrances around campus. And with an influx of employees and students hitting campus early in the morning, the crew’s staggered shifts can begin at 4:30 a.m., or even earlier in extreme weather scenarios.
“We have specific pre-planned routes that cover high traffic entrances and sidewalks first, before moving onto other areas,” he says. “Our intention is always to make one pass of the entire set of campus routes before we circle back to clear snow for a second time — if time permits.”
Of course, if it continues to snow, the crew is challenged with keeping up to what nature is throwing at them.
“There may be times in harsh weather events where snow begins to build back up in areas that have already been cleared. We really do the best we can, but with a small team for a large campus, it can be difficult to keep pace,” adds de Bruin.
Given we have all likely experienced that scenario at our own homes, a little patience and understanding from the campus community seems like a reasonable request.
If you notice a particularly icy or snow covered area, please contact the Facilities Service Desk (403-329-2602) facility.servicedesk@uleth.ca, or submit a work request through their online system: https://www.ulethbridge.ca/facilities.