Dealing with snow no easy task
The barrage of heavy snow has dwindled to flurries, but Franklin College continues to recover from snow-related woes.
Separate storm systems dumped several inches of snow across the country during the past few weeks. Last month 49 states had snow on the ground; Hawaii was the exception.
Because of low temperatures, much of the precipitation from the first system did not melt before more fell. Physical Facilities Superintendent Larry Bridges estimated last Friday that about 14 inches – including snow and ice from the first major storm – remained in some areas on campus.
"Well, we haven’t had much snow ... until February and then we’ve had three snows ... that [were] four inches or more," he said.
Bridges said crews were still working last Friday to clear snow that fell earlier in the week, though they got some help from warmer temperatures during the weekend. Crews work first to clear paths from the residence halls to the student center. The next priority is paths to academic buildings. A separate crew works on parking lots.
With the most recent storm, workers began clearing snow at 4 a.m. last Monday. The sidewalk crew finished around 4 p.m., and the parking lot crew (of which Bridges is a member) finished at 8 p.m. The combined cost of overtime and ice melt amounted to about $2,000 extra last week, Bridges estimated.
Bridges said difficulties start with the snow banks. Each time workers clear paths, they push snow into piles. Multiple storm systems mean more snow is dumped on the piles. Eventually, there aren’t any places to shove the snow.
The banks also cause problems when the crews put ice melt on stubborn sidewalks. Foot traffic helps melt the snow on the paths and banks throughout the day, but the water freezes again overnight.
"It’s basically just a constant thing," Bridges said. "That’s probably the most frustrating part of dealing with snow."
Senior Jessica Hall became the victim of an ice patch while she was walking home last month.
"I was two minutes away from my house," she said.
Hall lives just off campus behind the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house. Hall said her arms were full, and she fell when she slipped on the ice. The result is a sprained ankle that needs six to eight weeks to heal. Right now, Hall is on crutches, which makes travelling across campus difficult; she’s fallen a few more times on campus.
Bridges said the ice has been bothersome on roofs, too. Frozen gutters and thick ice patches on roofs limit the places water can drain, causing leaks on campus. Buckets on a staircase in the student center catch water from one leak and trash cans lined Director of Career Services Kirk Bixler’s office last week to catch another.
"I looked up and saw a big wet spot on the ceiling," Bixler said.
He faced a similar, more serious leak last year along a different wall. For that leak, Bixler said, he emptied buckets of water from his office 2-3 times a day, but last week brought a "steady drip" instead.
Bridges said workers couldn’t do much to fix the roofs until the ice melted but said everyone was very helpful in cleaning up his office.
Bridges suggested students wear proper footwear – avoid high heels – to be safe in the snow and ice. Sometimes, he said, it’s a wait on weather.
