Fierce storms kept road crews busy

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Residents of the Oxford area were pummeled with winter weather in February.

By Drew Bollea, Redhawk Report

(Oxford) It was quite the winter wonderland, with snow being dumped on Oxford for what seemed like two straight weeks. The average amount of snowfall for the month of February is only about six inches and from Feb. 4-18 the Oxford area received 16 to 18 inches of snow.

 While classes were getting cancelled and snow celebrations are going on, not many people understood the tedious and seemingly never ending effort that went into snow removal and especially discussions about closing the campus. Vice President of Financial and Business Services, David Creamer is at the front of these talks.

“One of the goals I have is to try and minimize class cancellations and closure of campus because we have events going on that could be hard to reschedule," Creamer said.

In times of bad weather, the work begins at 4:30 a.m. when the current conditions and future weather forecast are assessed. Creamer and the Provost, Jeffery Herbst, meet and discuss the campus and street conditions through talks with Miami University physical facilities and the Oxford Chief of Police. They then determine the severity of the roads and sidewalks.

“We're worried about the safety. Can we do that and not impact on safety? The level for closing campus is much more severe," said Creamer.

The main people involved in keeping the streets safe are the snow removal crews that help get you back to your normal routine. According to Michael Driesbach, the Director of Service, the streets and maintenance are responsible for keeping the streets clean during various types of storms.

Depending on the severity of the storm, up to 25 people will be used. Eleven plow and salt trucks could be deployed throughout the city. The amount of salt used varies depending on the type and duration of the storm. But according to Dreisbachs, a one inch snowfall will usually require an application of sixty tons of salt across the city.

All of these components work together in order to clear the streets and walkways in the most efficient and timely manner possible.

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