 |
| Grounds Services employees (left to right) Emerson Loller, Elaine Early and Mike Eggert at work Tuesday afternoon clearing a sidewalk near Purnell Hall. |
6:40 p.m., Feb. 19, 2003--University grounds and custodial crews worked around the clock to ensure campus walkways and lots were free of snow and ice when students and faculty returned for classes and other activities Wednesday, Feb. 19, after last weekend’s back-to-back snow storms hit UD hard.
Michael Loftus, assistant director of facilities, said more than 50 staff members alternated shifts to ensure a quick and safe campus clean-up of the almost 2 feet of snow that fell across Delaware. Some employees lodged in local hotels to guarantee that they were readily available for the snow removal.
The grounds staff is responsible for all pathways and parking lots, while the custodial staff is accountable for all building entrances, including landings and steps.
“Our primary goal was to get everything at the University ready for opening,” he said. “There was a lot of real positive interaction between the grounds and custodial staff in making sure things got done completely. All of them went the extra mile and did what they had to do.”
 |
Senior engineering students (left to right) Edward Lee, Sean McIntosh, Allison Conway and Mark Motyka put their skills to work on The Green Wednesday to construct one of the larger snowmen on campus.
Photo by Duane Perry |
Loftus said most of the major clearing began Sunday morning, after Saturday’s storm had trickled out and blizzard-like conditions kicked in. The staff was scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m., but arrived by 10 a.m. to accommodate the increasing snowfall. The crew’s first priority was clearing out fire lanes.
“You have to plow with the storm,” he said. “You have to keep going through the storm because it’s impossible to clean up 2 feet of snow after the fact.”
Despite the cold, wintry conditions, Loftus said the crews kept a positive outlook on the job at hand.
“The [grounds staff] all came together to work as a team. They worked long, hard hours,” he said. “They really did do the best they could because it is an extremely frustrating job. It is a cold job. You have to constantly go back and plow again, but there was no griping or grumbling.”
University custodial and grounds crews were supplemented with contractors, who primarily worked on plowing large parking lots. University trucks followed assigned routes.
“For snow this deep, we don’t have the equipment to clear in normal response time,” Loftus said.
Salting and sanding began Tuesday night after pavement was clear of moisture, he said. The crews are monitoring the amount of salt used because it is currently scarce and overuse can harm the environment. Parking lots are also being re-plowed as more and more cars are dug out.
Article by Amie Voith, AS 2003
 |
| Driver Steve Ott (left) paused Wednesday while Kevin McCollough refueled his mini snowplow in the Blue & Gold Club parking lot. |
|
