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<br />000013 <br /> <br />General Information <br /> <br />Foremen in different counties reported different aIOOunts of time to <br />clear given aIOOunts of snow. Removal strategies also vary: in some counties <br />all equipnent operators are sent out initially, but in others, only some are <br />sent out unless snowfall is heavy. <br /> <br />Foremen reported that the effort required to reIlDve snow increases <br />rapidly when snowfall exceeds one or two inches. Reiooving four to six inches <br />of snow requires all operators to work a full day. Removing nine or ten <br />inches requires little more effort than removing six inches, however, since <br />the operating speed of the equipnent remains fairly constant. Amounts <br />greater than ten inches were reported to require overtime in most counties <br />studied. <br /> <br />Results <br /> <br />Costs of ReIooving Snow from Natural Storms. <br /> <br />Estimated costs per employee of removing snow from natural storms range <br />from abOut $1,300 in Eagle County in a winter of average snowfall to more <br />than $11,000 in San Juan County in a winter of high snowfall. Estimates for <br />each county generally are highest in winters of high snowfall and lowest in <br />winters of low snowfall. EKceptions occurred in Eagle, Lake and Q.u:ay <br />counties where some of the winters examined had many small storms; small <br />aIOOunts of snow require more effort per inch to reIlDve than large aIOOuntS. <br /> <br />Costs of ReIooving Augmented Snow. <br /> <br />Estimated costs of reIlDving snow increase when recorded snow aIOOunts <br />are augmented. Increases in total costs of rerooval range from 0.8 percent in <br />Garfield County in a low-snowfall winter to 12.6 percent in Lake County in a <br />high-snowfall winter. The average cost increase, over all counties studied, <br />is 6.1 percent in winters of high and average snowfall, and 4.9 percent in <br />winters of low snowfall. <br /> <br />RJ:.,,;OI.lI\lendations for Record-Keeping <br /> <br />Actual effects of cloud seeding on the costs of reIlDving snow cannot be <br />determined definitively until more accurate records of employee and equipnent <br />expenses are available. RecOlllllendations for daily record-keeping include: <br /> <br />1. Number of hours each employee spends perfonning typical tasks (e.g., <br />plowing snow, repairing highways, maintaining machines); and <br /> <br />2. Number of hours each machine is used for various tasks (e.g., <br />clearing of snow, hauling cinder) , maintenance costs, fuel <br />consumption. <br /> <br />Forms could be designed and procedures developed to make this information <br />easy to collect. <br /> <br />viii <br />