Low temperatures, snow, ice challenge campus maintenance staff

With 52 miles of sidewalks and 21 miles of roads to cover, the IU Department of Physical Plant has its work cut out with the snow this year.

“With the last snow we got 12 inches,” Campus Site and Landscape Services Manager Michael Girvin said. “And then we got another inch and a half on top of that.”

The snow this season hasn’t been easy to move because it was both very wet and heavy, Girvin said. 

The process of snow removal on campus has a few steps.

The Physical Plant first opens the main road for traffic, usually just one lane, using a big broom machine to sweep it all to the side. 

Then, the sidewalks on the campus are salted. 

Contrary to popular belief, the sidewalks are not heated by coal boilers.

Tiny portions of sidewalks are heated by the same steam systems that heat some benches.

Once the roads, parking lots and sidewalks are accessible again, the snow removal begins.

“We pile the snow, then remove it with tractors and loaders and put it on a truck.
It’s hauled out to the purple lot of the stadium, where it’s left to melt,” Girvin said. 

The physical plant doesn’t only focus on the snow.

Ice on the sidewalks is caused by the sun or salt melting the snow, Girvin said, creating water that sits on the sidewalk until it freezes at night.

This causes a glaze of ice, and salt has to be reapplied constantly.

“The bricks and the wooden bridges on campus are the worst,” Girvin said. “They’re very slippery.”

This winter alone, the Physical Plant has used 15,000 pounds of ice melter on the sidewalks and about 250 tons of salt on the roads.

— Laura Schulte