RDU working to keep a runway open, even in ice storm
Followed by our brooms to keep keep everything moving and
keep everything clear
And how do you go about that OK so we
have two for our liquid de-icer we have a 4000
gallon truck that we can use to apply this with
a 75 ft broom wingspan that we can go on
the runway
We also have our 10 ton solid de-icer truck that
we will use to apply the pre
coat of everything to try to stop it
We have 3 16 ft brooms that we'll be using
and we have two Oshkoshche along those Oshkosh pieces of
equipment
We have 22 ft brooms
We have a snow blower and we have 2 22
ft plows that we can use and change the attachments
as needed
Is there a certain schedule that you're going on Forecast
is showing it's supposed to come down versus the planes
We continue to have meetings with the airlines our air
carriers and with RDU staff to try to know when
the temperature is going to freeze when it's going to
turn from rain to snow and we just have to
find that happy medium on when it's going to change
and that's when we have to go out and attack
everything
Did you tell any travelers I know they might be
worried you know landing I would tell them to make
sure they check that the plane is on time make
sure that you get to the airport early and just
know that they can still fly safe fly confident fly
RDU
How long does it take to clear a runway let's
say if the ice comes down
Typically it all kind of depends but I would say
when we go on the one commercial side of the
commercial runway we try to get on it for about
an hour while the other ones operate and then we
kind of flip flop
We go from one runway our main runway to the
next one
Absolutely because we pride ourselves for always keeping at least
one of the commercial runways open so planes can continually
fly out of RDU
So yeah once we will clear one we will move
to the other side and work on clearing that one
If there was ever a point where
A lot happening
It has not happened before but we are not opposed
to that because ultimately the safety of our employees will
come first
I know
What are the challenges originally like you said it was
supposed to be snow now it looks like freezing rain
sleet
How different is that The difference it's a lot harder
with ice just because the equipment is going to kind
of slip a little bit when we have ice so
your strategy just has to change
So now we will make sure that we do our
pre-treat application and treat it a little bit heavier and
rely a lot heavier on our liquid and solid deicing
materials
What are you expecting Uh as of right now I
don't know anything about canceled flights or anything to that
nature but we just know that we're going to hit
it as hard as we can just to keep one
runway open and as many planes that want to fly
out of RDU they should be able to
There be more impacts to like arrival
Versus departures
based on Yeah I don't know if Probably not his
area of expertise but I could find out for you
Mhm yes yes throughout throughout
OK throughout the year we always put in what we
call an impact notice
We close down the runway for a couple of hours
about once a week
We go out there we take all of our snow
trucks and our material out there and we practice just
like it was a snowstorm
We practice our turnarounds
We practice our formations
We practice all that just to make sure the equipment
is operating right and all our staff knows just what
to do
how much product you
We don't know exactly how much we start but our
liquid de-icer we have a 4000 gallon truck that we
can apply that with
We ultimately have 20,000 gallons on hand
Also with our solid de-icer that's a 10 ton truck
we ultimately have about 50 tons excuse me 60 tons
of solid de-icer material on hand and we actually have
some more coming into the airport as we speak
Can you describe that What's the solid What does it
look like So the solid deice the little pellets almost
that you would see applied it's kind of the same
principle as salt but it's different because we have to
use stuff that's less corrosive for the runways and the
taxiways because of course we can't have you know potholes
or anything form on them like
With our liquid de-icer it's the same principle as the
brine but we use a different chemical
It has a lower freeze point and it's a whole
lot less corrosive than what's used on the on the
roadways
You said you've been here for 11 years
If this does end up being a sleet or an
ice storm how have you kind of seen similar events
play out Uh in the past uh again just heavily
relying on our equipment
Most of the time it stays up
We're able to move everything just because as long as
you hit it on time and stay ahead of the
game you know you kind of stay where you should
be
How many crews do So we have two crews of
maintenance
We split up
We go 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. then we have
another crew 7 p.m. 7 to 7 a.m. so we
can make sure that everybody has adequate rest and then
when they come in they can attack the storm as
needed
And clarify not the whole year
We probably start about September October time frame and then
once a week from then we practice for snow
Anything else Just want the world to know that RDU
will keep one runway open and that you can still
fly safe and fly confident fly RDU
we don't get a lot of like inches of snow
We kind of get the ice
Is there something that you guys
Larger airports more up north
Actually we do we do send staff from time to
time up to Buffalo New York to the snow symposium
That way we learn different techniques
We learn different strategies from them who kind of deal
with snow almost on a daily basis and then we
bring that information back and sometimes we change our strategy
and we look for new equipment to purchase just like
our two new OS Kos those that were recently purchased
by RDU
So those in addition to the fleet
Oshkosh that's the name of it
OshKosh snow remover equipment
So those are the two
If you see the 22 ft broom in the back
that's the bigger piece and we can display these in
just a second and the one behind it you can't
really see it
It has a snow plow hooked up to it
So those those can go on the runway a lot
faster than what we typically have with our 16 ft
brooms and it can move a lot more snow at
one time
Oh around about the 5 to 6 inch mark is
when we would switch over
All right thanks everybody
Appreciate it
Thank you so much
What's the event in Buffalo It's a it's a AEEE
winter uh snow symposium that they do
Yes sir yes mhm yeah oh you need that
I'm sorry I don't know which one is yours
All right thank you
I'm a big fan of yours
I'm so glad you came
Absolutely