Ice Removal on streets in Halifax - snow update

Today I went over to the area around Westmount School to take some video of street clearing efforts. I had watched the grader clearing around LMST School the day before and it really hit me just how hard the ice is to break and move.
So you can see in the video a 15 metric ton Caterpillar 140M Grader get STUCK on the snowbank because it is just that solid. The snow is piled in the road and then lifted by a tractor into a truck for disposal. There is also another tractor that has to try and make it so people can safely get from their driveway to the road now that there is an 5-10" difference, as the driveways are almost all iced over.
There are four grader teams out working, two in the west and two to the east of the harbour. Each team gets an average of four streets done ina 12 hour shift, so 16-20 per shift total. The teams are focused on the streets that are in the worst condition.
Halifax will not get to all streets and indeed there is no plan to return all streets to bare pavement, and in fact city policy is to clear residential and side streets is to achieve “snow covered, passable” roads.
Staff are focusing on the following areas:
· more than 8-10 inches of ice pack;
· restrictive rutting or ice pot holes;
· close proximity to schools; and
· significant safety concerns as identified by Fire/Halifax Transit.
For sidewalks, crews were out taking advantage of the sun, warmer temperatures and the remaining frost levels in the ground to continue salt and sand applications and, where possible, to begin mechanical removal of the remaining ice predominantly with skid steers (e.g. Bobcats) and similar.
At midnight tonight it starts to snow again, 10-15 cm of snow that will fall between midnight and noon. Graders and ice removal stops and regular snow clearing starts again until the P1 roads are clear, so maybe Tuesday at the earliest the graders will go out again.
Staff also wrote today: "It is important to note that there is no playbook on the shelf for addressing the conditions we currently face. The extent of the ice pack on the streets and sidewalks is unprecedented. While these conditions have never before been encountered by staff, we are working as hard as possible to balance expectations and to get the best results."

[@EASTHFX902]

Dexter Construction

[@Alex462047]

It is interesting to see them using a mechanical method to remove ice. Where I'm from, they just keep throwing salt on it until it comes off.

[@wayemasonhfx]

Only works when temp is above -13C or so, it was so cold that winter.

[@mb7050]

same here. less mechanical removal. no more road graders just more salt

[@AFatRandomDude]

@@wayemasonhfx you mean salt only works at temperatures over 13celsius? 🤔

[@wayemasonhfx]

@@AFatRandomDude Hah misspoke. -13C.... in fact it drops of faster than I thought you can see the chart here: www.halifax.ca/transportation/winter-operations/snow-clearing/salt-management

[@mike52387]

front left piston hose
has a mean leak on that grader

[@wayemasonhfx]

Desperate times. That winter every single piece of machinery in NS was rented and on the streets. Some of it had never been on a road (dump trucks out of quarries were hauling snow)