Winter Operations

Road maintenance during the winter months is primarily dealing with road hazards the present an immediate danger to the public. The biggest concern is roads becoming rough, especially once frost establishes deep in the roads after the month of December.  Controls for this includes placing warning signs or flags to warn motorist of rough roads.  When a chinook arrives and temperatures rise above freezing graders will be dispatch to smooth out rough roads.

Winter chinooks will occasionally create water run-off situations from melting snow. The County is equipped with two heated pressure washers that are capable of thawing frozen culverts to keep water draining in road ditches.       

The County installs approximately 2600 meters of snow fences late in the fall though out the County of Newell. Location are selected based on roads that drift badly (become impassable), due to hills, low roads and vegetation.Truck drivers are tasked with stockpiling gravel for our summer graveling program. The County’s current sources of gravel are located in the North end of the region and gravel resources are hauled to south locations during the winter months.  There are stockpiles located in the Tilley and Rolling Hills areas and about 5000 cubic meters of gravel are hauled to each location.