Snow clearing update
Crews from physical plant are working around the clock, clearing snow from sidewalks and parking lots.
The snowfall that hit Winnipeg was so extreme such that the city only typically sees a dumping like this once every 10 years. Staff from many areas of physical plant have been pulled into the snow clearing operation, including grounds keeping, gardeners, and equipment operators are contributing to an all-hands-on-deck approach in order to make campus accessible.
On average, Winnipeg sees about 23 cm of snow in the month of December. Under normal conditions, with averages of about four cm of snow falling, it takes crews at the University of Manitoba approximately 20-person hours to clear all sidewalks and parking lots.
In the last two days, record-breaking snowfalls accumulated to 30 cm. High winds have made the snow clearing efforts even more difficult with the snow blowing in and recovering cleared areas in hours.
Priority areas start with with all roadways allowing students, staff and faculty to get onto campus. Areas designated for accessibility are cleared next followed by all remaining sidewalks and parking lots.
Daytime operations must be kept to a minimum due to heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Major snow clearing operations will resume once again starting at 6:00 pm tonight and will continue tomorrow.