OLD MAN WINTER

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Old Man Winter

The fall of 1931 was half gone and we were enjoying the usual clear, crisp weather. The emergency road construction program had been completed, and construction work was light for the winter. There was the regular routine maintenance, and the snow equipment had been put in shape for the storms that are expected every January and February.

Armistice Day slipped by and Thanksgiving was just around the corner, when -on the morning of November 21st, telegrams from the maintenance foremen in the northern part of the state began to come in to the district office:Maintenance Foreman Wren, at Prescott, reports six inches of snow and still snowing. Beyard at Ash Fork says four inches and still snowing. Brown in Williams wires eight inches and still snowing, Grimes from Navajo says three inches around Lupton, Capps reports ten inches around McNary, Wiltbank tell of 12 inches on the Springerville-McNary road, Pederson has his share on the Rice-McNary road.

Winter Strikes Hard Foremen Dunagan, Webster, Hunt, Hopkins-all told of the first, sudden appearance of Old Man Winter. Wherever the roads were at an elevation of 5,000 feet or more, there was a white blanket, six weeks ahead of schedule and still snowing. This storm lasted three days, piling up 18 inches around Prescott and Ash Fork and Seligman, 24 inches in the Williams-Flagstaff area, 18 inches around Sanders and Lupton, 30 inches at McNary, 18 inches in the Petrified Forest, two feet at Hilltop.

From that date on, some of these maintenance foremen and their men have been fighting snow continuously. Foreman Bert Brown, whose section extends from Ash Fork east to Canyon Padre, bore the brunt of the siege. Fifty-five miles of this section is between 6,500 and 7,400 feet above sea level, and how the wind does blow and the snow does drift, particularly in the Bellemont lane, that three miles open strip between Williams and Flagstaff. Another extremely nasty section for drifts is through the lanes on the Cameron road, just after leaving U. S. 66.

Fighting snow is generally thought of as clearing the road of so many inches of freshly fallen snow, but this is really a small part of the game. It is the wind and drifting snow that does the dirty work. Fairly fast, powerful trucks, equipped with snow plows, can keep the roads open-if the wind does not blow. But the winds will cause drifts two to four feet deep in as many hours, whereas it is a heavy storm that will pile up an inch in an hour. The worst blocade of the winter occurred when only six to eight inches of fresh snow fell. This was early in February, and the drifting snow was so bad the men could not see beyond the windshields and had to suspend work for about eight hours until the wind died down.

To open the roads through drifts it was necessary to use rotary plows, although a "60" caterpillar tractor with a V-type plow did some fine work. On the Flagstaff-Cameron road, Hopkins has a rotary mounted on a "75" F.W.D. truck which performed nobly. Brown, Wiltbank, and Pederson all used rotary plows mounted on "35" Allis-Chalmers tractors to do their heavy work.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS MARCH, 1932 Record Snow Falls

Some of the sections had six or seven separate snow storms, some lasting three days and nights and one in February lasting six days and nights. In the Williams-Flagstaff area there has been a total fall this winter of about 120 inches, and at McNary there has been more than 80 inches. In general, the roads in the snow area are as outlined below: U. S. Rt. 89, Wilhoit to Ash Fork, 70 miles.

U. S. Rt. 66, Peach Springs to Winona, 130 miles.

U. S. Rt. 66, Painted Desert to Lupton, 50 miles.

U. S. Rt. 89, From 66 Jct. toward Cameron, 20 miles.

U. S. Rt. 260, Concho to state line, 60 miles.

U. S. Rt. 89, Fredonia section, 20 miles.

State Rt. 73, Springerville to Hilltop, 100 miles.

State Rt. 77, Taylor to McNary, 40 miles.

State Rt. 79, Mingus Mountain, 15 miles.

Part of Coronado Trail, 30 miles.

Total of 535 miles.

This does not include that part of U. S. Rt. 89 through the Kaibab Forest, as this still is a forest road under federal maintenance.

This winter the snows extended far beyond these limits. District Engineer Hutchins got it on the Bisbee Hill and Perkins got it on the Clifton-Solomon-ville and Miami-Superior roads, along with the heavier snows on the Hilltop-McNary road and Coronado Trail. Shaffer had it in all of his district north of Yarnell Hill, except west of Kingman, and every foot in District No. 2 was covered.

New Equipment Sent To Aid

In fighting the snow on the 535 miles above mentioned, the highway department used: One "60" Catrpillar tractor with V-type plow.

One "60" Caterpillar tractor with 12ft. grader.

Two "30" Caterpillar tractors with Vtype plows.

Two "30" Caterpillar tractors with 8-ft. graders.

Three "35" Allis-Chalmers tractors with rotary plows.

One "75" F.W.D. truck with rotary plow.

Six F.W.D. trucks with straight type plows.

Four trucks with with V-type plows.

Four trucks with 8-ft. graders.

Six motor graders.

Some of this equipment was purchased and rushed in after the second storm of the winter, early in December, when it was apparent that the equipment on hand was inadequate.

With the exception of the Showlow-McNary road, which was blocked for four days in the November storm, and the Springerville-Mcary road, which wasclosed to traffic, and a two-day blockade on the Cameron road, none of the others were blocked for more than 30 hours, and seldom for 24 hours. To keep these roads open required strenuous day and night work on the part of the mainten-ance men and the mechanics in the northern shops, with little thought of Sundays and other holidays.

MARCH, 1932 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Removal Must Go On

Probably the motorist gives little thought to the difficulties these men encounter or the long hours they put in trying to “open up,” but you will find them plugging away, maybe not cheer-fully, but willingly and steadily, some-times in weather ten to 20 degrees be-low zero, Sundays or Christmas, if there is snow to be moved. There was the Sun-day night, December 5th, zero weather, both of Brown's big snow trucks down with broken axles, and “Jack” Frost and “Slim” Gilleland from the Ash Fork shop were right there getting them ready to go. Another night, ten below zero, and Charlie Carder routed out of bed after three hours sleep to relieve the driver on the light truck and keep going. One morning “Swede” Al Linke, rolled into Williams, and ate his first bite since noon the day before, then off again. Around McNary, there's Jack Jennings leading his rotary plow crew, with the Ford truck following with “chuck” and gas and oil—they don't know where they will sleep that night. Another time, Acting Foreman Connor Trammell is caught between drifts on the Springer-ville-McNary road, digs a hole in the Snow and keeps a pine wood fire going all night.

We build and maintain roads for traffic, but this same traffic unthinkingly causes considerable delay in the opening of snow-blocked roads. Very often there will be a string of cars bunched right behind a snow plow. When the plow goes through a deep drift it generally has to come back through and then go through again before cars and freight trucks can get through. Often the cars will crowd so close, or even attempt to follow the plow on its first trip, that a bad jam is the result. This means time lost in backing up in order to give the plow room to come back through and turn. Large passenger busses have caused numerous delays by getting stuck, and when one of them is stuck it just about blocks the road. Seldom do you see one of these busses with skid chains, and seldom is there a storm that you do not find them stuck.

All of our maintenance men have instructions to help stranded cars, but they must use their judgment as to the best time to render assistance. There might be a couple of cars stuck in a drift, with ten or 12 cars following the plow waiting to get through. The crew should work to the advantage of the most cars, but the stranded people may be assured that they will be pulled out at the earliest opportune time. Many, however, seem to think only of their own plight, and complain when the plow crew does not immediately give aid.

One Route Closed

It was considered advisable to close the Springerville-McNary road, and this was done on January 15th. The storms on that section were so heavy and the winds so fierce, there was countless drifts ranging from three to eight feet deep, and it was decided that what traffic would use the road if open would not justify the expense of buying and operating equipment enough to keep it open and safe. This road goes over 9,000 feet in elevation, and will probably not be opened until April. The same is true of the Coronado Trail, from Rose Peak to Alpine.

This winter, beginning November 21st, was the worst that has been experienced