SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- A snowblower on steroids is how Sioux Falls Streets Chief Galynn Huber describes a new tool he will test this winter to remove piles of snow.
"You can fill a side dump, and a side dump is about two and a half trucks, tandem trucks - you can fill that in about two minutes with one of these blowers."
Clearing the streets from an average storm usually takes about 24 hours, but putting all that snow in trucks and hauling it away can take up to five days.
"In the morning, and the evenings during rush hour, we're out there picking up snow. We really congest the traffic, so what we are going to try to do is get the snow picked up a lot quicker."
The super blowers fit on the front of a loader and their big propellers just suck up the snow and into the trucks it goes, one truck right after another. Huber says he'll be out there with a stop watch to see how efficient they are.
The City Streets Department is preparing for another season of white warfare, getting snow gates on plows, getting contractors in line, getting chemicals ready to go, and generally getting the troops psyched up for another winter campaign.