The Town of Guilderland Highway Department has stepped up efforts to clean up debris stemming from December’s debilitating ice storm.
According to information form Guilderland’s Web site, the clean-up began on Monday, March 30, and ran until Monday, April 27.
Superintendent of Highways Todd Gifford said the town brought out four front-end loaded trucks to handle the debris, a tactic that has not needed to be utilized since damage from an early 1990s microburst.
It was very isolated, but did incredible damage,` Gifford recalled.
He said this winter was not as bad, but still warranted the extra hardware to hit the streets.
`It’s been just an incredible amount of material we brought into the [waste] station,` Gifford said.
He said that the ice storm in December left a number of trees, especially Pines, and brush in need of removal, so much so, that the four front-end loaders picking up the debris were accompanied by a brush chipper, and Gifford said, requires a good amount of fuel to operate.
Attempts to clean the brush at the time of the storm were unsuccessful, Gifford said. `We were hauling more snow than brush.`
Gifford said that normally the spring clean-up would only entail two `packer trucks` each week. He said the town used to use four front-loaded trucks for a normal spring clean-up two decades ago, but stopped that practice because of fuel costs. This year, like the storm in the 1990s, Gifford said is `extraordinary conditions,` and warranted extra effort.
`The crews have done a great job,` Gifford said.
He said it was imperative to make sure the brush was removed in a timely fashion since the coming months will be busy.
`We have a tremendous amount of summer work to do,` Gifford said.
Information form the town’s Web site added that the highway department will return at a later date to make necessary lawn repairs as a result of the clean-up efforts.
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