FORT KNOX, Ky. — Now recovering after three major winter storms hit the Central Kentucky region in an eight-day span recently, Fort Knox officials spoke of the team approach involved in tackling snowy and icy roads.
With shout outs to the Air Force’s OL-B, 3rd Weather Squadron and the post Emergency Operations Center, Directorate of Public Works director Jason Root said everybody was prepared to keep Fort Knox roads and major sidewalks clean and safe.
“On one level, the battle was decided well before the storms,” said Root. “We’ve got a lot of great people with Source America and The Ginn Group who take great care of the equipment we have. A lot of that is preparation.”
Prior to the arrival of the Feb. 13-17 winter storms and its aftermath that crippled several areas of the United States, leaving millions without power, a team of professionals at Fort Knox gathered together to assess the situation, make recommendations and put into action whatever commands the Garrison and senior commanders gave.
Colonel CJ King, Fort Knox Garrison commander, said the teams executed the plans in a synchronized, comprehensive way.
“I’m so grateful for the sacrifices and hard work of all involved in this mission,” said King. “We already had solid plans in place, but their recommendations gave us the ability to make the best, most informed decisions pertaining to post operating status changes.”
Armed with the order for snow removal, the teams jumped into action.
There were a lot of moving pieces that needed to fall into place at the right times, said Root, to ensure everybody stayed on top of the heavy snowfall that turned to ice overnight, then more snowfall, and sleet and ice, and still more snowfall that blanketed the area on and off post with treacherous conditions.
Root said he felt the installation never reached that level of danger because of their efforts.
“They did such a great job with 24-hour operations, making sure our roads were clear, our sidewalks were clear,” said Root. “We even received a note at one point about some of the guys that were out overnight at 1 a.m. in the morning.”
That note came from Tricia Mae Price, wife of Col. Carter Price, commander of 3rd Brigade, U.S. Army Recruiting Command. She heard noises coming from outside her home and said she realized that one of the crews from Knox Hills’ landscape and snow removal contractor, Mainscape, was busy clearing the snow in her community.
“I went out there and gave them some hot chocolate as a thank you,” Price said. “They swept by often that night and kept the roads clean. This is already a great place to live, and they’re making it so much better.”
As the first storm rolled in on the heels of Presidents Day, a call was made by the Fort Knox commanding general to curtail installation operations for the entire day Feb. 16. While most personnel stayed indoors, away from the bitter cold temperatures, DPW and Knox Hills contract crews and 19th Engineer Battalion Soldiers busied themselves plowing priority garrison streets, residential roads and parking lots.
Some services on post are required to stay open, even during the wintry conditions. The dining facility, key emergency services and the U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s 24-hour customer service center are just a few of those.
To ensure they stay operational and accessible, senior leaders regularly analyze and adjust the post emergency services plan to address a snow removal priority list. Included in that list are accommodations and meals for snow removal teams as well as teams of personnel dedicated to keeping machinery up and running. There are also gate guards and Directorate of Emergency Services personnel who ensure safety on post.
All of these entities must work together. Working through the coordination are members of the Logistics Readiness Center.
“Food, maintenance and fuel are our three main things that we have to deal with during that time,” said Jay Presley, logistics management specialist at LRC’s Plans and Operations. “All of it is a synchronization and prioritization of what our efforts are. We’re a city; we’re doing everything a normal city would do during these events.”
Kenny Muse, chief of Operations & Maintenance Division at DPW, said the decision by the senior commander to close post because of hazardous road conditions does not necessarily mean those road conditions exist on post.
“When they close a post, the Garrison and senior commander are taking into account the commuters that come into work; that their roads are still pretty bad or unsafe,” said Muse. “Even though our roads were clear, it would have been dangerous for people coming to get here. It wasn’t due to our roads being terrible.”
Muse said snow removal crews were already working the roads prior to the first storm, using a method that can often make all the difference between dangerous and safe road conditions.
“We brine the roads a day or two before if we can,” said Muse. “The brine helps. If we don’t get a heavy rain, the brine sticks to the road and keeps the snow or ice softer.”
Brine is a mixture of salt, water and beet juice that, when placed on the road, lowers the freeze point to about 18 degrees, preventing snow and ice from bonding with a road’s surface. The latest storms brought in temperatures that remained well below that point, however.
Hamlette Braxton, project manager for The Ginn Group, said brine is a good starting point, but it can’t be the only point, especially when storms maintain temperatures well below the 18-degree freezing point.
“Some of us have been here a little bit, so we know what to do,” said Braxton. “We stay on top of the situation. If you let the snow fall and you don’t do anything about it, it’s going to pile up. Then when people drive on it, that’s going to make it a lot harder to get up.”
Braxton said they have an advantage here because they make their own brine.
“That saves the government a lot of money,” said Braxton.
Even with the brine treatment and snow removal, however, this latest barrage of storms left officials concerned they would run out of salt before the storms blew over.
“We store about 4,200 tons of salt per year here,” said Braxton. “We went through 3,500 tons of it. I had 700 tons left when it ended. I was like, ‘Please don’t snow again until I can get more salt in here.”
With supplies dwindling across the nation due to these storms and demand increasing, the price of salt doubled from $62 a ton to more than $120.
Root said all the coordinated efforts between DES, DPW, LRC and others delivered a decisive blow to the storms that allowed residents and personnel to get back to work much quicker.
“Everybody from top to bottom was just absolutely phenomenal in the way that they got after all the different tasks in front of us, keeping us safe and able to do the important missions that we have,” said Root. “They’ve earned some rest. I’m glad we have better weather now.
“Now we’re working on recovering and fixing equipment again, so in case we have another storm in late February or March, which is not unusual in Kentucky, we’ll be ready again.”
King added that residents and personnel benefit from several key partnerships that make success a part of life at the installation at part of life.
“We’re incredibly fortunate here at Fort Knox. We’re supported by an extraordinarily competent and committed workforce, comprised largely of Department of the Army civilians and contractors, and the support we received these past several weeks from our Residential Communities Initiatives partner, LendLease, and our residential housing manager, Knox Hills was second to none,” said King.
“Fort Knox was successful because of the efforts of this entire team, and I couldn’t be more proud to serve alongside all of them.”
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2021 08:04 |
| Story ID: | 390177 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 66 |
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This work, Snow and ice removal takes a team, say Fort Knox leaders, by Eric Pilgrim, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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