Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Snow Farm

Well, I promised.
And I always keep promises.
Exhibit A: the 'snow farm' or as it's called by some in the city: the 'snow dump'. It's very difficult to capture the full significance of a 40 foot pile of snow. As I stood in the field, I pondered. Do I photograph the bulldozer? How about the  growing pile of dirty snow. How about both? If you look carefully you can see the crest of the 40 foot tower of discarded snow in back of the John Deere. Seen from the opposite side, the collection and height is stunning. The operation is pretty simple. The trucks hauling snow bring their load into the field, dump it, and the bulldozer takes over from there. The tractor continuously pushes the 'throw away' snow up a rise, and slowly but surely, over weeks of this repeated progress of dumping and flattening, the 'snow dump' reaches increasing heights. After over a million cubic yards of snow trucked to this field, you can get some serious height.
It gives new meaning to 'heightening'.
Snow this year?
Gone in June... or maybe July.
I'll keep you posted.
I must say though.
This 'yellow baby' can move some snow!
* note- I would think 2 days @ 100°F 48 hours straight would put a dent in it.
Hey, it's 45°F right now.
HEATwave!

22 comments:

  1. Fortunately I don't have to look at a local snow dump this year, but I remember one from a previous snowy season. I wonder, tho, where does all that moisture go in the spring?

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  2. You are reminding me of the library story times we used to with young children on "diggers and dumpers", a favorite subject in children's books! What a great field trip this would be for kids...and for adults who have retained the kid within! I will look forward to updates on this place.

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  3. Oh boy, with a pile that high, there may be some patches left in August. Like Kate, I wonder about the run off. It almost seems like all that snow could be a great resource in the right place.

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  4. Thank you, I was so curious about this!

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  5. i'm amazed at how long it takes a simple snowman to melt once the snow has been packed. you WILL have to tell us when that finally melts!

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  6. don't know how we would cope with the amount of snow you get - a jacket potato is one baked with its skin on - sometimes called baked potatoes - they are slit open and filled with things like cheese, tuna mayo, coleslaw, baked beans or plain with just a knob of butter.

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  7. The snowdump I lived near, the snow would melt and fill the basin of the quarry.

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  8. Building mountains of snow is how glaciers start. Perhaps this is the beginning of the next ice age?

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  9. Yes, when WILL that snow melt? Keep us posted . . .

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  10. Ah now here you have two of my favourite things: snow and one of the contraptions I would love to drive just once.

    And now I want a jacket tater.

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  11. You should have gone for a panorama. But anyway, that is a lot of snow.

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  12. Yes. It looks like a dump. But the kind I've seen has garbage, not snow, and it doesn't politely melt away. This is a whole different take on a dump.But no less wanted than garbage, methinks.

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  13. Too much snow for me to comprehend, that's for sure!

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  14. Question: What does all the salt etc. in that snow do to the soil and water table?

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  15. Dirty snow is so icky. Nothing like the fresh, fluffy stuff, but after it hangs around a while forget about it.

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  16. It might still be there for the next season.

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  17. That is a snow hill!! Where does the water go once it melts?

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  18. Wow, I guess us non snow country people have never had to think about stuff like this.

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  19. I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but too bad the snow couldn't be transferred to California. We're ultra dry. What irony.

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  20. Just saw a similar snow farm in Salem, MA, yesterday on a road trip there.

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