bealine,
So, if the snowplough locks weren't frozen last year, do you know the real reason the runway wasn't treated and had to be closed at peak traffic time?
Well, yes, I do! The temp on the afternoon of 28 Jan 04 was about +7C and a band of very intense rain followed by snow started falling at around 1800. The rain washed away any treatment that had been put down and the snow was mostly melting on contact. My colleague managed to get all the big brushes onto the runway and swept back to black, then treated with de-icing fluid, which frankly saved our operation at LGW for the next 24 hours, for a 90 min closure. I still quote his prompt action as model of the right action to take under pressure. Other airports that tried to spread all their resources evenly around runway, taxiways & stands were essentially closed for 24 hours.
The sky cleared after the storm and the temp fell about 8 deg in about 45 mins, which is quite unprecedented. I came in and spent the rest of the night trying to cope with the sheet of ice that covered the airfield (apart from the runway!) very unpleasant, not only as temps fell to -6 or -7 but with the 40kt NW wind the chill factor was about -20. We've learned a lot of lessons from that night and have invested over £700,000 in new equipment which has made our job a lot easier this year. We ant-ice in anticipation of freezing conditions and are better able to treat ice should it form. We've got a deal with our biggest operator for mass clearance of stands so that we can treat them properly.
I'm not saying we'll always get it right or that we won't be beaten by the conditions in the future but I do think we do as well as any airport in the UK and probably the near continent, too. I still look to places like Stuttgart and Geneva as role models but they do invest a lot more than we do.
Cheers,
TheOddOne
Rollingthunder
You put down de-icing fluid on the runways?
Oh yes! This is our preferred treatment in SE England where we get wet snow or rain on an only slightly sub-zero surface. We use environmentally-friendly potassium acetate (trade name Clearway) to supress the freezing point, in place of the ethelyne glycol (Konsin) that is an ecological nightmare.
Actually our main runway at LGW is quite heavily domed and is fully grooved and drains fantastically well, so often treatment is un-necessary. It\'s the taxiways & stands we have trouble with.
The time we had -12 deg C and snow on a dry surface was a dream come true - simply brush and blow it away, back to a dry surface again. Only happened once to me in 20+ years. This was the same lovely stuff that was the \'wrong kind of snow\' for our train operators, great for me, though!
TOO