Mountains of snow popping up at city snow dumps

The snow dump site at the Saskatoon Civic Operations Centre (COC) is beginning to look like a small mountain.

The civic facility located on Valley Road is where the bulk of snow removed from city streets and parking lots ends up.

Roadways Manager Tracy Danielson told the Brent Loucks Show on Wednesday the site is currently holding an estimated 200,000 cubic metres of snow or the equivalent of 25,000 truck loads.

“It already has as much snow in it as it had at the end of last winter,” said Danielson. “There’s a lot of snow coming in super-fast, but as far as capacity, there is still a lot of room left there.”

Danielson said bulldozers are pushing the snow piles higher to maximize the space.

The extra capacity is needed for not only the rest of winter, but to accommodate city crews and private contractors who continue working on removing snow piles left from the November blizzard.

With several more months of winter ahead of us, it could be summer before the snow melts.

“The piles of snow do melt naturally. It can be into July before the snow pile is completely melted,” said Danielson. “Then it drains into a pond, settles out and then is gravity fed into the storm water system.”

The city’s other snow dumps are located on Wanuskewin Road and Central Avenue.