Skip to main content

Towed snowplough keeps the highway clear

Pennsylvania has a new tool to keep its multi-lane highways moving this winter - a 9.14m long, tow behind snowplough. The state's transport department (PennDOT) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) say the tow plough will allow one truck to do the work of two. Costing between US$99,000- 106,000 each, PennDOT plans to have at least one tow plough in each of its 11 engineering districts by winter 2012.
April 16, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Pennsylvania has a new tool to keep its multi-lane highways moving this winter - a 9.14m long, tow behind snowplough.
 
The state's transport department (4907 PennDOT) and the 4908 Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) say the tow plough will allow one truck to do the work of two.

Costing between US$99,000- 106,000 each, PennDOT plans to have at least one tow plough in each of its 11 engineering districts by winter 2012.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike expects to have four tow ploughs in service this winter.

Normally equipped with a 3.04m or 3.65m wide front plough, PennDOT trucks and some Turnpike trucks are equipped with a 'wing' plough attached to the side of the truck, increasing total ploughing width to about 4.8m-5.4m. A tow plough increases the ploughing width to 7.31m, allowing for two, 3.65m wide lanes to be cleared at once.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Weigh in motion and ANPR techology aid highway protection
    April 10, 2012
    Weigh-in-motion technology manufacturers have been involved in a number of significant highways tolling projects across the world in recent months, while others are looking to become involved in major new initiatives. Guy Woodford reports. The continuing global economic crisis did not prevent UK-based TDC Traffic Systems from recently securing the prized US$2.84million (€2.14million) contract to supply 20 high speed weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems for overweight pre-selection and enforcement in Saudi Arabia
  • 2010 GRAA Winner Profiles
    February 13, 2012
    Our series of profiles on winning projects from the 2010 Global Road Achievement (GRAA) Awards continues with the Construction Methodology Category won by Barrier Systems/Utah Department of Transportation With any major road construction project, the disruption of traffic flow is of paramount concern for engineers, workers and travellers, particularly as it relates to increased traffic delays and the safety of those driving through the work zone.
  • Yeti more autonomous snow-clearing by Semcon
    January 9, 2019
    Semcon, a Swedish applied automation company, said it has started an on-site project to clear snow from runway landing lights using autonomous vehicles. Most often the time-consuming job of clearing snow around landing lights has to be done manually because of the intricate maneouvres needed to avoid damaging the lighting systems. The trial project, which started this month, will be demonstrated in about a year’s time at Örnsköldsvik Airport, around 525km north of the Swedish capital Stockholm, accord
  • A new tolled highway brings change for Austin, Texas
    February 10, 2020
    A new highway section in Austin, Texas marks a major departure for the southern US city