Volvo CE’s N-Ice work

Volvo Construction Equipment's (VCE's) snowfighting motor graders were used to clear snow from highways in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan – which can experience arctic lows of -20° C in winter. "The lighting and visibility on these graders is excellent. As soon as it stops storming, regardless of the time of day or night, we are out working. We couldn't do that with the other grader brands the municipality has owned in the past," says Don Dancey, an operator in the rural municipality of Star City, no
June 13, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Volvo CE snow-fighting motor graders have been put to work in Saskatchewan, Canada
359 Volvo CE's (VCE) snowfighting motor graders were used to clear snow from highways in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan – which can experience arctic lows of -20° C in winter.

"The lighting and visibility on these graders is excellent. As soon as it stops storming, regardless of the time of day or night, we are out working. We couldn't do that with the other grader brands the municipality has owned in the past," says Don Dancey, an operator in the rural municipality of Star City, north east Saskatchewan.

VCE’s G970B and Volvo G976B all-wheel drive graders have recently been delivered to Saskatchewan motor grader teams.

"The older 970's have served us well. On each machine we put an average of 2,000 hours on yearly between road maintenance in the summer and snow plowing in the winter,” adds Dancey. “We have well over 480km of road to keep open in the winter and we can usually open everything up in a day and a half.”

Efros, another rural muncipality of Saskatchewan, has a population of approximately 480 people and over 640km of roads to maintain and keep open in the most extreme weather. The town’s authorities have bought a pair of Volvo G970 motor graders to tackle the snow. "It's a great machine. It's the best that I have ever operated, and it has lots of power. When you need to move something this grader will do it easily," says Efros grader operator Marcus Elphinstone.

Elphinstone’s partner, Terry Torgerson, is a 33 year veteran motor grader operator. "I also really like this grader for ploughing snow. With the 11-speed transmission I can easily maintain a ploughing speed of 25mph and it has the power and weight necessary when the going gets tough," says Torgerson.

A few kilometres down the road Reeve Council, of the rural municipality of Star City, has just placed an order with Eric Katarey and Redhead Equipment for two new VCE motor graders to replace its ageing Volvo G970 fleet.

In northeast Saskatchewan alone there are over 46 rural municipalities and more than 100 motor graders owned, the majority of them said to be sporting Volvo branding.
Earthmoving & soil compaction

Related Content

  • Philips CityTouch brings street lighting into focus
    December 20, 2016
    As far as 99% of any city’s population is concerned, street lights are just, well, there. But big changes are taking place, as explained by lighting systems provider Philips Lighting. Street lighting has been with us for more than a century. With the exception of the early 20th century switchover from gas to electricity and the recent most important invention of LEDs, there have been few obvious changes.
    Read More
  • Germany builds its first major PPI autobahn project
    July 7, 2015
    Rebuilding of one of the oldest motorways in Germany is testing out the possibilities for public-private project road construction reports Adrian Greeman A freshly renovated section of the A8 Autobahn in southern Germany will be watched with some interest this summer as traffic begins driving along its rebuilt carriageway and additional third lanes. That is not because of any special road features, other than a distinctive reddish colour to its concrete surface, but because it is a first fullscale public
    Read More
  • Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
    August 14, 2015
    Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
    Read More
  • Volvo CE achieve best ever Q1 sales
    April 27, 2012
    Volvo CE has reported record first quarter year sales. Sales between January 1 and March 31, 2012 were up 17% on the same three months of 2011. Despite a 26% decline in the overall construction machine sales market in China during the first quarter of this year, Volvo CE says it maintained sales in the country and reinforced what the company claims is its number one position in the Chinese wheel loader and excavator market together with its joint-venture partner, SDLG. Volvo CE says it achieved a 111% incre
    Read More

Highlighted Content