http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004196639_passsnow23m.html
Saturday, February 23, 2008 - Page updated at 12:17 AM
Clearing snow at passes leaves state over budget
By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter
This winter's deluge of snow in the mountain passes has put the costs of snow removal nearly 20 percent over budget.
Through Feb. 10, the state spent $6.5 million over its $35 million budget to keep the mountain passes open and roads in Eastern Washington clear of snow.
The state Department of Transportation (DOT), working with the Legislature and the governor's office, submitted a supplemental budget request for $6.5 million to cover the winter-weather costs.
"On Feb. 9 we had more snow on the ground than we had for 50 years," said Don Whitehouse, regional administrator for the DOT. "We've had as much snow as this, but we got it all at once."
White Pass received 78 inches of snow in 48 hours.
Whitehouse also said it was one of the highest avalanche years ever.
Keeping up with the snow wasn't easy, Whitehouse said. The state had to borrow equipment from as far away as Selah, Yakima County. Normally, he said, he runs a crew of 15 people on the Snoqualmie Pass, but needed three times that number this winter. Crews were working seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
"We hot-seated every piece of equipment," said Whitehouse, referring to equipment never getting a cold seat.
"We had enough equipment to keep up with the snowfall," he said, "but not the avalanche hazard." On Feb. 9, when Snoqualmie Pass was closed by avalanches, the DOT blew 30 avalanche chutes. The first one filled four lanes of Interstate 90 with 8 feet of snow.
According to the DOT:
• The state had planned to use 47,000 tons of sand and salt on state highways; through January it used 60,000 tons. At $150 a ton, that adds $2 million to the costs.
• Avalanche-control work at the passes was substantial. For the season, the DOT conducted more than 325 individual detonations, using 12,000 pounds of explosives. This cost another $2 million.
• Labor costs were huge keeping the passes open. The state spent an extra $1.5 million in regular time and $1.2 million in overtime, for a total cost of $2.7 million.
Adding in the extra costs through Feb. 10, the total came to $6.5 million.
The numbers don't include the hundreds of thousands of dollars lost by trucking companies idled when the passes were closed. According to the DOT, Snoqualmie Pass was closed about 145 hours this winter, Stevens Pass 90 hours.
As of Sunday, the DOT reported that 425 inches of snow fell on Snoqualmie Pass.
But it's not close to a record. The highest snowfall year was the winter of 1955-56, when the pass received 828 inches of snow.
