Colorado Testing New Tow Plows In Mountains
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4/AP) — The Colorado Department of Transportation is testing the use of new tow plows in the mountains using equipment that trails behind a normal snow plow truck to better clear Interstate 70.
Snow plows have been working overtime this season with many mountain passes along I-70 accumulating more than 25 feet of snowfall. That's caused drivers and plows to work around the clock which means some of them have broken down.
"This winter has been very busy, we've had a lot of big snowstorms coming in," said CDOT Supervisor Jered Morgan.
The CDOT crew in Summit County called in reinforcements on Tuesday to help with the latest snowstorm. It was a challenge for some drivers.
"It was a little more difficult. We're not used to the hills. The truck was working this morning," said tow plow driver Anthony Wagner.
The tow equipment swings out to the side to both plow a 24-foot-wide swath of road and apply an extra 200 gallons of deicer to the surface.
"We can steer it from the cabs so we can shave it in or extend it out to catch a little wider if we need," said Wagner.
The equipment is already being used on the Eastern Plains.
While the tow plow is in use, two lanes being plowed will be blocked and the equipment will be moving at approximately 35 miles an hour. The state is telling drivers to stay far behind the equipment to avoid damage.
"We can actually get a bigger swipe across the road with two pieces of equipment than four pieces of equipment," said Morgan.
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