Equipment
The Iowa Department of Transportation uses approximately 900 snowplow trucks to remove snow and ice from Iowa roadways. These trucks are used throughout the year supporting other highway maintenance operations, but are purchased with specialized equipment to support snow removal operations. Almost all trucks are equipped with a front plow, and some may also have an underbody or ice blade located under the truck to help remove snow or ice. Many of the trucks are also equipped with wing plows that help clear a wider path and are typically used to push snow further from the roadway. Each truck is equipped with a material spreading system to dispense both liquid and dry deicing materials.
The department also uses front-end loaders to load trucks with deicing materials, motor graders to help clean shoulders and a variety of snow-blowing equipment for use when clearing roadways of heavy accumulations of snow.
The department tests a number of different attachments to the snowplows each season with the goal of improving overall efficiency of our snow removal equipment.