b'20 MCI WINTER OPERATIONS1976, he remarks. Every now and then, we receive picturesThe Aviation Department asks carriers to deice in designated from customers with blades that are 15 to 20 years old and stillareas but acknowledges that certain aircraft may require minor working very well.deicing on the apron. The MaxxPro models are designed to be operator-friendly, withUsing snow melters instead of dump trucks for snow removal features like level indicators that help maintenance personnelwas another decision with noteworthy environmental benefits. correctly position the plow. When considering how hard it isThat switch saves fuel and significantly reduces emissions, to hire qualified labor, having equipment that was built tough,aligning with other sustainability practices at MCI. While most of durable and with user-friendly features is a huge upside,the new snow removal equipment burns diesel fuel, the four John Whittemore comments. Deere 644X loaders are hybrids.Like Trecan did for the snow melters and John Deere for the loaders, Metal Pless provided on-site training for the new plowChallenges Faced and Overcomeblades. Finding suitable locations for the large snow melters was no easy task for engineers when designing the new terminal and apron. The Environmental Considerations semi-trailer-sized units require substantial space, plus additional Near MCIs old terminal, where crews plow snow that is likelyroom nearby to pile snow before it is loaded into the melters. The contaminated with glycol from aircraft deicing, water drains into thenew equipment also needed easy access to storm drains and other glycol retention stormwater system. The new terminal, on the otherinfrastructure support. hand, is surrounded by 4,638 linear feet of 6922 top flange trenchNew taxiway configurations and lighting on the apron required grates from EJ, with single, double and triple catch basins to drainmodifications to plowing equipment. The installation of dual-use glycol-free stormwater into the 60-acre Berlin Reservoir at the airport.lanes with in-pavement lighting for taxiway center and outer taxi Airlines that deice aircraft on MCIs new terminal apron arelane centerline lights meant snow removal crews needed to use required to use a special recovery vehicle to collect spilled glycol.rubber-edged blades. We cant scrape a metal blade along the THEMAXXPROLEGENDARYREDUCE DELAYS and keepClears aprons FASTER thanClear snow FAST AND operations safe a conventional snow plow EFFICIENTLYmetalpless.comAll pictures shown are for illustration purpose only. Actual product may vary due to product enhancement.March | April 2024AirportImprovement.com'