Snow clearance
In reply to the numerous questions received, we should like to inform you of the actions and measures taken in an effort to maintain the movements of vehicles and pedestrians since the heavy snow fall on Sunday 23 January.
Our contractor's employees began clearing the snow during the morning of Sunday 23 January on the main CERN sites (Meyrin, Prévessin), but an accident prevented them from continuing. The vehicle in question was repaired by Monday morning when two other vehicles joined it to resume snow clearing; priority was given to access points to the main sites and the LHC sites, as well as to the main roads inside the sites. The salt sprinklers were also brought into action that same day; the very low temperature during the night from Monday to Tuesday prevented the snow from melting and compacted the ice; the continuing cold during the day on Tuesday (-6°C at 10:00 on the Meyrin site) meant that all efforts to remove the ice were doomed to failure.
In order to ensure more efficient interventions on all sites, two other companies were called in around midday on Tuesday 25 January.
The situation is constantly monitored so that theses reinforcements can intervene according to the priorities.
Mauro Nonis
TS-FM Group
by Mauro Nonis