dumping some 25.8 inches of snow at the Fort Myer and Henderson Hall
portions of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Normally packed with vehicles
during the work week, the Tri-servi... VIEW ORIGINAL
water Jan. 22 on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base. The commissary was well stocked with milk, water and toilet paper just hours before winter storm Jonas hit the Washington,... VIEW ORIGINAL
Henderson Hall Jan. 25 following Winter Storm Jonas, which dumped some 25.8 inches of snow on the joint base. The Directorate of Public Works worked around the clock to hel... VIEW ORIGINAL
When the first major snow storm of 2016, dubbed "Snowzilla" by many in the area, reared its head, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Directorate of Public Works employees were ready.
Crews worked tirelessly over the weekend to dig the joint base out from under more than 25 inches of snow that fell from Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning, clearing roads, parking lots and building entrances so employees and military personnel could come back to work and residents can leave their homes safely.
The joint base had more than 100 people from DPW and grounds crews working to keep roads clear throughout the weekend, starting Jan. 22, said Dave Metzger, contracting officer's representative for the Directorate of Public Works, during an interview with the Pentagram Jan. 25. And many of those same employees were still working Monday.
"A lot of them say they've slept, but they really haven't," Metzger said. "You get an hour here, an hour there. But you've got to keep running."
And that hard work paid off -- by noon Monday, Metzger said the roads on the joint base were drivable and parking lots were continuing to be cleared.
"We've thawed out, and we're cleaning up," he said. "The roads are all passable, but now we're working on the parking lots and relocating the snow."
This blizzard was hardly the first major snow event that DPW has had to deal with, but it did present a unique set of challenges, according to Metzger.
Unlike the "Snowmageddon" storms of 2010, which dumped nearly 30 inches of snow on the area in two separate events, last weekend's storm was a blizzard that produced snow hard and fast, in a relatively short period of time.
"It was a continuous storm that dumped all at once," Metzger said. "The high winds made everything we cleared blow back over."
He added that equipment had been running almost non-stop for nearly four days, since Friday before the storm hit.
"We did 15 cleanings through contract support and DPW continuously," he said.
Tony Taylor, DPW Operations and Maintenance branch chief, estimated that thousands of man hours went into digging the joint base out from under the blizzard.
The non-stop use of equipment did cause some problems, according to Taylor.
"We've had some equipment challenges," he said. "The way you're pushing this equipment, for 48 to 72 hours straight, you're going to break belts and overheat."
But thanks to the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), who provided a mechanic for the storm, DPW was able to overcome those issues and continue the cleanup effort.
"[The Old Guard] sent us a mechanic who helped us out tremendously by getting the equipment back up and operational," Taylor said.
JBM-HH also benefitted from the assistance of outside contractors, including GMI and Dominion Virginia Power, that provided a variety of heavy equipment and workers, Metzger said, adding that their support was a valuable asset over the weekend. Moreover, Dominion Virginia Power pre-staged trucks at Fort Myer's Tri-services parking lot ahead of the storm.
DPW had 500 tons of salt and sand for the Fort Myer and Henderson Hall portions of the joint base, and another 500 for the Fort McNair portion. Taylor estimated they used about 50 percent of the salt over the weekend.
Challenges going forward include an influx of water on the base's storm drain system that could cause flooding once all of the snow melts, he said.
JBM-HH Command Sergeant Major Randall Woods said the joint base handled the storm admirably and commended the teams' efforts to overcome storm and get the base back in working order.
"The Joint Base was well prepared for Winter Storm Jonas," he said in a statement for the Pentagram. "Many of our personnel were here for the storm that hit in 2010 so we used lessons learned from that storm to prepare for Jonas … The JBM-HH team did a phenomenal job."
Ultimately, Taylor thanked the workers who were out in the snow for so many hours over the weekend.
"The storm revolves around the workers and the people who are actually out there," he said.
Pentagram Staff Writer Guv Callahan can be reached at wcallahan@dcmilitary.com.
Social Sharing