FARGO (KFGO-AM) Fargo Public Works has taken delivery of it's newest piece of equipment. It's a massive snow melting machine on wheels that was put through a test run with workers Friday.
Public Works Director Ben Dow says the machine is being rented for $70,000 for the next three months. Dow says the hope is that in the long run, the melter, manufactured by a Canadian company, will save money in a city that's running out of room to pile up snow that's hauled off city streets by a fleet of trucks. He says it will require fewer workers and a lot less time. It will be used primarily to remove snow from the more 150 cul-de-sac's in the city.
The operation is pretty simple. A front end loader dumps snow into an open 1600 gallon heated tank that melts 80 tons of snow an hour. That melted snow is then emptied into the sanitary sewer system. Dow says money spent on rent can go toward the machine's purchase. The price tag is $350,000. He says if the melter works out, the city may look at buying a stationary snow melting machine.
Ironically, because there is little snow accumulation, crews had to haul in snow from locations around Fargo to test run the melter.