City of Boston Purchases Two Large Scale Truck Mounted Snow Blowers to Prepare for Winter

BOSTON - Monday, June 22, 2015 - The Boston Public Works Department (PWD) today announced the purchase of two large scale truck mounted snow blowers to more efficiently clear Boston's streets during periods of heavy snow fall. This past winter, over 1 billion cubic square feet of snow fell in Boston, setting a new record of over 108 inches of snow. The City rented similar snow blowers during snow removal efforts, but did not own the equipment.    

After a Request for Proposal (RFP) was released in May, two bids were submitted. Woodco Machinery, Inc., from Woburn, was the only bidder to meet the City's specs. The two L90 Volvo loaders with LaRue D55 blowers, which together create the entire machine, cost $645,000 and will take approximately 90 days to build.    

The two new pieces of equipment have the ability to 2,750 tons of snow per hour with a casting distance up to 150 feet. The blowers will be mounted on 4-wheel front-loaders from Volvo Construction Equipment, with tires over 4 feet in diameter. Large dump trucks, with capacities about 10 to 16 cubic yards, can move along with the blowers, catch snow and cart it to disposal sites.   

Simultaneously, PWD is currently working on compiling its 15 snow contracting RFPs, and may ask the awardees to provide similar large scale snow blowers to supplement these new purchases, however it will not be mandatory.   

PWD plowed 295,000 miles of roadway this past winter—roughly 12 trips around the earth - removed over 40,000 truckloads of snow from city streets, and melted 50,000 tons of snow at snow farms.   Montreal used similar equipment to battle recent snow storms. To view, click here.