NEWS

181-00: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , December 28, 2000

PORT AUTHORITY AIRPORTS, BRIDGES, PATH READY FOR WINTER


Old Man Winter is threatening the New York/New Jersey region once again, and the snow troops of the Port Authority are ready with thousands of tons of salt and sand, as well as high-tech equipment such as monster snow melters and state-of-the-art electronic weather-tracking gear.

The Port Authority's winter weather arsenal features:

· More than 150 pieces of heavy snow equipment at the airports - including blowers that can move 3,000 tons of snow an hour, melters that can liquefy up to 500 tons an hour, and plows that can clear snow at 40 miles per hour.

· 63 pieces of snow equipment at the bridges and tunnels - including 16 trucks equipped with plows and spreaders at the George Washington Bridge, the world's busiest bridge.

· 1,800 tons of salt and 2,000 tons of sand for airport roads and parking lots - plus another 1,500 tons of salt for the Port Authority's bridges and tunnels.

· More than 170,000 gallons of liquid anti-icer chemicals at the airports, which prevent snow and ice from bonding to runways and taxiways, plus 230 tons of solid deicers, which break up ice and snow already on the ground.

The airports, bridges and PATH have "snow desks" where key personnel analyze weather reports and deploy staff and equipment. The number of employees deployed during a storm depends on its severity: only a few for a minor storm or every facility employee when a major snowstorm hits. During the most severe storms, Port Authority employees work around the clock in 12-hour shifts.

Employees at the three airports are available to rescue motorists whose cars won't start or are snowed in. At LaGuardia, call 718-533-3700 or 718-533-3850; at Newark, 973-961-4755; at JFK, 718-656-1272.

A list of snow equipment and supplies at Port Authority facilities follows.

LaGUARDIA AIRPORT

500 tons of sand 500 tons of salt 18,000 gallons of liquid anti-icers 150 tons solid deicers 25 pieces of snow removal equipment (6 high-speed plows with spreaders, 6 snow blowers, 6 snow sweepers, 5 salt and sand spreaders, 2 liquid chemical spreaders) 25 miles of runways, taxiways, public roads and service roads

JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

1,000 tons of sand 800 tons of salt 105,000 gallons of liquid anti-icers 60 tons of solid deicers 79 pieces of snow removal equipment (29 heavy dump trucks, 17 snow blowers, 14 snow sweepers, 14 salt and sand spreaders, 5 liquid chemical spreaders) 78 miles of runways, taxiways, public roads and service roads

NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

500 tons of sand 500 tons of salt 50,000 gallons of liquid anti-icers 20 tons of solid deicers 50 pieces of snow removal equipment (8 runway plows and sanders, 9 snow blowers, 8 snow sweepers, 6 salt and sand spreaders, 3 liquid chemical spreaders, 2 large road plows, 2 pickup trucks with plows attached, 2 parking lot salt spreaders, 2 front-end loaders, 8 heavy trucks) 35 miles of runways, taxiways, public roads and service roads

TUNNELS, BRIDGES AND TERMINALS

1,500 tons of salt 100 tons of sand 715 gallons of liquid anti-icers and deicers 63 pieces of snow-removal equipment (16 trucks with plows and spreaders at the George Washington Bridge, 19 trucks with plows and spreaders at the Staten Island bridges, 13 trucks with plows and spreaders at the Lincoln Tunnel, 15 trucks with plows and spreaders at the Holland Tunnel) 142 total lane miles of bridges, tunnels, roadways and sidewalks

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