Snow removal for construction sites: haul roads, raised castings and silt fence

What makes a construction site different?

Roads are gravel or base course, curbs have not been poured, and grade stakes mark work that has not happened yet. Trades arrive early, concrete and lumber deliveries cannot wait, and a soil erosion permit governs the edges. In the new subdivisions and commercial builds of growing townships like Macomb Township, there may also be buyers touring a model home and families already living on the first finished street.

It is still commercial snow removal, on the one property type whose site map goes out of date every week.

What gets cleared first?

Scaffolds, decks and work platforms are cleared by the trades or the general contractor, not by a plow. Say so in the snow contract.

How do you plow gravel, base course and unfinished roads?

Raise the blade or set it on shoes so it rides above the stone, leave a thin layer, and hold off on heavy pushes over soft, unfrozen ground, which ruts and pulls up aggregate. The same method protects a gravel driveway; see gravel driveway snow removal.

Unfinished roads hide their edges. Without curbs the plow has nothing to follow, and the edge may drop into a ditch or an open trench. Until paving is done, manhole castings, catch basins, water valve boxes and curb stops are often not at final grade, and a blade that catches one can tear it out and stop the truck hard.

Stake every casting, valve box, curb stop and hydrant; temporary power poles and utility pedestals; road edges and culvert ends; open excavations; and the surveyor's grade stakes, which cost a re-stake if a plow takes them. Move the stakes as the site changes.

How do you keep snow off the erosion controls?

Part 91 of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, overseen by EGLE, generally requires a permit for earth changes that disturb an acre or more or sit within 500 feet of a lake or stream. Macomb County's soil erosion ordinance applies the 500-foot rule to drains as well and requires temporary controls to be maintained daily. Snow is hard on the three most common ones:

• A pile pushed against silt fence flattens or buries it, and its spring meltwater carries sediment past the fence.
• Snow plowed over inlet protection blocks the inlet and sends muddy slush into the storm system.
• Mud and stone plowed out the construction entrance land on the public road, which the county's subdivision specifications already require the developer or contractor to sweep daily.

Never stack on silt fence or inlet protection, on drains, against new foundations where meltwater runs toward open basements, in the street, or in front of the sales office. Stack inside the controls on stable ground. The county ordinance applies its enforcement section to the permit holder and to any company contracted to work on the site, so the plow crew should know where every control is.

Who plows the streets in a new subdivision?

Not the county, at first. For public streets that will become county roads, as township streets do, the Macomb County Department of Roads' subdivision specifications make the developer or its contractor responsible for winter maintenance during construction. After the county approves the finished streets, a three-year maintenance period begins in which the developer still provides it. The county takes over at final acceptance, after a last inspection and the release of the developer's deposits.

So a family in the first phase may live on a street the developer is still plowing. Put those streets in the snow contract with their own clear-by time. After acceptance, township subdivision streets are the county's and are plowed after state and primary roads; see who plows which roads. In a city, ask the engineering department. The county does not maintain private roads at all; see private roads.

Scaffolds, sales offices and who is responsible

Private job sites in Michigan fall under MIOSHA, the state's OSHA-approved plan. Its scaffold rule requires scaffolds to be kept free of slippery conditions caused by ice and snow (R 408.41212), in line with the federal rule against working on a scaffold covered with snow or ice except to clear it (29 CFR 1926.451(f)(8)).

The Justice Department's ADA technical assistance manual says model homes are generally not public accommodations, but a sales office located in one is. Keep its accessible parking and the route to the door clear, weekends included.

Responsibility follows the contracts. Settle in writing who hires and directs the snow contractor (the owner, the developer or the general contractor), who updates the site map, and whose entities the contractor's certificate names as additional insured. See snow contractor insurance.

Records and contract questions

The general contractor's daily log should note snow, ice and what was done about them, alongside the snow contractor's timestamped visit records and photos of the erosion controls after each storm. Before winter, ask:

1. Who hires the snow contractor, and who can direct the crew on site?
2. Which areas are in scope this month, and who redraws the site map?
3. Is the blade raised on gravel, and who sets and moves the stakes?
4. Where is snow stacked, clear of silt fence, inlets, foundations and the street?
5. Are developer-maintained streets, the sales office and model homes included?
6. Whose entities are named as additional insured?