An innovative snowplow that can remove snow from two lanes at once should speed up the clearing of Interstate 80 over Donner Summit for skiers and other travelers.
State Department of Transportation snow-removal employees demonstrated the new $80,000 "tow-plow" today at Caltrans' Kingvale Maintenance Station near the summit.
"The tow-plow is snow removal equipment never seen in California," according to a Caltrans District 3 news release from Rochelle Jenkins, District 3's public information officer.
The new equipment will plow 28 feet of roadway at a time, whereas regular plows have a removal width of 10 feet to 12 feet, according to the release.
Pulled by a vehicle designed for the purpose, the tow-plow can be activated to maneuver to the right of the vehicle, allowing for two lanes to be plowed at once.
Caltrans will begin using the new plow Thursday on I-80 over Donner Summit, from Kingvale to Truckee, Jenkins said.
Snow is expected Thursday and Friday on the summit and in the Truckee-Tahoe area.
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