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A Wing to Answer a Prayer
The main difference between winter operations in Canada and those in Nordic and European jurisdictions is not types or volumes of precipitation, rather it is remoteness. With such a small population dispersed over such a huge land mass, roadways are critical for commerce and the essentials of life such as food and emergency services. Equipment is the obvious answer, strategically located to provide coverage between communities and managed as part of a detailed winter maintenance plan. Sounds simple enough to those in more urban centers, not so simple when the availability of eligible operators is considered. TENCO created a solution to the question of “How to do MORE, with less?” asked by North America’s winter maintenance planners. A leader in infrastructure maintenance equipment since 1976, Tenco Inc. is well-established in the field of winter operations. “The biggest issue our customers are having, particularly in northern regions, is to find experienced operators,” said Jean-Phillipe Bourque vice president of sales & marketing for the company. The solution TENCO designers created was the "Wide Wing System" aka WWS which allows one chassis to cover more ground, up to 8 m in a single pass! When combined with the company’s pre-wet spreader and other equipment, a single operator can effectively service a dual carriageway from a single lane in one direction. Not trailing equipment behind eliminates the need for additional licensing and maintenance requirements in most jurisdictions.The WWS-equipped truck can be operated with a regular commercial driver’s license, just as a regular snowplow truck. This makes one vehicle twice as effective in terms of levels of service giving the road authority greater value, greater compliance, and greater safety per lane-kilometer. If a single operator is twice as productive, will they be twice as stressed or fatigued? Tenco addressed that question and, in collaboration with Bosch Rexroth, eliminated the traditional clumsy multiple control lever arrangement and opted for a single, multifunctional ergonomic joystick. This eliminates cab clutter and allows the driver to focus his attention to the conditions outside and maintaining the vehicle in the correct orientation for the safety of all road users. That all looks good on paper, but can it deliver in real-world conditions? The Ontario Ministry of Transportation and one of their contract partners, Emcon, decided to put the WWS to the test in North-western Ontario – including sections of the Trans-Canada Highway. After examining the concept and discussing with Emcon and Tenco their expectations, the MTO gave approval to a 2-year evaluation trial continuing through spring 2022. Initial operations have garnered success and, after training and familiarization, crews have grown ever confident in the use of this new and innovative product. “It has taken about 2 years to bring everyone together and get a working user-friendly plow into service. We’re very enthusiastic about WWS and expanding it into our fleet,” explained Norm Porterfield, fleet manager for Emcon.
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