TransLink’s de-icing truck out to prevent trolley wires from freezing
Posted December 7, 2018 10:00 pm.
Last Updated December 7, 2018 11:23 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After frozen trolley wires caused significant delays earlier this week, TransLink is trying to prevent the situation from happening again as the region braces for a weekend of cold weather.
TransLink is sending out a de-icing truck to put anti-freeze on the trolley wires to prevent frost and ice from building up as temperatures drop Friday evening. With a possibility of freezing rain and wet snow overnight, the company is joining city governments in the region preparing for cold weather.
RELATED: City crews across Metro Vancouver prepare for possible freezing rain, wet snow
The de-icing truck, which attaches itself to overhead wires while it applies the anti-icing fluid, is the only one like it in North America. TransLink posted a video on Twitter Friday evening about how the vehicle works.
“When it gets cold, the overhead lines will frost up, or ice will form on them. We send these trucks out ahead of time to put an anti-icing compound on the overhead lines,” Darin Savage with Coast Mountain Bus Company says in the video. “What’s unique about these vehicles is that we have a large tank on the deck of the truck, which allows us to then pump the anti-icing fluid from this tank, up through the poles and onto the overhead lines.”
The company also uses brass ice scrapers built into the mechanism that attaches the overhead lines on a few buses on cold mornings where the potential of ice forming could be an issue.
Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver municipalities are preparing for cold weather this weekend as well.
