Parking lot care and tips – Calgary’s lot sanding, salting and graveling

Calgary’s parking lot sanding, salting and gravelling experts tips for maintaining your commercial snow removal needs and questions.

Calgary’s weather can be extreme at times and proper care can be essential for keeping your employees, customers and clients safe. No one wants slip and fall injuries on their property as well as the lawsuits, headaches that follow. Slip and falls can happen easily from the second you exit a vehicle to the first step at the curb onto the sidewalk.

1. Planning

An established plan is key to surviving winter headache free in Calgary’s extreme conditions. Calgary is famous for our chinooks that bring the sun out, and warm the city. Along with chinooks come the melting of snow, freezing at night and early morning. It’s essential to establish your problem areas from freeze-melts and ice pooling.

Whether it is drainage systems that melt or pool. Canopies over entryways dripping water creating a slip hazard area. Slopped parking lots with water runoffs.

Identify freeze areas where ice melt and sanding will be used, areas where sidewalks will be shovelled into and if they are plow accessible to clean up or remove.

2. Snow removal

Walkways, sidewalk, and stairs will be hand shovelled, swept or blown. After the snow removal is done a light coat of salt or gravel is a great idea on stairways and any slick areas of walk ways. This light layer will melt any ice, create a brine layer and assist in stopping any ice from sticking while providing traction.

3. Plowing

Determine your trigger amount. Many properties plow on a 5cm trigger, meaning when a accumulative amount of 5cm of snow have fallen onto the parking lot, the trucks come and plow. We always suggest 2cm triggers but this will vary depending on your commercial properties and needs.

Remember to plow snow in areas where the least amount of runoff will occur, and to maximize parking areas. Keep in mind that over time snow piles from plowing will accumulate gravel and debris in a pile creating a need to further clean up after the winter season.

Always push snow away from curbs and walkways remembering to push snow up and way from curbs. This help help against ice build up and slip hazards.

4. Lot Gravelling, Lot Sanding, Lot Salting

In most cases snow plowing is not enough to create a safe environment. Plowing has removed the weight of the snow and has now left a smooth slippery surface.

Determine which application works best for you. We always suggest a 50/50 mix of sanding chips and salt when sanding Calgary’s parking lots. The sanding chips create traction and a slip free surface while the salt helps melt and fight against ice build up and hard pack snow.

Calgary lot salting is helpful before a lot scape or plow. A 100% salt mix will help release ice and hard pack from your lot letting the snow plow or bobcat completely clear all snow, ice, and hazards from your Calgary parking lot.

5. Gravel bins

Gravel bins are a great idea to keep around stairways, entrances and high traffic areas. Gravel will not harm a surface like some salts will. Gravel Is a low tracking substance meaning it’s likely to less get into your building and entree ways creating more labour for cleaning and maintenance.

Call today for a free no obligation quote on Calgary sanding, salting, graveling and plowing.

Let the experts take care of your commercial snow removal needs with Gorilla Contracting Inc.