From arterial to gravel streets
“Bruce Braun is responsible for about 200 arterial miles and about 600 residential miles of streets,” continued Stowe. “Maintenance of the road system is his primary responsibility, but he also works closely with our engineering department in the design of new streets. And we have road systems that vary from arterial heavily trafficked downtown urban central business district streets to unpaved streets that are basically gravel.”
Snow collection also falls under the streets division’s responsibility. “We have broken down our operations into two 12-hour shifts with staffing pretty much equally divided,” Stowe explained. “We are a little heavier on the nighttime operation, because we feel we can get more done with fewer cars on the streets.”
Braun noted that his division is partnering with contractors to repair streets. “The most challenging thing is getting the streets repaired that need repair with the funding available,” he stated. “To accomplish that, we have taken it upon ourselves to do some of the construction work in-house that is normally contracted. And we also work jointly with a contractor. We will have our in-house crews do the work that is labor-intensive, but we don’t have the specialized equipment to do some of the other things, so we hire a contractor for that.”
Braun is concentrating his in-house construction crews on three areas. “For concrete pavement restoration, we provide traffic control, notify the residents, remove the pavement and prepare the base,” he explained. “Then the contractor comes in, pours the concrete and finishes the sealing and curing.
One of seven Vactor jet vacuum trucks used by the city of Des Moines.
“We do what we’re good at, they do what they’re good at, and that works well,” Braun continued. “In the last few years we’ve also extended that procedure to our sidewalk replacement program. It’s worked out well for us.”
Braun has been Des Moines’ streets maintenance administrator for 14 years. His background includes working for the regional Department of Transportation on its freeway building projects, and holding positions with a private construction company, the Army Corps of Engineers and state engineering agencies.
Customer-oriented
Sanitation Administrator Lee Boisen oversees residential garbage collection for 66,000 households, as well as forestry operations for the city of Des Moines. “We have 65,000 public trees in the city that are our responsibility,” commented Stowe. “Lee is also responsible for street cleaning, which is a 24- hour-a-day operation.”
“Solid waste is very customer-oriented,” pointed out Boisen. “We touch every household once a week, so we make contact with almost every citizen on a weekly basis. And with the number of programs we have going, we try to be cost-effective. We have the curb recycling program, the yard waste program, property cleanups, right-of-way cleanups, so we try to juggle our dollars to keep our user fees low.”
Boisen noted that the city runs 17 solid waste routes and eight recycling routes each day. “Then we have combined trucks, we have the street sweeping crew and the forestry crews,” he added. Boisen joined the city’s engineering department in 1972 and moved to the Public Works Department in 1982.
Huge equipment fleet
It takes a huge fleet of equipment to service Des Moines’ street, sewer and sanitation needs. Fleet Services Administrator Dave Bair oversees a twoshift operation of 50 mechanics who maintain the city’s 1,600 vehicles. “We have 730 pieces of equipment,” said Stowe, referring to the streets, sewer and sanitation divisions.
Many of those pieces are Galion motor graders, Komatsu wheel loaders, Elgin street sweepers and Vactor jet vacuum trucks purchased from Road Machinery & Supplies Company. RMS Territory Manager Ron Mason services the Des Moines Public Works Department account.