{"id":24842,"date":"2015-10-19T08:01:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T15:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/dot-chief-brings-creative-approach-to-road-maintenance\/"},"modified":"2015-10-19T08:01:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T15:01:05","slug":"dot-chief-brings-creative-approach-to-road-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/dot-chief-brings-creative-approach-to-road-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"DOT chief brings creative approach to road maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"

FAIRBANKS \u2014<\/strong> Dan Schacher had a pretty straightforward job when he began work as an Alaska Department of Transportation heavy equipment operator.<\/p>\n

For about half the year, it would get cold and stay cold in Fairbanks. Crews would plow snow, spread gravel and keep the road safe.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s changed in the past 19 years, and Schacher knows it as well as anyone. He\u2019s now DOT\u2019s Fairbanks Maintenance Superintendent, with an updated winter recipe that includes freezing rain, deep snow, frigid cold and unexpected breakup conditions. In each year since 2010, winter rains have coated the roads with ice, creating an ongoing headache for drivers and maintenance crews.<\/p>\n

For Schacher, who oversees a crew of 62 road maintenance employees and 160 pieces of equipment, it\u2019s required a new approach to road maintenance at a time when state resources are tightening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be really honest, it\u2019s new territory for us because of the way we\u2019ve had to change our processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The computer in Schacher\u2019s office displays an interactive map that shows road temperatures and weather forecasts, offering an analysis of how and when roads should be treated. Alongside the plows in back, tanks of salty road brine are available for melting icy intersections.<\/p>\n

Such tools were absent in the Interior a few decades ago, but Schacher\u2019s willingness to embrace them has given him a reputation for innovation and creativity among his peers. He\u2019s the incoming chairman for the American Public Works Association\u2019s Subcommittee on Winter Maintenance, a national group that seeks new approaches for working in cold-weather conditions.<\/p>\n

Mike Coffey, the former DOT statewide maintenance director, said it\u2019s a natural fit. He said the state often steers pilot programs for road projects to the Fairbanks area because of Schacher\u2019s open-minded approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s willing to think outside the box and he\u2019s not a guy who\u2019s going to say, \u2018We\u2019ll do it this way because we\u2019ve always done it that way,\u2019\u201d Coffey said.<\/p>\n

The fit wasn\u2019t always an obvious one for the 49-year-old Oregon native.<\/p>\n

He initially planned a career in forestry, but moved to Alaska to work construction after a downturn in the timber industry. He switched to a DOT equipment operator job a few years later because it brought a steady paycheck and provided a schedule that allowed him to spend time with his daughter.<\/p>\n

But Schacher\u2019s skills were noticed by his supervisors. His ability to organize and work with people led to a series of promotions to his current role as maintenance superintendent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys have given me opportunities that, frankly, I wouldn\u2019t give myself,\u201d Schacher said.<\/p>\n

Coffey said he expects more moves will be ahead for Schacher, who he calls a \u201csuperstar\u201d in DOT management.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really has just latched on and loves working with people,\u201d Coffey said. \u201cI just love seeing how he\u2019s jumped into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schacher said he\u2019s focused now on fine-tuning DOT\u2019s maintenance approach this winter as budgets shrink. He\u2019s already taking calls from residents wondering why their roads haven\u2019t been plowed or why liquid road brine is being sprayed on icy asphalt, and admits his approach will continue to evolve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it looks like I\u2019m doing something crazy out there, I probably am,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not without a lot of thought and resources put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FAIRBANKS \u2014 Dan Schacher had a pretty straightforward job when he began work as an Alaska Department of Transportation heavy equipment operator. For about half the year, it would get cold and stay cold in Fairbanks. Crews would plow snow, spread gravel and keep the road safe. That\u2019s changed in the past 19 years, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":24843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-24842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24842"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=24842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}