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A Real Snow Job
Article #587
by Larry Gedney
This article is provided as a public service by the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, in cooperation with the UAF research community. Larry Gedney is a seismologist at the Institute.
Billy Connor, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in Fairbanks poses the question, "How should you shovel snow off your roof?"
"The proper way," according to Connor, "is that you do it a little on one side of the roof and then a little on the other) but not all on one side at once." I've been wondering why.
It may be that if all the snow is on one side of a gabeled roof, a good amount of the stress accumulated by its weight, in addition to being directed straight downward, develops a horizontal component that pushes the other side out, leading to potential collapse.
On a flat roof, it shouldn't make any difference where you start shoveling, so this line of reasoning goes, but I'm not sure of this either. Until Connor reveals his secret, I'd be glad to hear from any readers who have an opinion on the matter.
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