The company that maintains roads in the City of West Kelowna has a fancy new piece of equipment for their operations near Revelstoke.

Emcon Services, BC Division has rolled out BC’s first wide-wing snow plow along the Trans-Canada Highway east of Revelstoke. It can clear two lanes of the highway in one sweep.

The company has tested wide-wings in a couple of other provinces, but this is the first to operate west of the Rockies.

New tools for the job! This is our new Wide-Wing Plow in Revelstoke. The unit is capable of clearing two full lanes with one pass and is outfitted with all the goodies for operator assistance! Keep an eye out for the unit and please do not crowd the plow! #technology @TranBC pic.twitter.com/FQvQO07ngK

— Emcon Services Inc., BC Division (@EmconServicesBC) December 5, 2022

“We actually worked with a company called Tenco on the development of it. Tenco is a company that does different plow parts for our trucks. So we tested this unit all last year in one of our contract areas back east and then had some interest from the Ministry of Transportation in bringing one out west. So we decided to put one in Revelstoke,” said Dustin Khadikin, VP of operations for Emco in BC.

“Historically, we used to use tow plows. This allows us to do both lanes and still maintain a Class 3 driver’s license,” he points out.

While he wouldn’t disclose the price of the wide-wing plow, Khadikin says it was a big number but Emcon is highly impressed with its performance.

“Our contract owner expressed interest in wanting to see one of these in BC in a big snow environment and how it worked in mountains. So, of course, we upped the power ratio to facilitate the size of the loads that this can carry, the snow loading that it will push, and driving in the mountain,” he explains.

Khadikin notes that the wide-wing is equipped with flashing lights and other safety equipment to warn drivers that the plow is working in both lanes, and to keep their distance.

Emcon Services, BC Division hold road and highway maintenance contacts in several parts of the province, including Revelstoke to Golden, the North Cariboo, South Vancouver Island and the City of West Kelowna.