With life-threatening cold weather bearing down on northern Illinois, many are probably happy to work inside. But some people have to work outside and keep things running despite those sub-zero temperatures.
DeKalb utility superintendent Justin Netzer and his crew are ready to crack open the pavement on a small side street to repair a service leak.
But the cold weather is already starting to affect their machinery. They have to remove the claw of the crane to attach a drill, but ice from an earlier job is making them have to hammer and spray oil on it to get it off.
Trouble is... it’s forecast to get even colder, so they’ll have to keep an eye on the equipment and hope there aren’t too many issues that take them out into the sub-zero temperatures.
“We just take them as they come," Netzer said. "We’re going to have to prioritize what we’re going to fix. Obviously, if it’s a big emergency, we have a huge main broken or it’s blown out and it’s causing major flooding -- we’re going to have to make that kind of a priority.”
For now, their machines are still able to drill holes through the street to get to the problem.