Maps show winter-storm-debris collection efforts

— The city of Little Rock has released maps showing where crews are working to pick up debris left by a Christmas night winter storm that slammed Little Rock with snow and ice.

The online maps are available at the city website and will updated each Tuesday, officials said. Each one shows in yellow which areas have already been cleared.

The storm, which left thousands without power for multiple days, left about 22,000 tons of fallen trees and limbs, the city said, noting that about 9,000 tons have already been cleared. Piles of debris still line many city streets.

Houston-based Ceres Environmental Services was hired by the city after a disaster declaration provided federal funds for the cleanup effort. The 160-day contract would have the work done by the end of July. The city said in a statement that the company anticipates "finishing this project before that time is up."

A first pass-through of the city is expected to be done by mid-April. A second pass-through will follow.

Officials said a firm timetable for the removal is difficult to provide.

“This is a labor intensive project,” Public Works Department Director Steve Beck said in a statement. “The crews that are on this job are working seven days a week. Some areas of the city were harder hit than others — the debris is not spread equally among all the neighborhoods. This makes it difficult to say how long it takes a crew to sweep a street. One street may take the better part of a day for a crew to collect all the limbs and fallen trees, while other streets could take a crew 20 minutes — it all depends on the amount of storm debris that is on the curbside.”

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