That's not dirt — it's some of the last snow in Sioux Falls

If you head south from the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds, you'll soon drive right past what looks like an enormous pile of dirt, often surrounded by construction equipment.

But as the whitish coloring near the base of the hill and the water surrounding it might suggest, it's not dirt. It's snow — and it might end up being the last snow left in the city.

Throughout a winter like the one we've finally left behind, you can't just wait for all the snow to melt, said Public Works Director Mark Cotter — it's got to go somewhere.

In addition to the site near the fairgrounds, there's a smaller one north of the fairgrounds, one on the street department's campus and another on West 69th Street near the Avera Heart Hospital.

Some snow can just be moved to the grass on the side of the road, Cotter said — but there's two places where it's got to be taken away completely.

The first is downtown — between parking, the sidewalk and the road there's simply nowhere that the snow can go. The other is major roads like Minnesota Avenue, where snow pushed out of the road ends up on the sidewalk.

More:Are snow days in Sioux Falls easier to get now than they used to be?

The crews work fast, Cotter said, and can clear downtown of snow in about six hours, with loaders being able to fill a semi in about 60 seconds.

Cotter said he didn't have the exact number, but guessed that the trucks carried "thousands" of loads of snow to the sites over the winter.

As for the color of the snow, Cotter said it's a result of the snow taking on dirt, being driven over by cars, and everything else that happens on the way to the dumping site.

"When you pick up snow all across the city, it's all just topsoil," he said. "We're always happy when spring comes."