LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Winter weather might have you brushing off your car, shoveling the driveway, or at least letting it heat up in the morning.

Now imagine having to deal with several miles of runway.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is home to UPS Worldport, moving millions of tons of product each year, making it the third busiest cargo airport in North America and 6th in the world.

"Snow starts flying, we are ready to go," said Louisville Regional Airport Authority Executive Director Dan Mann.

Louisville Regional Airport Authority owns and operates SDF. Mann said the packages and deliveries that come through here sometimes include life-saving medicines.

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"When it snows, we have to be ready to clear the runways as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible," Mann said.

That's why the airport has been invested $14 million dollars into snow-removal equipment since 2019.

"Money well spent, especially if it is helping the industries in town and such. I didn't have any problem landing and I haven't in a few years when I've come in for the winter time, so must be good," Jamison Davis, a frequent flyer, said.

The airport uses about 35 pieces of equipment to clean more than 17 miles of taxiways and runways. Each ranging between 75-35 feet wide.

With the new multi-function machines, a 24-foot plow, 22-foot broom, and 400 mph air blast can now clear SDF's airfield from snow in about 25 minutes.

"That's great work. Flying from Charleston to Atlanta, when we landed in Atlanta, it was really bumpy coming in, but here we didn't have any problems. Money well spent," Davis said.

The snow and ice removal equipment also includes de-icer trucks, snow blowers, and dump trucks.

"It would take us almost twice as long to clear runway. So the state of the art equipment is expensive, but when you're measuring minutes for snow removal really comes in handy," Mann said.

It's a large investment to ensure SDF is safe for travelers and continues generating billions of dollars for the economy.

"We are ready for just about anything Mother Nature can throw at us," Mann said.

Crews also had to build a storage facility for all of their equipment. The new building costs about $4.2 million.

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