SNOW CLEARING / REMOVAL DURING
WINTER SEASONS
The traditional system of handling
snow.
A small city
like Halifax has a budget of 20 million dollars just for clearing up the snow
on its roads and pedestrian pathways. The budget for repairs of roads is
another 10 million. They use giant trucks with wide ploughs for pushing &
piling up the snow from the center of the roads onto the two edges & pedestrian
paths. Basically we are spending energy & money on displacing the snow in
multiple sweeps from the roads onto the side walks first. In the next attempt
we try and clear up a narrow path on the sidewalks by displacing the piled up
snow the second time, using mini Bobcats with ploughs.
When it
snows continuously or in quick secession for three or four occasions, then we
have a major problem, because we run out of space on our over stocked sidewalks
to pile up the additional snow. In the mean time the first snow has hardened up
into solid ice to make matters worse.
The new innovative proposed system of handling
snow.
This
innovative system is proposing the use of the highly under utilised fire
fighting pipeline network & salty sea water, to wash away the snow from the
roads. The extensive pipeline network happens to be laid out all along the main
roads. Minor modifications will be required to pump in the sea water instead of
the regular treated water.
It is also
proposed to fix up special purpose nozzles on every hydrant along the roads to
spray a shower of salty water on to full width of the road including the
sidewalks to wash away the falling snow as it is falling down. The special
purpose nozzles/jets will additionally sway left and right to cover a large
area of the road up to the half of the next hydrant. This methodology will
ensure that every inch of our road is cleared up of the falling snow. Hopefully
the salty water spray will absorb the falling snow flakes before they touch the
ground and turn them into “rain water”.
The special
purpose nozzles will function / operate at a predetermined pressure, which can
be easily controlled at the pumping station control room. Once the pressure is
reduced the water flowing from the nozzles stop automatically to conserve the
amount of water supply & energy.
Fortunately,
the layout of this township is hilly and strategically located on the sea
coast. In many locations the ocean creeps into the towns most populated areas. The flow of salty water from higher regions
will additionally assist in sweeping the deposited snow in lower regions. This
way we will have tackled the snow only once, the first time as it should be
done.
Advantages & Savings.
The
extensive damages due to the shearing force of heavy ploughs to the roads will
be totally eliminated. The additional cost of repairs to these damaged roads
will also be zero. The inconvenience caused to the public on account of delays because
of rush hour repairs will be mitigated too.
The huge
cost of owning and operating the gigantic fleet of ploughs and Bobcats will be minimized
to a great extent. The winter parking ban of vehicles on streets can be lifted
now for the benefit of public.
It is
estimated that the government can save up to at least 15 million dollars
annually, if not more. The cost of minor modifications and new nozzles on every
hydrant is only a one-time cost which will be recovered in the very first year
alone. A pilot study must surely be done on a small area of the township to
prove the effectiveness of this out of the world idea. Good luck.
Rohit Khanna – Industrial Engineer.
