Snow Removal Operations Around the World.

Snow Removal Operations Around the World. It is estimated that Canada spends $1 billion annually on snow removal. Snow removal or snow clearing is the task of eliminating snow after a snowfall to enhance travel safety and convenience. This responsibility falls on individual households, as well as governments, institutions, and commercial enterprises. Cities engage in snow clearing on a much larger scale than individuals. Most cities in regions with regular snowfall maintain a fleet of snow clearing vehicles. The first vehicles dispatched are gritters, which both plow and salt the roads. The salt, through freezing point depression, aids in melting the snow and ice while providing vehicles with better traction. Subsequently, after the snow has stopped falling, snow plows, front-end loaders with snow plow attachments, and graders traverse every street, pushing snow to the side. Salt trucks often return to address any remaining ice and snow. These trucks generally travel much faster than plows, averaging between 30 and 40 kilometers per hour. Consequently, most cities have at least twice as many plows as trucks. In some cities with less snowfall and/or pedestrian traffic, individuals are responsible for clearing sidewalks in front of their homes. However, ecological movements often oppose the use of salt due to the environmental damage caused when it eventually washes off the roads. In cities where snow steadily accumulates over the winter, it becomes necessary to remove snow piles that accumulate on the side of roads, known as windrows or snowbanks. Snowplows are crucial in this process, devices mounted on vehicles intended for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. A snowplow functions by using a blade to push snow to the side and clear it from a surface. Large custom snow plows are commonly used at major airports in North America, equipped with oversized blades, additional equipment like a rotating sweeper broom called a jet blade, and blowers at the rear. For sidewalks and narrow lanes, small tractor plows are often utilized within Canada and the United States. The windrows created by plows in residential areas often block driveways and trap parked cars. This packed snow, pushed there by any plow, becomes a dense, solid version of "normal" fallen snow, taking on characteristics of solid ice in significantly below-freezing temperatures. Its removal is nearly impossible without mechanical means. Recently, windrows created in residential neighborhoods by city-operated snow plows have led to snow plow operators being assaulted by angry homeowners. The largest roads and highways are prioritized for clearing, as are streets with steep hills or other dangers. Roads used by buses and other mass transit also receive higher priorities. Clearing every street in a city can take many hours or even days. In some instances, a snow emergency is declared, instructing automobile owners to remove their vehicles from the street. Failure to do so may result in tow trucks hauling away obstructing cars. Some communities have standing snow emergency rules in winter, prohibiting overnight parking on streets, regardless of whether it snows. After smaller snowstorms, only main roads are cleared, and residential ones are left to melt through passing traffic. Decisions on immediate removal versus "natural melting" can be challenging, weighing the inconvenience to citizens and the economy against the immediate impact on the snow removal budget at that particular moment in the season. Canada spends an estimated $1 billion annually on snow removal. In large cities with heavy snowfalls like Montreal and Ottawa, snow clearing expenses for each season constitute a significant part of the seasonal public works budget. Each snowstorm triggers a major logistical operation involving thousands of employees working in shifts 24 hours a day. The effort varies greatly depending on the amount of snow. For instance, Montreal, receiving about 225 cm of snow each winter, spends more than 158 million Canadian dollars annually to remove it. Toronto, with approximately 50 percent more population and 28 percent more road surface, receives only 125 cm of snow a year and spends about half of Montreal's expenditure. The higher cost in Montreal is attributed to the consistent need for "snow removal" due to higher snowfall amounts and fewer melting days compared to other cities with less snowfall. Snow removal significantly influences the design of city infrastructure. Street boulevards are made wider to accommodate windrows, and sidewalks are positioned away from the street. Fire hydrants are marked with tall flags to locate them under windrows, and reflective traffic lane markers embedded in the roadbed are challenging due to the risk of damage by plows. Access to snow dumping locations, such as ravines, by heavy equipment is also carefully planned. #snow #winter #world