The unthinking ratepayer frequently exclaims, "Why cannot the authorities order this abominable snow to be immediately carted away?" when the footpath and roadway in front of his domicile lie hidden under a thick coating of snow crystals. Signor E. Bignami Sormani, assisted by Professor Clericetti, have made several most interesting investigations and observations upon the density of fresh fallen snow in Milan by means of a simple balance and compressing box. The range of weight of the snow was found to vary as much as eleven times the minimum. A cubic yard from one snowstorm, weighing as much as 814 pounds, while an equal bulk from another fall only weighed 71 pounds. The weight consequently of a cubic foot of the densest snow is 30.14 pounds, whilst a cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds, or only about double the weight of this dense snow, but which was in all probability little different from ice. For my purposes, however, I will take a mean The ordinary width of an English street may be taken at thirty-six feet, including the footpaths, so that on every one hundred yards in length of every street of that width 2,700 cubic feet of snow have fallen, the total weight of which amounts to 44,226 pounds, or very nearly 20 tons, which in actual bulk would represent 100 cubic yards. But as the snow would soon become compressed after falling, I assume that this bulk would be diminished by one-half, and that consequently (without reckoning the snow which has fallen upon roofs and into courts, passages, and alleys, and which has been quickly shovelled therefrom to the street by the occupiers) about 40 ordinary cartloads, weighing half a ton each, would have to be removed from this length of street. Assuming that there are 30 miles of street in a town from which the snow must be immediately removed, 21,144 loads must be carted somewhere, at a cost of at least £1,500, assuming that each cart could make ten trips a day, and even then it would take 352 carts a whole week to effect it. It may be contended that I have taken an extreme case, and that, of course, the snow does not lie for very long upon the ground in the condition in which it fell, and that hourly it is reducing in bulk and weight by being ground up by the traffic, and finding its way in the form of water into the sewers, but I have simply advanced the few facts which I have stated in order to give some idea of the labour and cost of snow clearing in a city or town, and I think I cannot do better than at once describe how this important work is carried out in the city of Milan, where the organization and arrangements by which it is accomplished with marvellous despatch, and efficiency, could with advantage be copied by the authorities of any of our towns which are occasionally visited by excessive falls of snow. In Milan the snow carts are emptied into the navigable canals and numerous watercourses by which the city is intersected; and latterly also into the new sewers in the central portion of the city, which are promptly flushed whenever it snows. During the winter of 1879-80 the cost of clearing the 1,656,200 square yards total area of squares, streets, and lanes within the city walls, averaged £200 per inch depth of snow fallen, and for the 502,800 square yards outside the walls the average cost was £62 The small cost at which this work is carried out in Milan is accounted for by the low rate of wages and cart hire, and the perfect organization of the system. When a fall of snow occurs in Paris, attention is first directed to clearing the footpaths and crossings, so as to ensure uninterrupted foot passenger traffic. The town scavengers sand the roads whenever it is necessary for the carriage traffic, at the same time numerous auxiliaries are organised to remove the snow from the principal thoroughfares in the order of their relative importance. To assist in removing the snow the General Omnibus Company are bound by their concession to furnish 50 waggons, and carts are specially arranged for with the providers of sand and gravel at the beginning of winter, the contractors for maintaining the public roads being also bound to hold their carts at the disposition of the sectional engineers. In certain cases the half-melted snow is swept into the sewers, especially into those carrying warm water. Melting by steam has been tried, when a continuous jet was turned on to a mass of banked snow, but it melted very slowly at first, and the melting ceased after the cavity had increased to a certain size. Two descriptions of snow ploughs are kept in store, one for manual, the other for horse power, but they have never been used, as the coating of snow seldom attains sufficient thickness, and it is too quickly compressed and hardened by the traffic. As a rule, the sum allowed in the budget, about In England one of the greatest difficulties we have to contend against is the disposal of the snow after it has been placed in the cart. If there is a river close by, it can be taken there and tipped, but this is objectionable if it is a navigable river where dredging has to be done, as it is surprising what a quantity of road scrapings and other matters are always removed with the snow, and these materials naturally sink to the bottom, and add considerably to the cost of dredging. If there are public parks the snow may be heaped in them, provided no damage is done to the grass or paths, as the snow thus heaped takes a considerable time to melt, the first effect of a thaw being to consolidate it, but a better plan is to deposit it upon any waste spots, if these are not too far from the streets which have to be cleared. Tipping the snow down the manholes into the sewers has been tried in London and other cities, but has failed through the snow consolidating, and It has been suggested that a steam jet should be turned on the snow as it lies in the streets, or after it has been heaped, but I very much doubt the efficacy of this plan, although Messrs. Merryweather & Co., of London, have, I understand, melted a cartload of snow in seven minutes. It might, however, be possible to melt the snow by the heat generated in the furnaces that are destroying the house refuse by fire, and this could be effected without any large expense beyond the cost of cartage of the snow to the depÔts, which would, of course, be necessary. Failing an organization such as that of Milan, the following suggestions may be of use to those who have sometimes to grapple with this unproductive work:— Do not attempt to cart away the snow while it is yet falling, but try to make clear crossings for the foot passengers and to keep the traffic open. If there should be a high wind at the time, and the snow drifts in consequence, cut through the drifts so as to allow the vehicular traffic to continue. Directly the snow ceases to fall put on all available hands to clear the channel gutters and street gratings, In the wider streets use the snow plough, or with gangs of men (in the snow season there is generally plenty of labour obtainable), shovel the snow into a long narrow heap on each side of the street, taking care to leave the channel gutters and gratings quite clear, and a sufficient space between the heaps for at least two lines of traffic. Passages must also be cut at frequent intervals through the heaps, in order to allow foot passengers to cross the street, and also to let the water reach the channel gutters as soon as the snow begins to melt. With regard to the question of clearing the snow from the footpaths irrespective of the larger duty of clearing it from the streets, it is often a disputed point in a town as to whether this should be done by the Urban Authority at the expense of the rates, or by the householders themselves, and this can only be settled where the town has a private improvement act, in which a clause or clauses may be inserted throwing the onus of such cleansing and sweeping of In the City of London the footways are swept once daily by men in the employment of the Commissioners of Sewers, and in wet weather those in the main streets are cleansed repeatedly during the day, and this has been done, I believe, since the year 1872, although the occupiers are legally liable for the execution of this work. In Liverpool, also, this is done after a fall of snow, as will appear from the following interesting remarks on the subject, contained in a report by the Superintendent of the Scavenging Department in that borough:— "The only way to compass the removal of snow "To sweep snow from the footwalks whilst the fall of snow continues, and especially during business hours, appears to be wasteful and futile, and to apply salt during the same periods may be held to be injurious to health. "That the snow of an ordinary fall can be removed from the footwalks by an application of salt an hour or so before they are scraped is an ascertained fact, except at least when a moderately severe frost has preceded, accompanied, or followed the snow fall, or when the snow has drifted into extensive accumulations. Were it not for the danger to health by excessive cooling of the air, and for the expense attending the operation, all the impervious pavements could be cleared of snow (unless the fall was a heavy one) in a comparatively short time by a liberal application of salt and the employment of the horse sweeping machines as soon as the snow had become sufficiently softened to admit of their use." To these remarks I have nothing to add, except to suggest that in addition to clearing the snow from the footpaths care should also be taken to scrape out and thoroughly clear the roof water trunks, which are frequently found crossing the footpavements; if these remain choked damage may ensue to the adjoining property when a thaw commences. |