Street Cleansing in Relation to the Growth of Motor Traffic.'
Page 4
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The object of this short paper is that the attention of city, town and urban councils may be directed to the inevitable changes in street-cleansing methods which must gradually take place in proportion to the growth of motor traffic. The Author has no sympathy with extreme and partisan motorists who desire to see the streets and highways constructed or maintained solely with regard to the requirements of the few, but he hopes to show that there are an increasing number of arguments in favour of the introduction of certain modifications in to-day's practice. So long as the owners of motors, whether for private or business. purposes, provide only a small percentage of the total traffic in any town, it is obvious that the proprietors must abide by the conditions which are in force, but the remarkable growth of all classes of motor vehicles has now reached a point where the effects of that traffic are in no sense negligible. It is no part of the Author's intention to deal with the dust question, for this brief contribution to the proceedings of the conference refers exclusively to the paved and impervious surfaces of city, town or urban streets, and considerations which might arise in connection with macadamised roads are purposely omitted.
Nobody can spend a day in London, at the present time, without being forced to the most serious reflections in regard to the development of commercial motoring, whether For passenger or goods transport. One thousand motor:ruses have already, apart from the opening-up of numerous fresh routes, brought about the withdrawal of no less than 3oo horse buses from the streets of the Metropolis, each of xhich older type of vehicle was previously responsible for :he regular use of, on the average, eleven horses : the last Tear and a half has, as a matter of fact, witnessed a redueion in the number of horse buses in service throughout the Wetropolis from a total of 3,484 at the end of 1905 to, apmoximately, 2,690 at the present day, and these reeords annot but indicate the prospect of a material check upon ex)enditure in street-orderly and cleansing work of an orchntry character. There are, too, upwards of soo steam lorries old petrol-propelled delivery vans and wagons at work in -ondon, and these may, on a conservative estimate, be held o have replaced at least another 3,000 horses, so that a eal earnest has been given of an indirect saving for the anitary and health departments of many borough councils, &hough the incidence of this saving is not directly apparTit owing to the fact that there is every reason to believe hat the aggregate total of horses in use has not gone back ince the year too. The fact remains, none the less, that he expenditure to-day is less than it would have been in the bsence of the remarkable development of motor traffic in he Metropolis.
Street Washing by Day.
The one point to which it is more particularly desired to irect the attention of this conference is that of street washig during the day-time. The value of water as a cleansing gent has been proved in the principal citiesof the world, nd few enlightened engineers or cleansing superintendents ave failed to use to the best advantage the most valuable nd simple of all cleansing agents, a hose-pipe, with suitble nozzle, in connection with their towns' mains. It is 3 an extension of this proved and satisfactory method that sers of motorbuses and goods vehicles look for the eliminaon of difficulties associated with side-slipping and lack of
adhesion. The owner of a private car is able to secure the necessary extra adhesion by covering the tread of his tires with leather bands or metal studs, to which course he is
positively driven by the dangerous condition of street and road surfaces, but the owners of the heavier types of vehicles, such as motorbuses and delivery vans, which machines are certainly of greater economic value to the country than private motorcars, are unable to adopt that method of escape from the risks of using the streets when the, surfaces are in a slippery or greasy condition, and they are obliged to rely upon the activities of the local authorities. The problem is, therefore, how to hose down the streets during the day-time, when a considerable volume of traffic is. upon them, and at a time when pedestrians are pursuing their ordinary avocations in large numbers. It is generally thought, at first sight, that the use of water under pres...
sure in the presence of such traffic is out of the question,. but the Author is here to point out that the suggested plan is not only a practicable one, but one that has been adopted_ already in London. The Southwark Borough Council has been washing its wood-paved and other streets, with water under a pressure varying from eolb. to 6o1b. on the square inch, for upwards of a year, and a brief description of the manner in which this apparently difficult task has been accomplished should not be without interest both to those who. are present at this conference and many others. The use of a hose in direct connection with the street mains is clearly inadmissible, and recourse is had to the air
pressure watering tank. Each of these tanks, of which
Southwark operated four during the whole of last year, and will operate a total of eight during the ensuing summer, is of simple construction. Each tank, which is of cylindrical form, is divided into two compartments in the ratio of about i to 5, there being a connecting pipe, fitted with a screw-down and air-tight valve, between the two compart ments, whilst suitable controlling valves are arranged at the discharge end of the larger compartment. There are no air pumps, and no chain or other mechanical drive from
the road wheels. The method of operation is such that the, initial and residual pressures in the tank are obtained from the street mains : the first charging, after coupling to an ordinary hydrant, compresses the whole of the air from the larger compartment into the smaller compartment, at which time the ohvalve is screwed down, and the water content of the larger compartment is allowed to run out,: suitable ingress for air being given. A second charge from the street main is then taken, the air vent having previously been closed, and the air pipe to the smaller compartment having been opened. The result of these operations, which occupy a comparatively short time, yields a sufficient volume of compressed air, and the necessary residual pressure, to allow of the discharge of the whole of the water from the larger compartment upon the street surface with the necessary force thoroughly to cleanse at least a 6-foot width of the paving. The base of the discharge pipe is fitted with any suitable form of washer head, the ordinary design ending with a circular ball in which a slot is cut in such shape as to allow a convenient spread to he secured. The latest machines at Southwark, which have been ordered in accordance with the experience of the borough engineer, Mr. Arthur Harrison, are so arranged that the water is discharged in a forward direction between the track of the road wheels of the vehicle, and a seat is arranged at the back of the tank so that a second man can readily control the discharge of the water, from moment to moment, when washing is being done at the busiest times of the day. Ulm Author is able to say, from his -sonal observation, that these, airissure watering vans oonstitute rst desirable addition to the equipnt of any cleansing department. ey improve the sanitary conditions the street, and they make the surface clean that the side-slipping nuisance argely reduced. He has no financial other interest in the system or the -ticks, and his sole reason for deibing them is that he believes they .fly merit a wider vogue than they at !sent appear to enjoy. He feels that jr early extension in London is ,ured, a matter of no small import:e for motor omnibus companies, in w of the fact that the driving wheels these vehicles cannot help but exd, under very many conditions, the it of adhesion that is provided by >halted or wood-paved surfaces which not so washed during the day. .ving regard, therefore, to the dimiion in the amount of refuse which to be removed from the street sures when motor vehicles replace -ses, he thinks a good case exists for t purchase of these up-to-date, air!ssure, street-washing tanks.