5 Tips for Spring Street Sweeping

Mar 28, 2024 - one year ago

Street Sweeping is a year-round job, but spring is the time for heavy-duty street sweeping.

5 Tips for Spring Street Sweeping — *Broom Bear CNG*

This is especially true in climates where winter includes cold, wet weather and snow. Sand, salt, silt and gravel accumulate to put street sweepers through an arduous run.

With street sweepers for various applications, the Elgin Sweeper team has extensive knowledge on spring street sweeping including a few tips to accomplish that.

Complete proper checks and cleaning. It’s critical to do regular checks and maintenance. This is especially true prior to tackling spring build-up on streets across municipalities, so the sweeper is operating at peak performance when it’s needed the most.

Prioritize catch basin cleaning

Some places combine street sweeping with catch basin cleaning. As snow melts and area streams and rivers rise, flooding is a top concern in the spring. This makes catch basin cleaning critical, so streets don’t flood, and rain runoff flows as intended. Regenerative air sweepers and pure vacuum sweepers are go-tos for combination sweeping and catch basin cleaning if equipped with a catch basin cleaning hose feature that can lift leaves, silt, sand, gravel and litter out of catch basins.

Determine the maneuverability and speed

April showers bring…storm water runoff. In many municipalities, porous surfaces are a best management practice to dealing with this runoff and effectively reducing the amount of untreated water and accompanying pollutants directed into waterways. Both regenerative air sweepers and high-power vacuum sweepers should be utilized to perform routine cleaning and help properly maintain a permeable surface. For heavy build-up, mechanical sweepers often are best since the powerful broom and conveyance work well to deal with heavy, compacted materials.

Make a plan

Follow-through increases when a specific plan is in place. As municipalities tackle winter build-up, the streets often need more runs. This can result in more hours for operators. A plan with specific ways of when, where and how to handle spring sweeping will help deliver spring sweeping success.

Consider weather’s impact

If a community is receiving more rain, especially heavy rainfall, sweeping should be completed after those events. This is especially true at the bottom of hills where debris can accumulate on storm drains and interfere with drainage. And while planning is important, this step is for flexibility in that plan.

With the right fleet of street sweepers, street cleaning can be a productive practice that leaves streets looking clean and prevents pollution in runoff.

With an established dealer network that provides dependable sweepers across the globe, Elgin has the sweeper that is best suited for municipalities’ spring cleaning needs. Visit ElginSweeper.com to learn more.

Source: Elgin