Spring Cleaning

The spring cleaning system usually calls for the piling up and removal of the heavy dirt which is washed from the center of the street and which accumulates in the gutters during the winter season. The experience of cities with such work indicates that the assignment of one man to a definite length of street, or the assignment of a small gang of not exceeding three men, to definite lengths of streets is more effective and economical.

The Chicago Commission says that where a gang of three men is assigned to the work, team work is developed by the use of one man in removing the dirt from the roadway and one man each from the gutters. In the granite and brick pavements considerably more brooming is necessary on the roadway. Granite, brick and cedar block pavements require that the dirt be scraped from the center of the street to the gutter before piling in the gutters can be commenced. The center cleaning rates per man in Chicago are given as follows:

	Car Track	Outside Car Track

	Sq. Yds. per Day	Sq. Yds. per Day
Good Asphalt	16,500	18,500
Fair Asphalt	12,900	14,800
Poor Asphalt	9,200	11,100
Good Brick	4,400	5,500
Fair Brick	3,540	3,700
Poor Brick	1,850	2,960
Good Granite	4,400	5,550
Fair Granite	3,340	3,700
Poor Granite	1,850	2,220
Cobblestone	1,470

The single gutter rates in miles per day per man are given as follows:

Times Cleaned per Week	Asphalt	Good Brick	Poor Brick and Granite of All Kinds
2	1.8 miles	1.4 miles	1.4 miles
3	1.4 miles	1.1 miles	0.7 miles
6	0.7 miles	0.5 miles	0.3 miles
9		0.3 miles	0.2 miles
12		0.2 miles	0.2 miles

Chicago has found that the unit cost of spring cleaning of macadam and cedar block streets of different physical condition is as follows:

First Class Condition, Cost for Cleaning 100 Lin. Ft.		Fair Condition, Cost for Cleaning 100 Lin. Ft.		Poor Condition, Cost for Cleaning 100 Lin. Ft.
Traffic		Traffic		Traffic
Heavy	Light	Heavy	Light	Heavy	Light
$1.18	$.90	$1.97	$1.46	$2.25	$1.89