The Municipal and Sanitary Engineer's Handbook

by H. Percy Boulnois

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, but the snow thus heaped takes a considerable time to melt, the first effect of a thaw being to consolidate it: a better plan is to deposit it upon 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 although lighted gas jets have been turned on to the snow, it has still melted too slowly to be of any practical utility.

Speaking of Clarke’s apparatus for melting snow, Mr. Haywood, in the same report from which I have already quoted, says:

“It is seldom that a fall of snow occurs sufficiently large to cause serious interruption to the traffic; heavy snowstorms in fact occur only once in six or seven years; for some years therefore these apparatuses if fixed might not be required. They would either have to be taken out, stored and refixed yearly or maintained in their places and kept in order there, in either case at an annual expense.”

In perusing Mr. Hayward’s report it also appears that the cost of this apparatus fixed is about 120l., and the cost of melting the snow 9d. per cubic yard.

In order to grapple with this question of the removal of snow, I am of opinion that it is useless to attempt to cart it away while 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 preparation for a sudden thaw, when, if these precautions were not taken, serious flooding and great damage to property might ensue; for the same reason cart away all the snow you can at the bottom of gradients and in the valleys, and also from very narrow streets and passages, &c. 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.[170]

The next point to be considered in this chapter is that of “The proper watering of streets for the whole or any part of their district.”

One of the earliest methods for watering streets, but one which has, I think, almost entirely died out, on account principally of the large quantity of water used in the process, was that of allowing the water to run down the channel gutters, ponding it back by means of canvas or leather aprons placed across the gutter, and then spreading the water on to the surface of the street by throwing it with wooden shovels. This method, which at first sight may appear clumsy, is an exceedingly good one upon sanitary grounds. It not only lays the dust, but it washes the surface of the street, and it most effectually scours out the gutters and at the same time flushes the sewers, which at the season that watering is necessary is also of great importance to any town. By this process a delightful freshness is given to the air, and the appearance of the cool and limpid water rushing along on each side of the street acts favourably upon the inhabitants. The great objections to this system are (1) the enormous quantity of water that is used in the process, and (2) the difficulty of doing the work after the traffic of the day has commenced.

Somewhat of a modification of this process is what is known as “Brown’s System of Street Watering,” which may be described as follows:—A lead pipe is laid in the footpath at the back of the kerb on each side of the street to be watered, small gratings or shields being fixed in the pipe at intervals of twelve inches, and the remaining space filled with asphalte; small holes are then bored in the pipe through the openings in the shields. The pipe is connected with the water main in the street, and is provided with the necessary stopcocks, &c. On the water being turned on, fine jets are thrown in different directions upon the surface of the street. The width of roadway that can be watered by this process depends upon the pressure of the water, but it may be fairly assumed that in most towns streets of fifty feet width could be effectually watered in a few minutes by a pipe on each side of the street.