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Revolution in Disposal
Page 71
Page 72
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By Andrew Seacombe Steps Taken by the Government and the Port of London Authority are Causing London's Boroughs to Send Their Refuse by Road
REFUSE-DISPOSAL methods in London are at present undergoing a revolution from which road transport is benefiting. The effect of this change is likely to be so great, one prominent operator told me, that the majority of London's borough councils would be using road transport for this purpose within the next 10 years.
The peculiar nature of road transport as played its part in inspiring this rend, but the principal influences have 3ecn the Government's refusal to saneion further expenditure on municipal ncinerators, and the tightening-up of egulations affecting river transport by he Port of London Authority.
To appreciate the role of the P.L.A. t is necessary to know that the tradiional method of disposing of London's ifuse has, for many years, been—and, ) a certain extent, still is—to carry it own to the Thames estuary by barge 'here it was used to reclaim marshland. I gave a brief description of this peration in The Commercial Motor on ily 31 last year. At that time 250,000 'ns from Lambeth, Lewisham and randsworth were disposed of each year 7 this means.
The tightening of the P.L.A.'s regulains has made this operation 'economic. The capacity of barges, lick hitherto, had been made to take approximately a third more than their recognized maximum, was reduced by that amount by the new ruling which forbade the loading of materials above the height of the gunwales.
Quite apart from this, however, the river, with its dependency on the tides, was more an expedient than an ideal route for this type of traffic; in fog, for example, operations were brought virtually to a standstill. Barges, too, were scarce, and the capital cost involved was roughly double that of a large-capacity road vehicle with all the refinements modern refuse disposal demands.
Two large London hauliers who are engaged in this work are W. W. Drinkwater (Willesden), Ltd., 2-5 Goodson Road, N.W.10, who have contracts with the boroughs of Hammersmith and Kingston-on-Thames, and A, Pannell, Ltd., 781 Finchley Road, N.W.11, who are under sub-contract to Inns and Co., Ltd., 286 Pentonville Road, London, N.1, to carry Lambeth's refuse.
Both Drinkwater and Inns have extensive interests in the excavation of ballast, and by virtue of this were able to offer a solution to the problem of actually disposing of the refuse by using it to reclaim excavated land.
Some 35,000 tons of refuse are moved from Hammersmith each year, a figure that includes waste material from local factories permitted to use the council's disposal facilities at their riverside depot in Crisp Road. The Kingston contract, which also includes the refuse of Surbiton and New Malden, totals approximately 40,000 tons a year. Lambeth Council's contract, which took effect from April 1 this year, covers the removal of 60,000 tons annually.
The refuse-vehicle loading station at Hammersmith is a model of its kind, and has aroused much interest among London's borough engineers. The plans of Lambeth Council's disposal point, which were shown to me by the borough engineer, Mr. F. Batterbury, B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., M.I.Mun.E., and have not yet been approved, showed promise of an even better. arrangement.
The design at Hammersmith includes a concrete platform with two apertures through which the refuse is tipped directly from the collectors into the disposal vehicles waiting below. The collecting vehicles gain access to the platform by a two-way concrete ramp, turn, and leave by the same ramp.
The Lambeth project incorporates a similar platform, with apertures for four vehicles to be loaded at a time, and a one-way ramp. Collectors would mount the platform by a ramp on one side and leave by another on the opposite side.
A 10-ft. high wall is built round the platform at Crisp Road. There is a 6-in, clearance between the top of the bodywork on Drinkwater's vehicIes and the underside of the platform, a measure which permits " trimming " to be done by the depot staff from the platform instead of by standing on the refuse after it has been loaded into the vehicle.
It is not always possible for the movements of the collectors to be tied up with those of the disposal vehicles, and in this event, the collector's load is tipped on to the platform and manceuvred to the apertures by a Bray mechanical shovel.
Loading arrangements at Lambeth's temporary disposal site at Providence Wharf on the South Bank of the Thames comprise a large hopper and two cranes with 1-cu.-yd. grabs. Kingston has an arrangement which, although it has been improvised, is similar in principle to that at Hammersmith. The platform there is a disused railway bridge.
Loads averaging 10-12 tons are carried in the eight A.E.C. eightwheelers, all of which have Glover, Webb and Liversidge moving-floor 40cu.-yd. bodies, operated by A. Pannell,
Ltd., between Lambeth and Inns "chute" at Bulstrode Park, Gerrards Cross, a round trip of approximately 52 miles. Oil fuel averages 10 m.p.g.
Six petrol-engined Bedfords, with 20cu.-yd. tipping bodies, which are also used on this contract, carry loads of 5-6 tons and give a fuel return of approximately 10 m.p.g.
Glover, Webb and Liversidge bodies arc also mounted on a number of Foden eight-wheelers used by W. W. Drinkwater (Willesden), Ltd., on the Hammersmith contract. All the bodies have capacities of 40 cu. yd. These vehicles make the 32-mile round trip to the Hammersmith chute at Rush Green, Denham, several times a day.
Three Thames Sussex six-wheelers with 241-cu.-yd. bodies, a Foden eightwheeler with a capacity of 30 cu. yd., and a 20-cu.-yd. forward-control Bedford are used regularly to carry refuse from Kingston, Surbiton and New Malden to Egham, in Surrey, where Drinkwaters have been tipping for three years.
There, I saw what was once a 20-ft.deep water-filled six-acre ballast pit being prepared for use once again as agricultural land.