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HOW THE FRENCH 'ITALIS CLEANED.

12th August 1924, Page 16
12th August 1924
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 16, 12th August 1924 — HOW THE FRENCH 'ITALIS CLEANED.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Whole of the Refuse Collection, CleaninN Contractors Who Own ig, and Watering of Paris is Carried Out by eets of Motor Vehicles,

A be Don wagon which is equipped to perform the dual tasks of watering and sweeping.

THE PROBLEM of keeping Paris clean is a Somewhat different one from that which has to be dealt with by London municipal 'authorities. To start with, the quantity of refuse requiring daily collection is considerably larger in proportion to the size of the city as compared with London. This is partly due to the custorn of holding street markets with their attendant litter, which is so universal in.

France. , Another factor which calla for different methods of refuse collection in Paris is-the residential character of the whole city. A very large proportion of the population still lives within the fortifications, and there is nowhere any sharp line of demarcation between business and residential quarters. .

Tice collection or domestic refuse is an entirely different matter here as compared with London, simply because the small plivate house is practically non-existent. The Parisian, unless he happens to be exceptionally wealthy, lives in a flat, and there is thus none of that slow house-to-house dust collection which one finds in London, and in which the electric vehicle has replaced the horse-drawn cart to a marked extent.. The Paris refuse collecting lorry, usually a 7-ton tipping wagon, simply runs from one block of flats to another, and collects the stuff in bulk.,

Picturesque Horse-drawn Carts Replaced by Motor Vehicles,

The last of the picturesque old horse-drawn dust carts, surely the largest two-wheeled vehicles ever made, were taken off the streets in 1919. These carts, which were such a familiar feature of Paris before the war, are probably lamented by artists, but by no one else. They were drawn by a string of horses in line, and this, combined with the amazing length of the cart itself, made them quite impossible for modern traffic conditions. The motor vehicle now reigns supreme . in every branch of Paris municipal work.

The whole of the refuse collection. cleaning, sweeping and watering of Paris is done by contract. The City DU Council, whose sphere of action 'extends to the fortifications, does not own a single vehicle. The same may be said of seven most important districts outside the gates. The work is divided amongst four different firms of contractore---the Societ6 Industrielle de Transports Automobiles, known as the "Sits," the Soci6te Auxiliaire des Services Municipales. known as the " S.A.S.M.," the Laffly company, and the "0.0.1-A." The most important of these concerns is the Sits. This company is a subsidiary of the Scemia firm. (Seemia in its turn is, of course, a branch of the great Schneider combination.). The Sits occupies itself solely with the collection of refuse, both in Paris proper and in the surrounding districts. For the work in Paris, a fleet of 504 tipping wagons is employed. These are. divided up into three sections, north, south, and east, the west of Paris being looked after by the lorries which are employed on work in the north and south sections of the capital.

The lorries, with the exception of a very few old• chassis rapidly being scrapped, are all C.G.O. -Schneider tipping wagons. These wagons have been found particularly satisfactory for the work. They are mounted on a 7-ton overtype Schneider chassis having a four-cylinder engine with separate cylinders 105 ram. bore by 150 mm. stroke, developing 32 h.p. at 1,000 r.p.m. The tipping arrangement is mechanically operated by means of cables and drums, worm driven from the gearbox. The body is entirely of steel and is provided with -sectional sliding covers. These covers are quite easily moved as the body is very low built. The northern district of Paris is served from the three garages of St. Ouen Nord, Clichy and .St. Ouen Sod. The St. Ouen Nord garage accommodates 148 vehicles, of which 114 are in regular daily serVice collecting refuse. Many of the spare lorries here are used in carting and dumping the earth re

moved in the demolition of the old fortifications which is now in progress. The southern district has two garages, a large one at Issy lea Moulineaux containing 145 vehicles and a small one at Croix-Nivert with 25 vehicles.

The eastern district has one garage only, at Ivry, with 82 vehicles. When starting out on the regular refuse collection service, each driver is given a typewritten instruction sheet giving him his itinerary. This sheet is stamped with the time of departure for the vehicle. The length of the collection journey varies from 21. to 5 kilom., according to the character of the district served. The return journey to the refuse destructors usually averages about 13 kilom. On their return to the garage, the driver and his mate commence the cleaning, greasinft, and adjustment of their vehicle, for, in the Sita every driver is responsible for the good condition of his lorry. All the vehicles have their usual periods for inspection and general overhaul. The remuneration which the " Sita," receives from the City 'Council is paid in three forms : 1st, regular annual 'sum in respect of depreciation on plant, material, and buildings ; 2nd, a. daily subsidy representing wages, insurance, etc. ; 3rd, a subsidy per kilometre covering the fuel, lubricants, and general upkeep, including profits. As to the actual working of the system from the point' of -View of the public, one can say without any hesitation thitt the work is done most efficiently.

Extens:ve Fleet Used for Cleaning and Watering Operations.

Turning now to the cleaning and watering of the streets, this is done by the S.A.S.M. and the Laftly Co. The S.A.S.M. has a fleet of 253 vehicles, 153 being -Water-carts or combined sweepers and water-carts, and the remaining 100 refuse collecting lorries, for the. S.A.S.M. also does refuse collection. Out of the 153 sweepers and water-carts, 137 are De Dion-liouton vehicles and the remainder Latilc. The 160 refuse lorries comprise 50 De Dions and 50 Latils.

Tha taftly Co. use separate watercarts and sweepers having a small

auxiliary w ate r tank, as this system has proved to be more economical in working than has the combined watering cart and sweeping machine. The Laffly fleet in Paris eomprises 70 sweepers with auxiliary tanks awl 60 water-carts. The sweepers are, for the most part, provided with a squeegee arrangement for the cleaning and drying of .asphalt and wood paving. The great advantage in using separate sweepers and water-earts„ apart from not having to carry the weight of a large tank in winter when road sprinkling is not necessary, lies in the ease of adjustment of the brush to the road surface.

In the combined water-cart and sweeper, the whole brush suspension device being attached to the-frame of the chassis, goes up and down with the springs, according to the weight of water in the large tank. It !nay be mentioned, however, that, in the Lailly combined water-cart and sweeper which is used in certain suburban districts, although not in Paris itself, this disadvantage is overcome by a separate suspension for the brush gear.

In Paris, as in London, the bulk of the actual street sweeping and cleaning is done at night, as the traffie, congestion makes it impossible in the day-time. The actual amount of street washing and sweeping required in Central Paris is possibly somewhat less than is the case in London, for the horse is all but extinct in the French capital. The small horse-drawn delivery van is to some extent replaced by the hand push-cart and the tricycle box-carrier.

The activities of the great Sita concern, as already mentioned, are not entirely confined to Paris itself, for the suburbs come in for a share of its attentions. Counting the vehicles of the Sita in service outside the gates of Paris, the total fleet in the service of the company tots up to over 050 lorries. The vehicles working outside the fortifications are under contract to various suburban municipal councils. The C.G.I.A. is a comparatively small concern running a, fleet of refuse-collecting lorries in the south-eastern part of Paris. The vehicles used by this firm are all Latils.

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Organisations: City DU Council
Locations: Paris, London

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