Parked Vehicles Off-set Sweeping Progress
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ONE of the ironies of our highly mechanized civilisation was that modern road surfaces, fastmoving traffic and the high cost of manual labour made conditions favourable for the development of mechanical sweeping in our towns. But one of the most prominent material features of the age, the motor vehicle, formed a powerful factor inhibiting the efficient use of mechanical sweepers said Mr. P. K. Patrick, deputy director of Marylebone Cleansing Department and author of an I.P.C. monograph on "Mechanical Street Sweeping ", in a paper presented to Thursday's session.
The crux of the problem was parked vehicles. No matter how efficient a road
sweeping machine was it could only be used if it could operate close to the kerb where most dirt and litter accumulated. It would tax any designer's ingenuity to devise a sweeping or suction machine which could remove material from beneath parked cars with only 6-in. or 7-in, ground clearance.
However, there were signs that conditions could change to the advantage of the mechanical sweeper for clearways, and other yellow band areas where parking was prohibited, were increasing in number. In his own borough, said Mr. Patrick, there were now several miles of yellow-band streets which only a year or two ago were constantly occupied by parked vehicles. Control of parking by meter provided a potential means of allowing access for the mechanical sweeper.
Pedestrian-operated machines had not so far made much impact on street cleansing but a few machines on the market, designed primarily for industrial use, had found some application in the public cleansing field. Some used brushes with or without suction assist