Many cleansing officers, certainly those from London authorities, would have a
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good opportunity of considering. the different Methods to be adopted and the equipment that was being displayed in relation to their suitability for introduction into the larger authorities of the future, said Mr. F. St. L. McCarthy. (Marylebone) in his presidential address. The coming challenge would call for the maximum use of their technical ability if cleansing services for the new areas were to provide the improved standards. that the greater. concentration of money, labour and equipment made possible.
In industry, developments in technology and growth in the size of industrial undertakings had resulted in a need for ever-increasing specialization and the same trend would inevitably follow in the larger units of local government, In Greater London 98 separate authorities would be reduced to .32. In England and Wales there were some 1,300 separate authorities and this number was already being -substantially cut down. Currently the annual qUantity of refuse collected and disposed of in England and Wales was around 131m. tons from the population of 47m, . at .a cost to public funds for 1961/2 of £40m.
Improvements in both paper sack and lightweight -cluStless bin collection would continue and there was room for both to develop. concurrently.
Vehicles would have to be designed to deal with increasing volume.and reducing density in the material .collecfed, The principle of continuous loading was being Widely used and.he'felt there was particular merit in designs that reduced the, bulk of material and increased .its density before passing the refuse into the body.
Vehicle Choice Important Replying to Mr. J. Skitt (Stoke-onTrent) in the discussion on bulk loading stations, Mr, F. L. Stirrup said that many of the promises made for pulverizing units could not 15e substantiated in practice, but the compaction values that could be achieved after pulverization ivere very real.
Salford, continued Mr. Stirrup, had many narrow streets in its older parts but the loading rates were fast if the correct vehicles were selected. Larger machines, running right to the tip, would have made collection rates uneconomic. By introducing a transfer station, costs had been reduced although a much more expensive system had been put into use. Whilst there was formerly a wide variation in refuse weights between winter and summer this was now disappearing and an all the year round average could be taken. Where Salford's bulk vehicles were loaded at the transfer station a small amount of spillage was inevitable and before leaving they were passed quickly through an automatic washer to improve their appearance.
A work study scheme must not only be fair but must be seen to be fair. commented Mr. E. R. Green, opening the a42 discussion on Mr. Flintotf's work studypaper and on that dealing with the case against financial incentives by Mr. A. D.' Newman, principal of the Glacier Institute of Management. A fact that must never be overlooked wasthat the schemes were dealing with men of different background and different personalities, so that incentive became a very personal problem. Mr. R. E. Bevan (Manchester) felt that there was no incom
patibility between, ' the two ideas projected. Examination of method represented 90 per cent of. the importance of study selling and measurement of effortno more than 10 per cent, he said.
Away fromncentives , .
ClIr. J. Mernagh. (Huddersfield) put forward the view that work study and measurement were two different affairs. In many engineering, works they were moving away from incentive plans and in the direction of a fair day's pay for a fair day's . work. CUL . Mrs. Sharp (Ellancl), describing the problems of. the local cleansing department, said that all had been solved and a saving effected• by giving the men white .coats, calling them salvage collectors and providing a
rest centre, canteen and bath. .
Mr. Newman agreed, that in the engineering industry direct incentive schemes were gradually falling away, but the, hidden. costs of administering work measurement remained high. Ultimately, however accurate. the measurement was, each man's reward was in essence negotiated. . In hisapproach, said Mr. Neiman, he was not criticizing work study but the use that was made of. it by industry, as there was something more than mere productivity in .a human being's work., Being an emotional subject no attehmt to produce.a completely objective scheme could expect to be fully
successful. , .
Refuse collection was by nature such heivy work, said Mr. Flintoff, that he. felt an, easing of duties without loss of pay ought" to be considered when a longservice employee reached an age level where he might not feel equal to keeping up with the younger team.
Vehicles on Display •
Appliances to the approximate value of £500,000, were displayed at the conference, where the customary vehicle parade was staged on Wednesday. For the first time suction sweepers outnumbered the mechanical designs. In this field more general efforts to meet the needs of employment on motorways, on one-way. streets and in overseas conditions were apparent. Among appliances specifically intended for use abroad was the Lewin Sweepmaster which was demonstrated in the 'parade.
The prototype -.Yorkshire suction sweeper, which was pa through its paces, was stated to be undergoing final tests before going into full production. In this machine the pusher-plate principle is
employed and when discharged the ful load of refuse may be expected to bs about one ton in weight.
Many detailed improvements have beet made in the Lacre Suction Sweeper, whicl has a second power unit using duty-fret fuel for the operation of the exhaustei and ancillary equipment. In the sweep. ing field also Motor Rail Ltd. was (Lis. playing the Clarke Litter-Vac, a cleanei that will pick up a 30-in, swath of paper cartons and scraps as fast as a man car walk. The power unit is a Briggs anc Stratton petrol engine and the intak( measures 30 in, by 4 in. Among thE Columbus-Dixon exhibits was a vacpunlitter remover actuated by petrol, electric or propane gas units. Although noi primarily designed with public cleansins in mind the Tennant 85 (shown by R. R. Stokvis and Sons Ltd.) has obvious possibilities as it is capable of clearing up te 100,000 sq. ft. an hOur. Among features of the Walker-Vac ,Cleansers (Walker's Mechanical Cleansing Ltd.) are front rollers for .ascending high kerbs, a strip brush for removing material stuck on the ground and alternative fuel in: the form of Calor 'gas.
Snow in the Sun Under a grilling sun the delegates still evinced appropriate interest in snow clearance. From W. Hargreaves and Co. Ltd. came the Sisis 36-in. spreader which has a hopper capacity increased to 2-cwt. which will enable 2 miles of footpath to be salt treated at one filling. This appliance was accompanied by a Harbilt electric truck on which was mounted an 18-cu.-ft. Sisis body which can carry 10 cwt. of grade 4 rock salt; or, alternatively, the unit can be converted into a general cleansing utility. Croker (Cheltenham) Ltd. showed two specimens of that company's tractor-operated snow blowers and David Brown (Sales) Ltd. displayed the Danline sweeping brush for snow and general duties. This 24-in, crimped wire brush is available in widths from 59 in.
to 84 in. .
A new lightweight Meiller Kipper container handling unit, with a payload, including container, of up to 44-tons, was demonstrated by Sheppard Fabrications Ltd. From the Powell Duffryn Engineering Co. Ltd. came the Dempster Dumpmaster bulk hauler compaction unit of 42-cu.-yd. nominal capacity for use with overhead transfer loading systems, discharge being by ramming after the release of the rear doors.
Modifications of the Eagle gully and cesspool emptier included hydraulic operation of the crane arm with controls at the gully pipe. Conversion kits are available for existing Eagle ernptiers. The 20-cu.-yd. S.D. Pakamatic, which was in the parade, provides an 8,i-ton gross load and, with a 6-ft. 6-in, overall width, this vehicle has a turning circle the same as a Ford Anglia car. A new design of Sheffiex 25-cu.-yd. collector on show provides a payload high in relation to the unladen weight and incorporates a 2-cu.-yd. salvage compartment.