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THE CITY OF WESTIVIINSTE CLEANSING PRO I LEN S
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and how they are solved
By the CLEANSING SURVEYOR, MR. F. W. CABLE, A.M.I.C.E.
TE Westminster City Council was one of the pioneers in connection with the use of motor vehicles for municipal work, as in the year 1898 it purchased a steam lorry in order to ascertain if this type of vehicle was efficient to collect refuse by means of mechanically propelled instead of horsed transport.
After two years' experience it was decided to purchase two more vehicles of a similar type, and in the year 1906 the council authorized the purchase of four more steamers.
In the year 1907 the first order was given for a petrol lorry and the mechanized fleet has been extended from time to time, until it now consists of the following vehicles ;-17 31-ton lorries, 14 2i-ton lorries, a 2-ton low-loader, three sweepers, a 2-ton Public-health van, a van and four light cars.
The first three steam lorries were finally sold to another borough council after doing 20 years' service and the remainder was taken in part exchange when further petrol lorries were purchased.
The highways department of the Westminster City Council is working throughout the 24 hours of the day and no fewer than 21 lorries are, on the average, working a double shift; they are employed on emptying gullies, collecting house and street refuse, street watering, clearing market streets, conveying materials for the works department, collecting and disposing of material for the highways department, and on any such other work as may arise from time to time. During snowfalls every available motor is on the road to meet the emergency.
It may be of interest to your readers if I give a normal working day of a double-shift motor; it is as follows:-12.30 a.m. to 4 a.m., cleaning gullies; 4 a.m. to 5 a.m., meal time; 5 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., dust collection. At this time the relief driver for the second shift takes over the lorry at a pre-arranged place on the road. From 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., dust collection, shooting load and return to garage; 11.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., street watering, work for other departments, etc. In order that the lorries may be able to water the streets as well as to collect dust, or do other work with their ordinary bodies, twelve of them are provided with tanks which are interchangeable so that they can, as and when necessary, proceed on the roads to carry out this service without undue delay.
Ten of these bodies water the roads by gravity and two of them are provided with pressure feed. The average time taken to change the former is 15 mins. anti in the case of the latter 30 mins.
The two pressure-feed watering bodies have been specially designed so that the water keeps practically within the track of the lorry itself. This enables The streets to be cleansed during the day time with a machine of this type without interfering with pedestrians, even if there be a considerable amount of traffic about.
With regard to the vehicles used for street cleansing, apart from watering, the council has also three sweeping and collecting machines; one of these works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the other two work from 2.30 in the afternoon until 11.30 p.m.; during the summer months they operate on Sundays, paying special attention to motorbus stopping places.
The average capacity of the dust bodies at present used by the Westminster City Council is 81 cubic yds., but, of course, the loads in these bodies are piled up before being sheeted over, therefore this quantity is usually exceeded to a considerable extent.
In order to cope with the quantity collected per day in the short period permissible, it is necessary to have 22 trailers which work with the larger units; these have a similar capacity to the inotorvans. It is the policy of the council to have all its motor vehicles and trailers equipped with mechanical tipping gear, but there are ten motors arranged for hand tipping, which were bought about nine years ago. One of the difficulties in connection with transport for the collection of refuse is to get capacity with a low-loading line. There are now various makers putrting vehicles on the road which are admirably suited for municipal work, the only shortcomings being, in my opinion, that they are rather underpowered, and that they are not made to carry sufficiently large loads.
Refuse Collected Per Annum;
Seeing that the quantity of refuse collected in the City of Westminster is 118,000 tons per annum, and during a winter's day 500 tons, it will be realized that these lorries, in conjunction with horsed transport, have to work to their utmost capacity. In view of the great outcry that has been raised in recent years anent the unhealthy method of refuse collection generally pursued throughout the United Kingdom and London in particular, the council has been seeking a system of dustless collection which would do away with this evil. Recently, two bodies were purchased to go on to existing chassis, these having patent openings which allow a special type of hinged bin to be discharged without the refuse being seen at all; it is then conveyed to its destination in a sealed vehicle.
I am not, however, in a position to express any opinion upon the working of this system, beyond saying that anyone who views a street just after the time of collection where this method has been in operation, and then looks at a similar street where the old system has been employed, will be amazed at the difference; one is almost entirely free of any litter and other will need much sweeping.
In dealing with an experiment of this nature, it would be impossible to give a fair report of working, including costs, efficiency, etc., in a short period.
The fleet of motors is maintained by the highways department, all running repairs being done by direct labour at the garage in Ebury Bridge Road. Each lorry is completely overhauled at the garage every three years and there are always two motors in for overhaul. Whenever a lorry is in for this work, the chassis is completely stripped, the body taken off, repaired, repainted and relettered.
In order that it may be easily seen how much it is costing to run any particular motor, a log book is kept in which every item of expenditure on that particular vehicle is recorded.
It is the practice of the council always to engage the best class of motor driver it is possible to obtain and it is remarkable how few accidents are recorded during the year, although the difficulties of driving with trailers in the streets of Westminster are obvious. All motor drivers are medically examined before being engaged. All accidents are reported to the highways committee each month and a record kept with the man's papers, each incident being marked according to whether it is the fault of the man or otherwise.
The whole of the motor fleet of the council is housed at the garage at 13a, Ebury Bridge Road, Pimlico. The ground floor consists of a garage of two bays of 13,746 sq. ft. each, for housing the vehicles and a fitters' shop. A blacksmiths' shop is adjacent to the fitters' shop and is equipped with two forges driven by electric power.
On the first floor of the building, which runs on two sides of the ground floor, there are the wheelwright's and carpenters' shops. The general stores are also on this floor, whilst on the second floor are the painters' shop and the clothing stores. An electric lift is installed which will take up a complete lorry to be dealt with in either the wheelwrights' or painters' shops.
A 5.000-gallon tank has recently been installed for
the storage of petrol; fuel is issued out to the drivers through a recording pump and is signed for. When a lorry is brought in for overhaul the petrol remaining in the tank is drawn off in the presence of the supervisor of mechanical transport and put into cans in store and re-issued to the driver when he again takes over his lorry.
There has been a great deal of controversy for many years past as to the respective merits of mechanical and horse-drawn transport, but so far as London is concerned the retardation of traffic through horse-drawn vehicles is so serious that I do not think it will be permitted to go on in the main streets for very much longer.
Hours of Intensive Collection.
In the City of Westminster another point very much in favour of the motor vehicle is the fact that there is an intensive collection of house refuse between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10.30 a.m.; when that is finished a very large number of motors work on double shift for the highways and other departments. Before concluding, I should like to refer to the fact that the Ministry of Transport has, during the past year or two, made great efforts to relieve the congestion caused during the daytime by the collection of house refuse in certain streets.