Halifax Shows How to Speed the Snow Plough L ESSONS of
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last winter have not been lost on local authorities, particularly those whose areas lie along the Pennines, where so many roads were snow-bound for lengthy periods during the early months of the year. For this reason, the West Riding has, as already reported in "The Commercial Motor," prepared a force of 2,000 snow-clearance men and more than 500 snow ploughs. One road into Halifax, in particular, was impassable for seven weeks last winter, and in general the town was a black spot for road users. This time Halifax is likely to set an example to other authorities, for snow clearance in this area is a 'serious problem and special plans have been made to deal with future falls.
Therefore, special interest attached to last Friday's visit to Huddersfield of the North-Eastern Centre of the Institute of Public Cleansing, when municipal representatives from a wide area attended a demonstration featuring Halifax Corporation's plant.
Having regard to the transport crisis which Mr. Callaghan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, and others have said we might expect this winter, those present, no doubt, had strongly in mind the vital importance of speed in opening snow-covered roads to traffic.
In the past, highway authorities have been able to clear roads reasonably speedily by using contractors' vehicles with snow ploughs attached and salt in virtually unlimited quantities. Now, however, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient quantities of salt is well known and the cost has risen to a high figure. Furthermore, because of the damage caused to vehicles on snow-plough work last year, hauliers are in some cases reluctant to put suitable machines on call for this type of duty.
Tractors for Snow Clearance Profiting by problems that became apparent last year, Halifax Corporation has prepared an extensive scheme for meeting the situation and during the year acquired six David Brown heavy industrial tractors specially for this purpose. They are included in the corporation's centralized fleet, which is under the management of Mr. H. Leslie Millward, A.M.I.Mech.E., M.I.R.T.E., and during better. weather are employed on such duties as haulage and site levelling.
This model is powered by a petrol unit which develops 40 b.h.p. at 3,000 r.p.m., giving a drawbar pull of 5,500 lb. when running on a hard surface in bottom gear. In view of the large dimensions and low pressure of the tyres, this tractor has proved particularly suitable ,f or conditions where the surface layer is soft. The corporation has adapted its ploughs for use on this machine, designing special universal thrust and drawbars for the various types and weights, as well as for operating a snow loader. • During the demonstration last week, those present saw a snow plough with a wide-angle blade set up in 4i minutes, being attached to the frame at the rear of the tractor and to special brackets fixed at the front. By this means, it would appear, the frame will not be stressed by the plough, as the thrust is taken at a point where the normal towing loads are imposed.
When the V-type plough is employed, the attachments for this device are of more simple construction, fitting direct to two brackets at the front of the tractor. As sharper inclination of the blades reduces the shocks, it is not regarded as necessary to connect the plough frame to the rear of the tractor main chassis.
Fuel consumption of this machine is stated to be 0.6 pint per b.h.p.-hour.
The task of clearance is, however, only half complete when the snow has been ploughed to the side of the road, for under many conditions this may I make things more difficult for traffic using the highway. Thus, the next demonstration was of the Bunce snow loader, which is designed for the mechanical loading of snow into the vehicles taking it away for disposal.
This machine, which carries a chaindriven endless conveyer, is pushed by the tractor in the wake of the plough and will pick up 10-20 cwt. per minute, according to density.
An entirely separate problem is the treatment of ice-bound roads, for which authorities, at least in the North, generally prepare by the production and storage of large quantities of gritty materials. On Friday the final .demonstration showed a labour-saving machine which grinds lump ash into suitable sizes, passes it through a screen, mixes the fine ash with salt and then drops the resultant mixture onto a vehicle or stack. This machine is completely mobile and tractors were shown manceuvring the outfit into various confined spaces.
In the opinion of officials of Halifax Corporation, it is false economy to use refuse-collection and similar vehicles for snow clearances when they may be required for other purposes. Further, units such as the David Brown heavy industrial tractor may be employed in a variety of ways during the better weather.
Halifax, which has a population of just under 100,000, and an area of 14,000 acres, lies on the edge of the Pennines, and on its 220 miles of road there are many difficult points where drifts quickly bank up.