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Special Motors Meet Gateshead's Needs
Page 122
Page 123
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GATESHEAD, that old-established and esentially industrial town of 122,500 population, situated on the southern bank of the Tyne opposite Newcastle, is not well suited to the employnient of horse-drawn vehicles for refuse collection. Horses were satisfactory when the method of disposal was the conveyance of refuse downhill to the water front for disposal by hopper, which dropped the material out at sea, and, indeed, this method was employed until as recently as 1926.
From 1920 until then, however, motors had been used to supplement the horsed carts ; Maudslay 4-tonners, having open bodies (of 6 ft. loading height) with canvas covers and equipped with hand-tipping gear, were satisfactorily employed. In 1926, however, it was decided to change over to land disposal, which meant transporting the refuse uphill, and so practically ruled out the possibility of using horses, except for special work.
Under the 'old system, taking the year 1926-1927, collection cost 6s. lid. per ton, which was a moderate figure, but disposal cost amounted to 3s. 7d., which was, of course, rather high. On February 1, 1927, the Corporation took over a tipping site at Askew Road, and that was the date when the first two tractor-trailer outfits were put into operation.
Prior to the change to land disposal, there had been proceeding at Gateshead a conversion to a water-carried sewage system, and departmental figures at this time showed that the refuse collected was becoming very much lighter, so that the actual weight per load on the MaudsIay vehicles and on the hopper was reduced sufficiently to make a considerable increase in the cost per ton.
It became necessary to seek a more suitable type of motor vehicle with a larger body and a lower loading line, E56
although not necessarily with any greater power than the Maudslays, and experiments with various types of vehicle resulted in the tractor-trailer
being found to meet the needs most suitably.
It will be seen that, in a town with such steep hills, horse haulage, or even a horse-cum-motor system, could not be considered when most of the journeys with full load must be in an uphill direction, With the tractortrailer a big-capacity body was obtained with a low load line, and there was plenty of power for the gradients, whilst the maximum speed of 12 m.p.h. was ample.
Standard Fordsons with solid-rubber tyres, drawing Eagle trailers, were the
outfits chosen. The trailers gave a capacity of 81 cubic yds. and had a loading height of only 4 ft. 6 ins. Four more of these outfits were put in service a month later (March, 1927), and a further outfit (making seven) in November of that year, whilst in December, 1928, an International tractor was acquired.
Six tractor-trailer outfits are now in regular commission, and are supplemented by a seventh during the heavy winter months, whilst an eighth Ford son motive unit is retained as a spare. The International is employed to collect refuse from various dumps in the town and, on this work, it operates in conjunction with four trailers of the .open type. At these dumps the street sweepers with their orderly carts deposit refuse from the roads. The International also does a good deal of general haulage work in conjunction with the Roads Department.
It soon became apparent that the tractor-trailer outfits, although eminently suited for their main work, were not altogether convenient for the narrow back streets with their rightangle turns, of which so many exist in the older parts of Gateshead.
A few horses have been retained for this duty even up to the present day, but the corporation saw in the introduction of the Karrier Colt threewheeled refuse collector a possible means for eliminating the horse. The three-wheeler seems to be able to reach any spot in these districts where a twowheeled horsed cart will go. This explains how the Corporation came to purchase, in November, 1932, two of the earlier Karrier Colts.
After considerable experience with them a third has been ordered. Mr. Robert H. Storer, M.I.P.C., is impressed with the great improvement which the new Colt shOws over the older models, and with the Way in which it carries out its work. With a capacity of 2 tons, or 5-6 cubic yds. of refuse, and a deep body with quarter-circular sliding covers and endtipping gear, it is, indeed, a handy vehicle.
Since January, 1930, a Ford 30-cwt. van has been in use, this having been purchased to deal with the widely scattered individual houses with carriage drives, etc., for which it was found that the tractor-trailer was not entirely satisfactory. At this time, it must be remembered, the corporation had not had experience of the threewheelers.
It may be mentioned that some ot the disposal tips have already been turned to useful purpose under turf as football and cricket pitches.
In regard to street sweeping, since the trade depression (say, 1930), the practice has been to engage for periods gangs of about 100 of the unemployed of the district. The men are given 30 weeks' work at 254. hours per week, which entitles them to unemployed benefit. Three sweeper sprinkler trailers (supplied by Messrs. William Smith and S0119, Barnard Castle), each having a 9-ft. sweeping track and a 250-gallon water tank, are available for use in conjunction with the Fordson tractor in snowy or muddy weather, when the men cannot cope with the work, but it will be realized that the considerable use of manual labour renders the street-sweeping costs incomparable with those of boroughs employing only mechanical means ; actually, the street sweeping in Gateshead ought to be regarded as relief work.
The department under Mr. Storer is responsible for the whole of the transport used by the corporation, except ambulances, fire-engines and road rollers, and has, in addition to the refuse fleet, a Commer 4-3-tonner with three-way tipping gear, a Ford 30-cwt. three-way tipper, two Ford 30-cwt. end tippers and a Ford 1-ton van, the lastnamed being employed chiefly for delivering meals to the food centres in connection with the schools for poor children.
Although greatly reduced, the stable still houses 15 horses and carts, six of these being employed for refuse collection and six for the collection of street sweepings where the orderly system has not yet been instituted, whilst three are used on general haulage and highways work. It cannot, however, be long before this stable is finally Closed down and motors are substituted.
In the year 1932-1933 the net refuse collection cost £14,484, or 8s. 2d. per ton, which works out at £118 4s. 9d. per 1,000 population, and £490 2s. 9d. per 1,000 houses. For the population of 122,500 there are 29,551 houses, and the weight of refuse amounts to 15.92 cwt. per 1,000 population. The gross cost of refuse disposal in the same year was £4,094, the net cost, exclusive of depreciation, being £1,580. These figures work out at 2s. 4d. gross, or Ild, net per ton.