Sweep Alerts

STREET SWEEPING SYSTEMS

The use of mechanical sweepers in areas with paved streets is also common in large industrialized cities. Three-wheeled sweepers are mostly used where parked cars are frequently found and maneuverability is desired. Four-wheeled sweepers are used mostly on large thoroughfares or highways where no parked cars are expected.
Women participate extensively in street sweeping in some areas, particularly in Latin America. This occurs more often in developing than in industrialized countries.
Litter baskets. Litter baskets are the primary containers used for collection of waste in public places. The design and placement of litter containers has an important impact on municipal cleansing, as there is a direct relationship between the opportunity to dispose of materials in public places and the amount of litter and garbage that ends up on public streets and requires disposal. Also, the primarily manual street sweepers in developing countries use litter baskets for depositing the sweepings.
Manual systems. Manual systems are the standard in sound practice in developing, transition, and industrialized countries. Sound practice involves designating routes which are feasible to be swept in a work day. A key design feature in a manual system is the approach to collection of the sweepings. Sound practice in manual systems includes the following variations:
Sweepers pick up their own sweepings, placing them in a cart. The carts then meet a collection vehicle at a pre-arranged time.
✔️Sweepers take their carts to small transfer stations located at the intersection of several sweeping routes.
✔️The wastes are put into plastic or paper bags and lined up at the curb for collection by a special truck.
✔️The sweepings are lined up in piles at the end of the route and collected by a mechanical sweeper or vacuum truck.
Mechanical systems. Mechanical systems include four- wheeled and three-wheeled sweepers, and vacuum trucks. Sound practice includes matching the vehicle to the service area; for example, selecting three-wheeled vehicles in areas where there are a lot of parked cars. In Europe, mechanical sweepers may also include water tanks, and sweeping frequently includes street- or sidewalk-washing activities.
In developing countries, where the norm is manual sweeping, the choice for mechanical sweeping may be dependent on outside donor financing. Sound practice may involve optimizing manual systems through increased pickup or better tools, and does not necessarily involve "upgrading" to mechanical systems, which may function poorly in the physical environment.

Did you know...???

☑️The City employs seven sweepers to sweep the City's streets. Crews sweep approximately 704 curb miles an average of 15 times for the year.

☑️The debris collected by our sweepers totals over 1,300 cubic yards each year. That’s the equivalent of more than 85 dump truck loads!

☑️An additional 600 cubic yards of leaves are hauled to the city’s recycling center to be composted during the fall leaf season. This effort produces a significant savings over landfilling.

☑️Crews using Vac Con equipment to cleaning stormwater inlet on Garfield
Sweepers must typically travel very slowly when in operation; otherwise a trail of debris is left behind. Please approach and pass with caution.

☑️Storm drains lead straight to our lakes and rivers. Debris and fluids on the street eventually flow through the storm drains, into our waterways, and pollute our environment. Drains are vacuumed on a regular basis to remove this debris.

☑️Weather conditions play a significant role in street sweeping operations…

☑️Street sweeping may or may not occur on rainy days. If the streets are too wet, sweepers cannot remove debris effectively.

☑️Street sweepers do not sweep when temperatures fall below 32 degrees. Sweepers have water tanks that are susceptible to freezing when temperatures fall.