Talk:Snow removal/Archives/2013

Sorry

Sorry but I think this article has to be rewritten completely or most of it should be removed or packed into other categories. Not that the article is wrong, but keep in mind that the enlish Wikipedia is use around the globe. So the article shoud not contain regional facts that are irrelevant for people living in completely other circumstances. It`s quite clear that there in fact are governments that fund snow removal but as well there are regions where there is nothing like that. F.e. it is not mentioned where people drive around and offer to remove snow for money... So I´m sorry if i destroy someons hard work on this article and you are free to put the old version back. I'll not change the same things again. But I´m doing it because I think less can be more to improve the quality of this article.

Could you give some examples? My experience is almost wholly with Europe and North America, but this link seems to show that very similar systems are used in Japan. There may be areas where there are very different systems, and they should be mentioned, but I'm fairly sure these are the exception. - SimonP 21:57, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

And where is this place where they drive around after a snowfall, offering to plow? Sounds to me that this kind of "plow-taxi" activity is a particular case of a regional fact. In places with frequent, heavy snowfalls where you want a long driveway cleared you sign a contract for the whole winter, or pay some money under the table for the snow season (a black economy activity which I cannot prove, so I did not put it in the article) because you can't count on getting service only on a snowy day. But I think the "snow-taxi" on the prowl for customers should be kept in if we knew where it was. By the way, in addition to having fleets of snowplows and dump trucks and snow blowers the cities I know also hire large contractors (sometimes large scale gardeners, sometimes civil engineering companies) with heavy equipment like huge earth graders to plow off the ice and then pick it up. They're paid from the municipal budget. --AlainV 02:56, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

This about.com article assumes it is ubiquitous, and it is common where I live. There is also an entire Simpsons episode dedicated to the concept. - SimonP 03:14, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

I saw that episode. I thought that the plow guys business practices were all part of the completely wacky and totally insane world around Bart. I never believed one second that in real life anyone would be so loony as to wait till after (or during) a snowstorm to hire somebody to clean up. Seems that there are some places where it happens. But where? Waht city or cities? --AlainV 04:07, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

History

There's nothing historical in this article. It seems to me that before gasoline engines were available, snow clearance must have been entirely by shovel. Horses are great for pulling, but not for pushing!Dynzmoar 20:34, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

According to the historian Eric Sloan, in the days before motor vehicles, the snow would not be removed - it would be compacted to make the road more suitable for horse-drawn sleds and sleighs. I'd add this to the article, but I don't have the reference in front of me.Triskele Jim 14:29, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Caring for surfaces while removing snow from them

The Internet has information about how to remove snow while caring for one's own health, that is, the health of whoever is doing that work. However, I am seeking information about how to remove snow while caring for the durability of artificial surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete. I am thinking of the possibility of cracks in the surface being started or enlarged by expansion and contraction caused by changes in temperature. With this in mind, is it better to clear an entire surface at one time, avoiding borderlines between cleared and uncleared parts of a surface? Is it better (when practical) to postpone snow removal until new snow has stopped falling? Where is it best to put snow which has been removed? Are grassy areas suitable? Are ditches suitable? I would like someone with expertise in the appropriate field(s) to answer these questions and any closely related ones which come to mind. -- Wavelength 18:22, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Related articles: frost creep, frost heaving -- Wavelength 23:15, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I am correcting the grammar of the heading. -- Wavelength (talk) 21:15, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

One editor answered at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2009 December 9#Caring for surfaces while removing snow from them.
-- Wavelength (talk) 17:36, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

wovel

Should the name wovel be mentioned in the article as the name of at least one snow shovel with wheels, or would that be advertising? How common are these? --Espoo (talk) 06:55, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

Poison

No one has written about the poison in the leftovers when the snow melts. In Montreal we had large snow deposts melt in 2008 and no one researchs the heavy metals and other toxic elements that remain after the water melts and evaporates. I think it is relevent.--Mark v1.0 (talk) 21:19, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

Except for deicing chemicals and grit, the main effect of snow removal would be relocating and concentrating the pollutants. It's covered in Environmental impacts of roads#water pollution, although a lot more can be said. If you have some good references, why don't you add some information on the subject? --Triskele Jim 18:14, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

"If you have some good references" , no sorry, I have none and was looking for some. Thank you for the link. The problem with "relocating and concentrating the pollutants" is that this is on public property in Canada, and the public is not informed that where they and their childrne are playing (in the summer) has heavy metals and such. I worry about the children accidentally injesting the dirt that has heavy metal poisons or whatever in it. We do the same for lead paint in a old house.--Mark v1.0 (talk) 20:53, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Found something, but not for generic city snow, for snow in a certain area. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/11/13/calgary-oilsands-toxins-fish-snow.html --Mark v1.0 (talk) 21:17, 21 December 2012 (UTC)