Snow removal
De-icing is defined as removal of existing snow, ice or frost from a roadway, airport runway, roof, or other surface.
Anti-icing is treatment with ice-melting chemicals before or during the onset of a storm in order to prevent or delay the formation and adhesion of ice and snow to the surface.
When properly performed, anti-icing can significantly reduce the amount of salt required and allow easier removal by mechanical methods, including plowing.
[3] A mixture of some selection of these organic compounds with a combination of salts results in a substance that is both more easily spread and more effective at lower temperatures (−34 °C or −30 °F).
[6] In Niigata, Japan, relatively inexpensive hot water bubbles up through holes in the pavement to melt snow, though this solution is only practical within a city or town.
After heavy snowfalls, snow may be removed from roofs to reduce the risk of structural damage due to the weight.
Compared to other tasks of equal importance, snow removal can present unusual age dynamics pertaining to overall community safety and efficient cooperation of skills.
A recent technological advance is the snowmelt system that heats the pavement from below and melts snow and ice after a period of time.
Such systems are expensive to install and operate and they are not cost effective in areas with very low winter temperatures and large snowfalls.
Some governments, Boy Scout troops, and adult volunteer agencies offer free snow clearing for the elderly and others in need.
In some cities, snow clearing for elder and handicapped residents counts towards community service hours assigned as a punishment for minor offences.
[9] In many places, laws require homeowners to clear snow from the public sidewalk in front of their house, as well as a pathway on their own property to their mailbox.
In its 2002 and 2003 annual reports, the Czech Public Defender of Rights made a claim for there being a discrepancy between the theoretical and the practical interpretations of the act and recommended that an unequivocal formulation be enacted.
On 6 December 2007, the Senate of the Czech Republic proposed at the instance of its Constitutional Committee to remove the controversial article from §27 of the Road Act of 1997.
In a previous vote and after heated debate, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic had sanctioned this change by a margin of 116 to 31 amongst the 190 members present.
Despite the abolition of the duty, many people, including its opponents, declared that they will continue the winter cleaning of municipal sidewalks and paths, but instead will do so voluntarily and on their own behalf.
And finally, will-call service is where the client makes contact with the snow removal company to initiate a single clearing.
Contractors use hand shovels, walk behind snowblowers (or snow throwers), truck plows, skid-steers, light-weight tractors, and heavy front-end loaders.
Ecological movements often oppose this use of salt because of the damage it does when it eventually washes off the roads and spreads to the environment in general.
Credit for the concept that municipalities should remove snow from public roadways usually goes to Edward N. Hines, a celebrated early 20th century transportation thinker who also was the first to put a painted center line stripe on an automobile-era road.
This is most often done by large self-propelled snowblowers that gather the piles of snow at the side of the road and load it into dump trucks.
After smaller snow storms only main roads are cleared while residential ones are left to be melted by passing traffic.
[16] In large cities with heavy snowfalls like Montreal and Ottawa, the snow clearing expense for each season is an important part of the seasonal public works budget and each snow storm provokes a major logistical operation involving thousands of employees working in shifts 24 hours a day.
Reflective traffic lane markers embedded in the roadbed is not possible (or much harder) due to risk of damage by plows.
Airports, with their associated runways, taxiways and ramp areas are an exception to the use of salt, as the metals used in aircraft construction will corrode causing safety issues.
Designated sites are sometimes required to prevent water and ground pollution because the snow collected on roads typically contain a variety of grit, de-icing chemicals, vehicle fluids, engine emissions, and litter.
[20] Dumping into fresh water is "...almost universally prohibited due to the serious impact that deicer salts can have on freshwater aquatic life.
Chemical (including salt) distribution induces freezing-point depression, causing ice and snow to melt at a lower temperature.
[23] In recent years, Geomelt, a combination of salt brine and beet juice that is otherwise considered a waste product has been used for pretreatment.
Acetates can reduce oxygen levels in smaller water bodies, stressing aquatic animal life.
