Street Sweeping And The Winter Holidays: What You Need To Know
Street sweeping plays an important role in increasing the longevity of a road and improving its safety. It helps remove debris, such as sticks and oil that can harm the asphalt or people driving on the road. While street sweeping is done year round, there are a few things that make the winter holidays a bit different for street sweepers. Here are a few things that you need to be aware of regarding street sweeping and the holidays.
Christmas Trees
While a street sweeper can easily sweep up leaves and small sticks, the equipment has some difficulty with pine needles. Pine needles can form clogs inside of the street sweeping equipment, diminishing its ability to sweep away excess debris on the road. Unfortunately, many people leave their Christmas trees on the curb for curbside pick-up and disposal after the holidays are over. This becomes a huge problem for street sweepers.
After your Christmas tree has been picked up from your curb, take a few minutes and sweep up the excess pine needles using a push broom or regular broom. This helps to ensure that a street sweeper can clean the street in front of your home without running the risk of damaging their equipment. If a street sweeper sees an abundance of pine needles, they may not clean the area in front of your home. This allows oil, dirt and other residue and debris to build-up. Cleaning up pine needles so a street sweeper can pass by helps ensure this doesn't happen.
Fireworks
Fireworks are not just for the 4th of July. In some parts of the country, it is very common for small fireworks to be sold for New Year's Eve celebrations. And while fireworks can be a great way to ring in the New Year, they can be a nightmare for street sweepers if not properly cleaned and disposed of.
After you set off fireworks, make sure you throw away the fireworks once they have completely cooled. Then sweep the street in front of your home to ensure there is no leftover debris. This helps to ensure the firework debris does not get caught up in the street sweeping equipment and damage or clog it.
Additionally, a street sweeper may be unable to remove all the residue and scorch marks left behind in the street by fireworks. If your street sweeper is unable to remove firework residue from the street in front of your home and you dislike the way it looks, follow these directions to clean the asphalt by hand:
- Spray down the street with your hose.
- Mix one gallon of cool water with 1/4 cup trisodium phosphate.
- While wearing gloves, dip a scrubbing brush into the soapy water mixture. Scrub the mixture into the residue left behind on your street. Continue scrubbing until the residue lifts.
- Use your hose to spray the soapy residue away from the street.
Excess Garbage
The last issue you need to be aware of regarding street sweeping and the winter holidays is excess garbage. With all of the gifts you may receive this time of year, it is common that your garbage can is overflowing. In some instances, you may leave boxes or extra bags of garbage on the curb beside your can for garbage collection. Unfortunately though, many people don't pay much attention to where they place their excess garbage, and this can cause a problem for street sweepers.
If you have excess garbage that does not fit in your garbage can, make sure it is placed on the sidewalks or gutters and not in the street. If the garbage is in the street, or falls over into the street, a street sweeper will be unable to sweep the area in front of your home.
Pine needles, fireworks and excess garbage can be problematic for street sweeping equipment. As such, it is important that you take the time to ensure these items are out of the way before a street sweeper makes its way down your street. This helps ensure the street sweeping equipment from sites like http://www.usaservicesfl.com can do its job and clean the roads in front of your home.