Evening star., 1925-09-17


the resultant outburst Of indignation
from the public because the snow was
allowed To block the main business
streets, the Engineer Commissioner,
Lieut.. Col. J. Franklin Bell. after a
conference with representatives. OF the
Washington Board Of Trade. the
Chamber OF Commerce, the Merchants
and Manufa cturers' Association and
with other District officials, approved
the organization of q joint committee
Of business representatives and Dis
trict officials to consider the problem
Of snow removal. This committee
con nsisted OF John NewbOld. president
OF the Merchants Transfer and Stor-
age Co.; J. Fl. Hanna. superintendent
Of the Capital Traction Street Rail
way Co.: Charles ]. Columbus, execu-
tive secretary of the Merchants
and Manufacturers Association Maj.
William f. X. Covell, assistant to the
Engineer Commissioner. and Morris
Hacker, superintendent OF the street
cleaning department. under whose inv
mediate direction the snow removal
comes.
This committee studied the problem
considering generally the results OF
the blizzard next deciding what
should be done in tho event of heavy
snowfall and finally drafting recon-.
menda tions as to the amount OF
money. equipment and men necessary
to perform this work efficiently.
Storm Costs $4,000.
They found that the cost to the city
Of Washington as a result OF that one
heavy snowfall was very great.
conservative estimate by the highway
engineer, c. b. Hunt, of temporary
repairs only TO streets and roads was
$4,000. 1t was found that the life
OF the streets had been considerably
shortened. probably. Testimony by
the most competent authorities before
This committee showed that there was
a very great loss to the stores and
business houses. due to the sitting or
paralysis Of business. To business
concerns, particularly those using
large number of vehicles. the cost was
excessive, because Of the fact that this
equipment suffered severely.
There was found to be large
amount OF damage done to private
automobiles. the amount of which
the committee confessed itself unable
to calculate. The inconvenience and
annoyance were inestimable. To all
of these conditions the committee
felt should be added the extreme
danger of nre apparatus being
stalled, as was the case three years
before, and the possible danger TO
public health.
The investigation showed that
Weather Bureau reports. show that
the average snowfall per season in
the City of Washington is slightly
under 20 inches. that the average
number OF snowfalls OF over inches
is az per year and that the maxi
mum number of such storms in any
one season in the last Is years is I.
Survey Other Cities.
This business men officials joint
committee made a canvass of other
cities to show their practice and or
ganization for snow removal. The
replies showed that as a rule only the
congested business areas and the
main trafic highways are attended to-
1t was decided that in the interests
of public service the first thing to do
is to take care of those streets on
which car tracks are located. This
should be done by having plows
continually at work on these streets.
beginning when the snow reaches a
depth of two inches. The resulting
rows of snow should in turn be again
plowed back toward the cutters un-
til they can eventually be hauled
away, pushed into a sewer manhole
or be melted by the sun or washed
away by the use of Fire Department
hose.
1t was estimated that this work
would require the use of IS plows,
each to cover four miles of street
1t was figured that there would be
1,110,S25 square yards of street sur
face and that with q six-inch snow
the job would be to clear away
$4,000 cubic yards of snow in six
days. Allowing the sun or rain TO do
about half this work. 1t was calcu-
lated that II would require about
1000 men and e64 trucks per day for
six days OF eight hours each. 1t was
further figured that the crosswalks
of the downtown area to be kept
open would require one man per
crossing, or approximately 100 men
at - per day.
.,170 Men Needed.
In all 1t would need, the committee
estimated. 2.170 men. The available
city employees from the Street Cleaning
Department. the Highway Department,
the Sewer Department and the Water
department make total of only 405
men. Most Of the per diem employees
are decidedly averse to snow removal
work, and especially at night. Con-
tractors can be depended upon to fur
nish 200 men and 1t was figured that
from other sources 200 more men
could be obtained, making a total of
only 8bb men that can be counted
upon out of the 2.170 required
1t Is evident, the committee found.
that 1t will be necessary to provide
mechanical eQuipmemnt to replace
men for shovelling SNOW into trucks
After conferences with manufactur-
ers the committee reported that nec-
essary equipment for loading snow to
make up the deficit of the men re-
quired could be purchased for about
$56 ,000-and then 1t would be neces-
sary to use the mechanical equipment
about is hours a day.
The total estimated cost for han
ding one snow of depth Of about s
inches Is $67,636. Based on the
Weather Bureau report of snow rec
ords here, the committee agreed that
the amount to be made available for
handling snow during the whole Win.
ter season should be at least $l25,0o0,
or practically twice the amount for
one big storm.
Action Is Recommended.
The committee recommended:
l. Plow all street car streets and
main traffic lanes. starting work when
snow reaches q depth of Q inches.
2. Remove all snow from business
district and other congested areas.
!. Keep open crosswalks in resi-
Dental and business areas to the ex.
tent possible by existing white wing"