A street sweeper is a large vacuum cleaner, similar in function to the vacuum in your home. It will “stir up” debris via forced air, allow fine particles to go airborne, and direct them to a large vacuum head. The sweepers used for Virginia Beach are designed to pick up finer particles and not larger/heavy debris such as rocks or tree limbs. The purpose is two-fold: pleasant looking streets and curbs and to also control contaminants that may enter the storm drains and possibly pollute large bodies of water.