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When the snow begins to fall, the snow ploughs make their
move, even at night. In Helsinki the snow is moved by the
tonne during the winter.
"According to the quality requirements for winter maintenance,
the main streets and those used by public transport must be
ploughed, salted or gritted by seven on winter mornings,"
says Ari Kettunen, head of the maintenance bureau at the City
of Helsinki Public Works Department.
The weather situation is monitored and, if necessary, the
duty officer gives the alarm for the machinery to make its
move: snow ploughs, road graders and lorries. If necessary,
additional resources can be alerted from outside the city.
During the snow season there is work for more than 300 people
and 200 machines.
Moving and melting the snow
During the winter in Helsinki an average of 100,000 snow
loads are transported off the roads. In an abnormally snowy
winter the figure is as high as 350,000 tonnes.
There are eight snow-dumping sites. One of them is by the
sea, and snow is tipped from it into the sea. At two others
the snow is melted using treated waste water and the rest
are above-ground stockpiling sites.
"Street heating in the main pedestrian areas has become
more widespread in Finnish towns and cities. Because of the
cost, however, the areas are still small," says Kettunen.
Amount of street dust reduced
The Department attends to the winter maintenance of carriageways,
market squares and light-traffic routes. The footpaths on
the City's properties and parks are also its responsibility.
Maintenance includes not only removing snow and ice and preventing
slipperiness but also cleaning up the grit after the winter.
"We're quite advanced in preventing dust on the street
in the spring. We've been actively paying attention to this
for more than ten years. Developing work procedures and materials
has brought the amount of dust down by about a third,"
states Kettunen.
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