19 April 2012 - Snow Removal

Now that it has been over a week since we have received snow, I fear (yes, fear) that winter may be behind us and spring on the way.  So there’s no time like the present to discuss snow removal in Russia (or at least parts of Moscow) before I forget it entirely.

What should be stated at the outset is that Moscow knows snow and is prepared to address its arrival and removal at a moment’s notice.  I contrast this with Chicago where we had a fair amount of experience with snow, yet there always seems to be a lag between when it starts to snow and when the snowplows are out and when sidewalks are shoveled.  My experience at home and here at the office are that the snow removal crews actually seem to be out before I have even realized it has started to snow.  Quite amazing.  

Let me start first with home.  In the rather ghetto courtyard in the middle of our block that leads to my apartment, there are a variety of haphazardly parked vehicles but a general one-way thoroughfare.  When snowflakes begin to fall, this area seems to be immediately swarmed by a group of people armed in brightly colored vests (like the vests you must wear in Germany when your car is disabled (clearly not an Audi, which would not be so humbled) so you’re visible and not popped by passing motorists) with brooms and, sometimes, shovels.  The snow is removed before it has a chance to be trod upon and become slick.  There also appear to be chemicals or other compounds applied to the ground so that even after a large snow, the sidewalks appear dry.  Given the harsh weather that I have experienced, I don’t think this is simply the application of salt as it would be too cold for that, not to mention that there is no salty white residue left behind.  

These same types of bright vest-wearing crews are also out on the public sidewalks, albeit in slightly less density of numbers as compared to my home ghetto, which I guess means it’s not a ghetto after all (I have been meaning to do a posting on my neighborhood for a while and it will come out soon, promise!).  Generally, the public sidewalks are still in quite good condition.  However, due to the use of snow sweepers (more on that later) on the sidewalks, sometimes there is a thin film of residual snow which at times freezes over night and becomes ridiculously slippery.  The surface ends up having roughly the surface of, say, crepe soles on those hideous shoes from the late 70s/early 80s (yes, dating myself here, and I do realize crepe soles are still used in limited instances, but which also generally involve ugly shoes).  You might think that would then provide some sort of traction, but you’d unfortunately be wrong – it instead creates a type of slick surface that, when one falls, creates the most unusual bruising pattern.  Not that I’m speaking from experience, of course…. 

Snow removal at the office is a bit more complicated and fascinating.  Our offices are part of a complex of four buildings around a courtyard parking area.  The surface is, like much of Europe, covered in small paving stones that are hell on your heels (though if you’re sporting crepe soles, I’m sure it’s fine…).  This could also create some issues when the blade of a snowplow is involved since, of course, the stones aren’t all the same height.  So the plow would either have to be set high enough that it wouldn’t grab all the snow, or low enough that it would pluck up some of the stones.  Hmmm….  The answer (and likely for other reasons as well that are not unknown to a Midwestern girl who’s only used to seeing sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) temperatures a few days a year) is to use snow sweepers.

There is a little CAT type of vehicle that apparently has interchangeable heads, or perhaps there are multiple vehicles, though that wouldn’t seem likely given the cost involved and space available.  But in phase one of the snow removal, the CAT with a snow brush attached goes up and down each aisle in the parking area, creating a little line of snow down the middle of the aisle.  In phase two, the CAT returns with a bucket loader attached and scoops up this line of snow.  (Yes, I understand the potential double meaning of “line of snow,” but that’s the best way I can describe it and I can assure you this is an entirely different type of snow, otherwise Russia would have a quite different basis for its economic growth!)  

The scooped up snow is then loaded into the back of a truck/wagon and carted off.  I understand, but have not seen this for myself, that there are various snow-melting facilities throughout the city.  I wonder if perhaps this is similar to the machine I once saw at O’Hare International Airport during some heavy snows.  In that instance, viewed from the Admiral’s Club above the point where the H and K gates of Terminal 3 converge (Chicagoans know what I’m talking about here), a large vehicle about the length of a tractor and trailer pulled down into the area directly beneath me.  Next to it was a gigantic pile of snow, which I assume had been cleared from the gate areas and couldn’t be pushed out into the runway areas, so it was kind of stuck there, with baggage carts and other ground crew and vehicles cruising around it.  The vehicle was carefully positioned and I could see through the open top of it that there appeared to be some kinds of metal spikes or poles sticking up in the bed of the vehicle.  Odd.  Then a certain CAT type of vehicle approached with bucket loader attached and started transferring the snow from the pile into this open bed.  I assume that the spikes/poles were heating elements of some sort because as soon as the snow was dumped in a huge cloud of steam rose out of it that the entire area in front of me was just whited out.  It cleared a bit after enough snow had been dumped in, and I could see that water was gushing out of the bottom of the truck directly into a drainage grate over which the truck had been positioned.  Fascinating.  So I’m think there’s some industrial version of this type of melting machine located at various points in Moscow to keep all the snow under control.

Anyway, the snow removal efforts here by the office have provided many moments of entertainment during long conference calls and the like.  I will miss it!