Analysis of snow removal equipment and measures aimed at improving the winter maintenance of highways

Abstract

The article analyzes the existing snow removal equipment for winter maintenance of highways and city streets. An auger snowplow is proposed to ensure snow removal from the roadway, loading it into car bodies and taking it off the road.

  During operation, highways are subjected to constant loads and exposed to atmospheric influences. Weather conditions and destructive transport actions worsen the operational properties of the road as an engineering structure while reducing the efficiency and safety of road traffic.

The most important factors in the winter period that affect the safety of road traffic and the speed of movement of vehicles are the slipperiness of the surface and snow accumulation (when snow accumulates on the roadway). These factors lead to a decrease in the coefficient of adhesion of car tires to the road surface and an increase in the probability of skidding. As a result, the braking distance increases, traffic becomes more difficult, and the probability of traffic accidents increases.

The winter maintenance of highways includes a set of works performed by road organizations with the aim of ensuring safe and uninterrupted traffic in winter, in particular, snow removal, combating slippery conditions, and clearing roads.

Winter road maintenance is an expensive process, as it is quite often difficult to predict weather conditions.

Road cleaning measures affect their service life and safety. Therefore, the proper execution of works and the use of modern equipment for winter road maintenance is an urgent task today.

For full mechanization during winter road maintenance, we use a wide range of equipment. These are snow plows, snow loaders, ice scrapers, and sand throwers. Snowplows are rarely used on country roads, mainly where the ability of snowplows to throw snow a considerable distance from the roadway is limited or completely excluded. They are also used to clear snow drifts from roadsides. Snow plows are mainly used on road sections in populated areas.

The purpose of this scientific article is the analysis and comparison of existing snow removal equipment for winter maintenance of highways and city streets, and the development of an auger snow plow for maintenance of roads in the winter period, namely, the removal of snow cover from the carriageway.

Today, snow plows are manufactured by many companies around the world and are available for various types of vehicles. They are available with manual, electric, and hydraulic drives. They have different sizes and designs.