Road sweeper (street sweeper truck)

01

Choose sweeping method, width, speed and capacity

Metong describes its regenerative-air sweeper as using cyclonic airflow and multi-stage cleaning, for highway and expressway sweeping at working speeds of 20–60 km/h, with 3.5 m maximum sweeping width, 2.1 m suction width, 10–12 m³ hoppers, 6 m³ clean-water tanks, 169–257 kW engines and a high-pressure water spray for dust control. Its LMZ5180TSL mechanical sweeper truck, on a Dongfeng chassis, uses four hydraulically driven brushes and a main broom of 1.7 m within a 3.5 m sweeping width, a 6 m³ hopper with side-tipping discharge, a 6 m³ stainless water tank, 154 kW and the same 20–60 km/h working speed, with adjustable main-broom speed to compensate for broom wear. [2]

Editorial calculation: a 3.5 m sweeping width at 20 km/h covers 3.5 × 20,000 = 70,000 m² an hour in theory; treat this as an upper figure and plan routes on measured working rates. [2]

Editorial note: ask the supplier which method it recommends for your debris (sand, leaves, gravel, fine dust) and road speeds, and how hopper and water capacity match the length of your routes.

Give the supplier the road types and speeds, debris type and volume, route length and unloading points, sweeping width needed, water availability, dust and noise rules, chassis and emission standard, climate, and any certification required by the local air authority.

02

Meet dust and PM10 certification requirements

South Coast AQMD Rule 1186 (amended 2008) defines a certified street sweeper as one certified by the District as PM10-efficient. The District certifies equipment, based on a single test under its Rule 1186 compliance test protocol, when pick-up efficiency is at least 80% and the normalized mass of entrained PM10 is at most 200 mg/m; renewals of sweeping contracts count as new contracts under the rule. [1]

Editorial note: where a local authority or contract requires a certified sweeper, ask the supplier for the certification for the exact model and configuration, and how dust collection and water suppression parts will be maintained so that performance does not fall.

03

Read a US-specification sweeper sheet in metric

Schwarze Industries, a sweeper maker, lists standard equipment for its "A7 Tornado" regenerative air street sweeper: an 8.4 Cubic Yard Hopper, a 144-Inch Sweeping path, a 32.75-Inch Radial Turbine Blower, 14-Inch Intake Tubes, Dual 44″ Gutter Brooms, a Multi Stage Dust Separation System and a 33,000 GVWR chassis. The page states it is "PM 10 Certified" and "Meets AQMD 1186 requirements to pick up and contain harmful particulates". [4]

South Coast AQMD certifies a sweeper as PM10-efficient when a single test under its Rule 1186 protocol shows pick-up efficiency of at least 80% and entrained PM10 of at most 200 mg/m [1]. Schwarze claims this for the A7 Tornado [4]; ask any supplier quoting a certified sweeper for the District certificate number and the model and configuration it covers, because a certificate applies to the tested machine.

The M6 Avalanche is listed as a heavy duty mechanical broom sweeper with control of the down pressure of all brooms from the cab, variable speed brooms and conveyor, and a squeegee or belt style conveyor [5]. The USGS Madison study compared mechanical broom and regenerative-air sweeping on residential streets [3], and Metong offers both types [2]; ask for the hopper, path width and water figures in one unit system before comparing quotations.

Editorial calculation: 1 cubic yard is 0.7646 m³, so 8.4 and 5.0 cubic yards are about 6.4 and 3.8 m³; 144 and 134 inches are 3.66 and 3.40 m; 350 US gallons is about 1,325 L; 33,000 lb GVWR is about 15.0 t. [4] [5]

Values are from Schwarze model pages; full specification sheets were not reviewed.

04

Sweeper trucks and smaller sweepers from the listed makers

The suppliers reviewed list sweeper trucks and smaller road sweepers; ask each for sweeping method, width, working speed, hopper and water capacity, dust control and any certification, chassis and emission standard.

05

Compare field pickup efficiency by sweeper technology

The U.S. Geological Survey, with the City of Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, compared three street-sweeper technologies in residential basins in Madison, Wisconsin (Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5156). Street-dirt samples were dried and separated into seven particle-size fractions from less than 63 micrometers to greater than 2 millimeters. Street-dirt yield fell by an average of 76, 63 and 20 percent in the regenerative-air, vacuum-assist and high-frequency broom basins, and the low-frequency broom basin showed no significant reduction. Pickup efficiency was 25 percent for the regenerative-air sweeper and 30 percent for the vacuum-assist sweeper, while the mechanical broom sweeper at high frequency removed an average of 5 percent of street-dirt yield. [3]

USGS reports that sand-size particles (greater than 63 micrometers) showed the greatest overall reduction. These field figures are for total street dirt, measured in pounds per curb-mile, whereas South Coast AQMD certification uses the District's test protocol with a PM10 limit, so the two sets of percentages describe different tests. Ask a supplier which test, site and particle size any quoted efficiency refers to. [3] [1]

06

Brooms, suction, hopper and spray on a sweeper truck

Broom and suction widths, hopper volume and water tank are the parts Metong's two sheets put figures on; ask for the same figures on any other sweeper you compare.

07

Route figures that decide a sweeper quote

Keep working speed and driving speed apart: Metong's sheets give 20–60 km/h for sweeping and 89 km/h as the maximum driving speed. Noise, temperature and turning radius depend on your routes and have to come from the supplier.

08

Send the route, debris and certification data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Routes: [road types; speeds; length]
Debris: [type; volume]
Method: [mechanical; vacuum; regenerative air]
Capacity: [hopper; water]
Dust rules: [certification; local authority]
Chassis: [type; emission standard]
Support: [brooms; filters; service]

See manufacturer records Send an enquiry through CNFX