The City of Tampere has begun the removal of street sand from the city centre. Tampereen Infra transfers its winter maintenance fleet to sand removal operations in a controlled manner according to weather and conditions. In order to control the amount of street dust, the removal is done as quickly as possible, but a cold snap in spring can slow down the work. Some property companies have also begun to remove sand from the pavements.
Tampereen Infra began removing the sand on Tuesday 27 March 2012 from the main arteries and bus stops of the city centre and near the city offices, Koskipuisto, Hämeenpuisto, the Railway Station, Pyynikintori and Metso as well as around the bus station. If necessary, the sand being swept away is dampened with a calcium chloride solution. According to the ten-day weather forecast, the temperature at night will continue to drop below zero at times. Night time frosts make it more difficult to collect road sand in the morning. The removal of road sand will begin in full force with the whole fleet on 10 April. At this time, the sand will be removed in two shifts. The goal is to have all of the sand removed by Mayday, weather permitting.
The responsibility for removing road sand corresponds to winter maintenance duties: The remaining sand is removed by the party that carried out the sanding. The city removes the sand from roadways, city squares and light transport routes. Property owners, or in practice maintenance companies, landlords or building owners remove the sand from the pavements adjacent to their properties. If the property is owned by the city, the city cleans the adjacent pavements.
The sand must be removed while damp. Using a leaf-blower is prohibited.
The sand must be removed while wet in order to prevent it from becoming dusty. Therefore, rainy weather is a favourable time for cleaning. In order to control the road dust problem, the sand must be removed quickly, provided the conditions permit it. The environmental protection instructions of the City of Tampere has expressly prohibited the use of leaf-blowers for cleaning sand. The sand may not be swept into storm drains as this clogs up the drainage system. Instead it must be brought to a soil reception station.
Street dust season ahead?
On Tuesday 27 March and Wednesday 28 March, the air quality in Tampere was at times passable or poor, but so far the amount of respirable (PM10) particles has exceeded the daily limit only once, on 6 March 2012, at the Pirkankatu and Epilä measurement stations. Rains which may occur help to ease the dust problem.
You can monitor the air quality in the City of Tampere in real-time using the national air quality portal at www.ilmanlaatu.fi. When the limit values for dust content or nitrogen dioxide have been exceeded, separate notifications are provided at www.tampere.fi/ymparistojaluonto/ilmanlaatutiedotus. Dust content limits are exceeded most easily in dry weather.
Hourly and daily limit values have been determined for air pollutants, and when these are exceeded the population must be notified. The limit value level for respirable (PM10) particles is exceeded if there is an average of over 50 micrograms of particles in one cubic metre of air throughout the day. The values can be exceeded 35 times at each measurement station over the course of a calendar year before the limit is considered to be exceeded. Children, elderly people and people suffering from respiratory and heart diseases are sensitive to the health issues caused by the particles. A high concentration of particles can lead to such problems as a stuffy nose, coughing and irritated eyes, an increase in asthma attacks, weakened lung function and an increase in respiratory infections.
Air quality is measured in Tampere at two fixed and two mobile air quality measurement stations. The fixed stations are located on the side of Pirkankatu and at the bus stop, and the mobile stations are currently located in Epilä and Kaleva.
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