SNOWSWEEPERS | FEATURE The Jet Sweeper TJS-560C has been an essential piece of equipment at Stockholm Arlanda. Photo- Aebi Schmidt
he start of 2012 was met with an especially frosty reception in some regions of the world, particularly Central and Eastern Eu- rope, where temperatures dipped to minus double digit figures. Rough winters such as these have proved lucrative for some manufacturers of snow removal equipment such as Øveraasen. The Norwegian company reports that the last couple of winters cre- ated a big interest in powerful and reliable snow removal equipment and this translated into a large increase in sales during 2011. Recent trends show that airport operators are increasingly looking at snow removal equipment that is multifunctional or multi-seasonal by nature. This supposedly allows airports to utilise them more efficiently. The technical team at Øveraasen were challenged to incorporate such flexibility into their recently unveiled piece of snow blowing equipment. “Our TV 360H Multi is basically a mono-block attachment snow blow- er for wheel loaders,” says Jan Ivar Thorsrud, research and development manager at Øveraasen. “The blower has a hydrostatic transmission be- tween the diesel engine and the blower head and with only a few nuts and bolts, you can split the power pack from the blower head.” “This opens the possibility to mount the power pack in the rear end of the vehicle for better weight balance. Independent of which vehicle you use, you can also utilise the TV 360H Multi during summer and use the vehicle for other tasks,” says Thorsrud.
A closer look at the technology shows that the design consists of two main modules; the dual-stage blower head and the power pack which can be combined in accordance to the operator’s requirements. Thorsrud explained that the blower head’s design is based on years of experience with dual-stage snow blowers.
“The power pack is very compact, but at the same time it is simple to maintain because there is easy access to all necessary maintenance points. The TV 360H Multi is designed with few and robust components and it’s actually a very reliable machine,” he said. Denver International Airport (DIA) began looking at multifunctional equipment back in 2003 says Ron Morin, director of field maintenance. “Over the years we continued to bring the equipment on site, evaluate, test, run, and get operator and mechanic feedback so we could better understand the pros and cons of having multifunctional equipment in our system.”
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A clean sweep T
As winter thaws out, airport operators are already looking at available solutions to enhance snow removal capabilities in readiness for the next big freeze, as Keith Mwanalushi reports.
Ron Morin, Director of Field Maintenance at Denver Airport says any good snow removal operation should allow contingencies for failed equipment.
After the infamous December 2006 snow blizzard that closed DIA for
two days, Morin says that experience brought about the opportunity to revamp snow removal procedures. “DIA now has 16 Boschungs vehicles and 25 tow-behind brooms and we have experienced great results. We took our single-function snow teams and transformed them into multi- functional snow teams to reduce runway occupancy times from 30 to 45 minutes to 13 to 15 minutes.”
Halifax Stanfield International Airport (HSIA) has taken a similar ap- proach. The winter at HSIA can change in a matter of mere hours and even minutes. The airport’s field maintenance team is continuously chal- lenged to handle weather related problems. Clayton Maynard, manager for airside services at the Halifax Interna- tional Airport Authority says that HIAA opted for equipment expressly designed for winter use, but there is room for some flexibility. “Our new sweepers are considered multifunctional as each unit has a large wide plough out front, a large wire bristle broom to brush off the snow left by the plough and a high capacity air blower at the rear to take care of anything the broom stirs up.” Maynard says it’s all done with one piece of equipment with fewer wheels on the ground as compared to separate plough trucks and sweep- er blower trucks. “Every wheel on the ground compacts snow onto the runway surface and the fewer wheels on the ground the better,” he adds. HIAA undertook an extensive research programme to investigate and procure snow removal equipment that would increase the service levels provided to its clients during any type of winter event. Aebi Schmidt, the German-based manufacturer of specialist vehicles is behind the successful winter operations at Stockholm Arlanda Inter- national Airport, contributing both equipment and know-how. Arlanda has a relatively good record for keeping runways open during the winter. René Wender, product manager de-icing at Aebi Schmidt explains that as airports begin the process of planning for the 2012/2013 winter season, snow removal technology solutions are already available. “All our equipment is designed in such a way that it can be used for high-speed snow removal and de-icing, without compromising safety, efficiency and accuracy aspects. All our equipment can be delivered as a multipurpose or demountable system. That means that trucks for spreaders/liquid de- ices can be used for summer maintenance.” Wender explains that the Jet Sweeper TJS-560C is a popular piece of equipment that clears the airport service areas in three steps. “Firstly, the multi-blade snow plough pushes the snow, then the rotary brush sweeps the remaining snow aside. Finally, the hydraulically operated blower unit generates an intensive air flow, which blows the remaining
“DIA now has 16 Boschungs vehicles and 25 tow-behind brooms and we have experienced great results”
MARCH 2012 | AIRSIDE INTERNATIONAL 3
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