Well, its been a while since I last posted on here, so to everyone, I say "Happy New Year!" I hope all is well in your world. Also, been very busy over the Christmas break relaxing and sleeping, then straight back into work. Also, through January, there was not a lot to get me really excited, until last night.
Europe, Asia, and North America has all been hit by a very bitter, cold winter. snow has been dumped all over the place in vast quantities. Dallas has been hit hard. A city that gets snow once a blue moon. Usually, England will get a little bit of snow. A light dusting. However, this year has seen feet of snow drop, causing utter havoc. Shutting roads, and causing chaos on the roads where cars have no snow tyres or trains.
Germany has been hit, and is still suffering today.
Here in the west of Japan I have finally seen snow! And in vast quantities. Snow up to my elbow! It started out steadily a few weeks ago on a Tuesday, then by Thursday night it was ankle deep. Then the taps opened.
Huge snowflakes.
And LOTS of them!
We went from ankle deep to just over waist high in under 24 hours! It was a blizzard of huge fluffy flakes! Wonderfully beautiful! Annoying as all hell! Had to walk everywhere. Could not use my bike at all!
Though, the snow did give everything a wonderful cotton candy effect!
Now. This all sounds fun. But how do the Japanese keep going in all this?
Simple. Diggers. Lots and lots of diggers. The city government has a number of small and very large machines which you can see trawling around as soon as the snow hits pushing snow to the side of the road, or at least, flattening it down. The heavy treads on the diggers also help break up the surface of the snow to give cars grip.
Many of the main roads have a strip down the middle which consists of many small sprinklers. As soon as the snow comes, the city starts pumping water through. The run-off then keeps the snow from sticking, and washes a lot of it into the large gutters. If the snow keeps coming, then the slush will build up at the sides, to be kept in check with a digger passing by. Otherwise these roads stay quite clear. Despite pedestrians getting soaked!
For the rest of the main roads, if the diggers cant get round often enough, the snow builds up, and with all the cars, it gets packed down over a few days. As you can see in the picture above. It gets to an inch or 2 deep. Because it is packed down and near ice, diggers dont dig down to scrape it up, it would take too long. That comes in the dead of night when there is less traffic, and the digger can take its time.
Usually they will scrape this snow-ice flat. Their wheels will dig in and break it up, and the snow tyres on the car will do the rest. The result? Well, just be a little careful, but its just like normal. A little slower, and more bumpy, but no problem!
What about pedestrians? Well, you could get the shovel out, and many do. This will help clear your car park or specific area, however, the city council will clear the main sidewalks. With a very nifty bit of kit!
The city government will send out these small jointed vehicles which has a snow blade on the front. It is jointed to get round the pavements sharp corners, and just wide enough for a person to follow with a couple of shopping bags. This vehicle will simply plough through the snow and dig a path in the snow. Or should we say channel?
So, in the end, you end up with snow piled up in corners, washed away, and channels dug out. The Japanese try to shift just enough to allow things to keep moving. It is quite a common sight for cars to disappear as people will only dig when they need to. Which is fine. And lets me take pics of cars that have nearly vanished under the snow!
As everyone knows, Japanese car companies are famous for turning out little K cars, or box cars. Tiny things which can seat a full 4 person family!
In Kashiwazaki, a lot of these little box cars have little, but thrashy engines and do shift. And best of all, many people opt for 4WD! OK, the environmentally concious of you will be up in arms over that, but YOU try living here and doing everything a Japanese housewife does with a 2WD box car! In the snow! It would be impossible!
I just drive my girlfriends car. A Nissan X Trail. I like 4WD! My hat is off to the guy who came up with that. I have decided if I win the lottery, my car will be a Range Rover.
An extra trick to keep traffic moving is to buy a second set of wheels for your car. Namely snow tyres, which feature a deeper, wider tread than usual wheels. Very good. Trucks and buses dont have snow tyres. Because a set will be very, very expensive! So, they all strap chains on! This has an extra benefit as these chains help to keep the snow from packing smooth by breaking the surface up.
The Japanese do use salt, but its use tends to be limited to trunk roads. Cant really pipe water round, and whilst heavy traffic will keep it mostly clear, night time will see the snow build up. If it builds up during the day, they will send diggers on the highway to keep it clear. And because the diggers work in tandem over all the lanes, they operate as a rolling road block. In order to keep traffic down, the highway will shut down alternate junctions. Because all highways are toll roads, it is easy to lock the barriers to stop traffic.
The only problem is local railways. These are narrow gauge, and can get shut if the snow builds up. However, the Shinkansen network is not allowed to stop. Ever. And the Japanese try to think of everything. And another reason why the system is so good, is that they lay pipe all along the rout, fitted with sprinklers. The tracks are lifted off the ground and set on rubber pads to help with vibration, and the sprinklers help to clear the snow before it gets up to the rails.
So, there is plenty to keep Japan moving, both on the roads and off them. That only leaves me with one last job.
Get myself down to the ice rink! Once I have fought my way through the snow...
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