RAPID CITY, SD—Sweeps Month has concluded and by all accounts, tons of material were collected off of City streets in May. More than 385 tons to be exact.
Yes, TONS!
City Streets Division crews and their sweepers – mechanical brooms on wheels – were put to the test in late April by Streets Superintendent Jesse Rieb. The challenge was to sweep every street in the City during the month of May.
Sweeper crews responded in a big way, traveling a total of 4,122 miles, logging in just shy of 265 hours of driving time, and collecting 385.5 tons of material.
“The crews did a phenomenal job this past month, and were able to collect material off every street in the city limits,” said Rieb. “We hauled in a lot of material and debris.
“They were definitely up for the challenge.”
On a yearly basis, the crews and sweepers can collect more than 2,000 tons of material off City streets. The sweeper crews work to collect tons of material left behind from the thousands of cars traveling city streets, as well as debris residing on streets and in gutters produced from various weather conditions. They collect not only dirt and gravel, but cups, bottles, cigarette butts, paper items and other debris.
The collected material is dropped off at the Street Shop detention area on Steele Avenue, dried and then taken to the Rapid City Landfill, which uses the material for cover.
As part of ‘Sweeps Month’, the public could monitor the progress and work of the sweeper crews online as they collected material along the City’s 21 routes.
Although ‘Sweeps Month’ is over, Rieb says the public will continue to see sweeper crews working in various residential areas during the day and main line areas at night.
