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Scrubbing Bus

...Equals cleaner, safer roads.
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Here in Brisbane, buses are ubiquitous. This is not the case for those gutter-cleaning vacuum-trucks (a worldwide phenomenon, or merely an Australian thing?), which don't seem to be very good at what they do anyway.

We have a problem with our streets here in the less-southern parts of Oz. Because the weather is generally dry, oil accumulates on road surfaces. When it does rain, the water mixes this oil with dust and dirt to form a very slippery coating on the roadway. This occasionally leads to an unfortunate spate of accidents.

Were it possible to dislodge the oil, dirt and dust on a frequent basis, the formation of the slippery layer may be prevented. Therefore, commission the fleet of buses to be fitted with wire bristles beneath them. These would extend from the vehicles' undercarriage to the road surface, and drag along the road as the bus goes. As the vehicles drive around, the brushing action would dislodge grime from the road surface and allow the passage of cars to blow it towards the gutters. Once there, the mythical gutter-cleaning vacuum-trucks can do their thing and remove it.

vigilante, Oct 13 2004

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       I wonder how much extra energy would be required.
bristolz, Oct 13 2004
  

       I guess that would depend on how stiff the bristles were, and to a degree, how rough the road surface was. Perhaps they could be retractable, allowing the driver to pull them up when on particularly rough surfaces.
vigilante, Oct 14 2004
  

       I don't think the brushes would do much to remove the layer of oil. They are very stiff. We have that exact same issue where I live. Even as dusty as it gets around here, I don't think there's enough to absorb a significant portion of the oil from the roadway and carry it away. Maybe have one set of buses dropping an absorbent material and one set sweeping it away?
half, Oct 14 2004
  

       I'd have suggested spraying a surfactant on the road before the brushes get to the oil, but I figure detergent + roads don't mix.
vigilante, Oct 14 2004
  

       Yah get yourself a high occupancy lane painting vehicle too.
LoriZ, Oct 15 2004
  

       "Dang, why does my hair always friz out every morning on the way to work?"
RayfordSteele, Oct 16 2004
  

       Hehe, nice point [RS]. Wouldn't the wire bristles immediately discharge any static electricity that was generated?
vigilante, Oct 17 2004
  
      
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