Posted 02.02.2011 at 4:14 pm
8 Comments
Snowy Flamethrowers
MIT
Back in January 1948, then-mayor of Boston, James Michael Curley, was frustrated. He worried of "perhaps disastrous flooding" from snowmelt, and endeavored to find some way--any way--of removing the snow in the meantime. So he sent a letter to MIT, hoping that the technological whiz-kids in Cambridge could come up with some way to rid the city (and even the entire state) of snow. He even offered a suggestion of his own: flamethrowers.
Curley (who would later become governor, serve two separate terms in jail, and have a Mighty Mighty Bosstones song written about him) wasn't the only one trying to fight winter's white plague. His idea wasn't really that different from this vintage PopSci concept, which gathered snow, melted it with a hot water spray, and then flushed the now-lukewarm water into the street to further melt surrounding snow. Or, really, that different from our recent roundup of snow-fighting tactics (ranging from geoengineering to snow-pooping robots), though significantly more badass than some.
[MIT]
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That would be awesome to have giant flaming snowplows to clear away snow, even if it is a little illogical.
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Money is the root of all evil, money is also what makes the world go round. Therefore the rotaion of the earth is evil and we should stop it from spinning.
Russia has jet powered snow removers, which are basically jet engines that have been flipped around and placed on the front of a truck.
The blow away the loose snow and melt the icy layers.
Do a Google image search (or Bing, or whatever you prefer) of "Russian jet snowblower"
Cool stuff.
@smile300: that is a misquote. the saying is not "money is the root of all evil" it's "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil."
jet powered snow removers? Cool
KILL IT WITH FIRE!
www.apwa.net/Images/Publications/Reporter/Toronto%20Snowmelter.JPG
Toronto has a pair of snow melters. We don't often need them though and loan them to Buffalo as they get hit so frequently with heavy snows.
dandmb50.tumblr.com/post/305616184/what-the-heck-is-that
How about piping in the salty ocean water to autimatically spray certain areas and melt the excess snow. My first thought was the the excess salt could be damaging, but I have lived in that area and there is already a lot of salt used on those roads. I didnt put a lot of thought into this idea, but that is just what it is. Maybe only piping to select areas where plows push snow build up. Who knows. It seems safer than flamethowers.