Dongdaemun-gu, Patent for Snow Removal Agent Spraying Device with Adjustable Dispensing Amount

[Seoul District News] Dongdaemun-gu Deploys 3kg Small Deicing Agents with Adjustable Spread on 15 Main Road Sections... Mapo-gu Establishes Smart Deicing System in Slippery Areas like Steep Slopes... Guro-gu Implements 'Winter Cleaning Measures' for 4 Months Until March 15 Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) has invented a spreading device capable of adjusting the amount of deicing agent applied for winter sidewalk snow removal and has completed patent registration (patent application registration number 10-2022-0106606).

Until now, when heavy snow fell, main roads and lanes could be quickly cleared using large-scale snow removal equipment, but sidewalks and pedestrian paths required manual labor using brooms and shovels to sweep snow and manually spread deicing agents, resulting in significant time and labor consumption.

The district judged that there were limits to the time and manpower mobilization for removing snow on pedestrian paths and invented a snow removal device capable of adjusting the amount of deicing agent applied.

The patented snow removal device has been immediately deployed to 15 major main road sections for rapid snow removal. The district explained that using the sidewalk deicing agent spreading device improves the speed and efficiency of snow removal work and can prevent slip-and-fall accidents on pedestrian paths during snowy days.

Additionally, as a follow-up product, a 3kg small deicing agent device with adjustable spreading amount was produced and placed on roads so that anyone can easily spread deicing agents on the road in front of their house.

Jung Sung-soo, Director of the Road Division, said, “We have invented and patented a snow removal device capable of adjusting the amount of deicing agent applied to improve the efficiency of snow removal work and quickly remove snow on pedestrian paths. We will do our best this year to create a Dongdaemun-gu free from slip-and-fall accidents caused by snowy roads in winter.”

Dongdaemun-gu has been recognized as an excellent district in the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s autonomous district snow removal evaluation for five consecutive years and was selected as the best district last year.

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Kang-soo) has prepared improvement measures for snow removal to ensure a “safe winter from snow” and has begun full-scale snow removal preparations.

The district will operate the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters 24 hours a day for four months from November 15 to March 15 of the following year in preparation for heavy snow. In particular, it focused on preparing measures for steep slopes where safety accidents are highly likely due to sudden heavy snowfall caused by recent abnormal weather.

Since slippery ice accidents frequently occur on steep slopes during snowfall, the district plans to establish a smart snow removal system such as unmanned automatic snow removal equipment for management. Through a system equipped with sensors that detect temperature and snowfall and automatic control, they plan to respond quickly and efficiently with minimal manpower.

To this end, ‘road heating cables’ that effectively melt snow accumulated on side roads are being newly installed in five locations covering a total of 680 meters. Road heating cables are snow removal equipment that melts snow by generating heat through electric cables embedded in the road, automatically detecting temperature and humidity to melt snow on the road surface when snow falls or road icing occurs.

Additionally, an ‘automatic brine spraying device’ has been installed for rapid initial response during snowfall. The automatic brine spraying device sprays brine on roads during snowfall through a CCTV monitoring remote control system installed on-site to suppress icing. The equipment has been significantly expanded from 23 units at 5 locations to 53 units at 8 locations.

Furthermore, the mobile forward base for snow removal has been relocated to more accessible areas, and a snow removal responsibility zone system for public officials will be implemented to start systematic and rapid snow removal work during heavy snow. A cooperative snow removal system involving the Seoul Metropolitan Government, military units, police stations, schools, and private organizations will also be established. In particular, to intensively manage 74 vulnerable snow removal points such as mountain passes and areas prone to traffic accidents, additional private snow removal task forces have been recruited. Real-time CCTV monitoring, additional placement of snow removal boxes, and deployment of civil defense personnel will be used to eliminate snow removal blind spots.

Park Kang-soo, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “We will complete a smart snow removal system focusing on vulnerable areas such as steep slopes to ensure residents’ safe walking during heavy snow. We will continuously establish double and triple safety nets to make Mapo safe from winter snow.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) will deploy a total of about 3,260 people, including the Clean-up Volunteer Corps and sanitation workers, to implement a ‘winter cleaning plan’ for four months from the 15th of this month to March 15 of next year.

The district will operate cleaning task forces and cleaning mobile teams during this period. It will run a cleaning situation room on weekends and holidays to respond to various cleaning complaints, while simultaneously inspecting vulnerable cleaning areas, cracking down on illegal dumping, and promoting compliance with garbage disposal regulations.

In addition, with the full-scale kimchi-making season approaching, the period until December 31 has been designated as the focused collection period for kimchi waste, and the district will promptly collect and process the temporarily increased kimchi waste.

Small amounts of kimchi waste under 20 liters from each household should be disposed of in food waste-specific volume-based bags. For large amounts over 20 liters, disposal should be in general waste volume-based bags, but only kimchi waste can be placed inside.

For briquette ash, households should dispose of it in transparent bags, and commercial establishments should use volume-based bags, disposing of it in its original form.

The district will also focus on handling fallen leaves from street trees and street environment maintenance, which cause road flooding and slip accidents threatening residents’ safety.

The district will assign 88 street cleaning sanitation workers along approximately 149.6 km of main roads, working three times a day. Six street cleaning vehicles and six vacuum suction vehicles will operate at least once daily to remove sand, calcium chloride, and other materials spread during snow removal operations.

In case of heavy snow, an emergency garbage collection transport system will be activated. A total of 108 street cleaning sanitation workers will be deployed to snow removal work to allow concurrent snow removal operations.

Additionally, the district will implement various winter cleaning measures, including pre-inspection of cleaning vehicles, strengthening safety accident prevention and rest area management for sanitation workers, and thorough winter facility management at the Guro Resource Circulation Center.

A Guro-gu official said, “We ask for the active cooperation of residents regarding the winter cleaning plan.”