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Cleanlink News 6/16/2009

Parking Facilities: How To Control Fugitive Dust


Whether it's an open lot, a multilevel structure or an underground garage, parking facilities require frequent sweeping to keep them safe for users and employees, reduce long-term maintenance costs and make the facilities attractive and convenient to the people who use them. Industry studies have confirmed that parking facilities that are neat and clean attract more customers and elicit fewer complaints than facilities that are dusty, dirty and littered with trash. This is true whether the facility charges for parking or provides it free, as at a shopping center.
 
Some of the most troublesome material to sweep up is fine dust, and many power sweeping machines actually spread dust around so that it ends up on vehicles, other horizontal surfaces or back on the deck or roadway. When poorly designed or poorly maintained sweepers are used they exacerbate this dust problem and the appearance of the parking facility suffers. But it's more than just an appearance issue. Frequent sweeping of a parking facility has a number of other practical and economic benefits:
 
• Parking surfaces and decks will last longer. Sand, gravel and dust act as abrasives under vehicle wheels and can increase wear on driving surfaces. When asphalt surfaces become worn, they become more susceptible to water infiltration and begin to break down. Concrete wears too, and the resultant concrete dust necessitates even more cleaning.
• Debris on parking lots and decks contains traces of gasoline, oil, heavy metals and organic compounds that may contribute to water and air pollution if not regularly collected.
• Clean parking surfaces are safer for patrons. Accumulated sand and debris can increase the risk of slips and falls. By eliminating these materials and maintaining surfaces in good condition, injuries and possibly even legal action can be minimized if not eliminated.

Most parking facilities use power sweepers to collect the sand, gravel, debris, dust and trash that invariably accumulate on the parking surfaces-although the frequency of sweeping and the quality of the job vary considerably. A parking facility may purchase and operate its own sweeping equipment or it may contract with a cleaning service. In either case, the performance of the equipment used varies in terms of productivity, its ability to pick up a high percentage of the debris and the amount of fugitive dust produced during cleaning.

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