Some basics of Living With Snow culture

Tabnabs

-Chris- wrote: »

@Diflyn - Any chance you could shrink those photos?

Not me, as they are linked direct from source, so will change format.

clear_sky

Welcome back!

I work in a restaurant. Today I got to the job for training, realized there that it is canceled(because of snow). Every time my colleges looked in the window seeing snow they said "Again!". Sure again! Sure weather does, what it wants, and it will be so for ages! Interesting, is there any country in the world where people seeing rain or sun shining disappointingly exclaim "Again!"
Every snowfall from start till the last ice from pavements gone we have much less customers. Lots of bookings canceled. So we have loss in money. Not so funny!
Sure I enjoy having some extra days off but not every third week.

spoonface

ClovenHoof wrote: »

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Show me one book on climate change in Ireland which shows snow and ice on the cover? One DVD or even one single media programme with this as the main, or even balanced thrust of the content.

Why would you judge a book by its cover? Have a read of this one, which gives a decent analysis.

http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Face-Gaia-Final-Warning/dp/0465019072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292878957&sr=8-1

-Chris-

-Chris- wrote: »

Wow, that's a mouthful, but can I remind you and everyone else that this is a forum for Commuting & Transport and related issues. This discussion is probably better suited to another forum.

spoonface wrote: »

Why would you judge a book by its cover? Have a read of this one, which gives a decent analysis.

http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Face-Gaia-Final-Warning/dp/0465019072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292878957&sr=8-1

Could I have made my post any clearer? This book isn't about Commuting & Transport, therefore please drop the conversation.

Rock of Gibraltar

Does anyone have any idea what the snow and ice infrastructure is like at our airports?
Channel 4 news were reporting that Heathrow has 69 snow clearing machines including plows, de-icers and sweepers.
Gatwick has 47 (expanding to 95)
Charles deGaulle has 74
Frankfurt has 60

The suggestion was that Heathrow has less machines per passenger than any of the other airports, hence it is experiencing the worst disruption.

dowlingm

I think the major issue is that LHR doesn't have good ones and they are being poorly deployed, particularly on the stands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK8VZ6ugkeM

AlekSmart

Just to give Heathrow back to the British for a moment and to return the focus to our domestic situation.

We are now in the third seperate "Weather Event" to effectively halt the Capital City and environs.(I`m sticking with Dublin cos that`s where I am)

By far and away the single greatest lesson to be learned from Winter 2010 is the absloute duplicity and incompetence of our Political Leaders and a great swathe of Senior Administrative figures.

I get nauseous when I replay the RTE News footage of Noel Dempsey and the gathered Met Eireann glitterati sitting around a table and advising us all of the 55,000 tonnes of grit "stockpiled" around the country.

This creepy individual went on to remind us all,as if anybody had asked,that not all of the country`s roads could be treated....Nobody was ever suggesting that !

What any resasonable citizen might have expected was a centralized,effective and operable PLAN which (In an urban context) would have attempted to keep major junctions,centres of importance,bends,or strategic locations treated on a constant basis during the bad weather.

Instead the "Ordinary" public,especially those still willing and able to work,have been thrown aside whilst effectively incompetent and argueably dishonest senior political figures simply walk away to draw down a totally inappropriate Pension and Severance package :mad: :mad:

Both Noel Dempsey and John Gormley are Ministers who swore and oath of Office which imposed upon them duties of RESPONSIBILITY which in both cases they have markedly failed to carry out.

I would suggest that the Irish People need remind themselves that their Ministers of the Oireachtas do take such an Oath and it`s not something to be taken lightly.

There are avenues which I feel should now be explored to impeach if necessary the likes of this pair so that they at least be called to public account for what amounts to derliction of public duty.

It cannot be an option for people to simply shrug their shoulders and leave the public stage trousering a €120,000 per anum pension whilst leaving their area of responsibility in tatters.

I and many of my colleagues spent betweeen 4 and 8 hours attempting to operate a Bus Service last evening with absolutely NO support from any of the Civic or State agencies who are so quick to remind us of our need to comply with their many and varied "directives and instructions"

Nobody could be found from any of these agencies to take decisions,issue instructions or ACT !

With several thousand Soldiers and their equipment available within the Eastern Command (?) surely somebody might have realized their presence and assistance on the streets might have gone some way to allievate the very real distress.

Is it not a Constitutional Imperative of the Defence Forces to Act in Support of the Civil Power or is that only to protect the assets of the Banking System ?

It is an absolute insult to the concept of fair-play,decency and standards in public office,that Ministers with responsibility in this area are effectively immune from any repercussions.

I`ve said it before and I`ve seen nothing to alter my view....Members of This Government need to view and keep viewing the video of Nicolae Ceaucescu`s final speech from the Romanian Parliament Buliding !!!

Capt'n Midnight

AlekSmart wrote: »

Both Noel Dempsey and John Gormley are Ministers who swore and oath of Office which imposed upon them duties of RESPONSIBILITY which in both cases they have markedly failed to carry out.

I would suggest that the Irish People need remind themselves that their Ministers of the Oireachtas do take such an Oath and it`s not something to be taken lightly.

If that oath had any meaning then there would be a lot of TD's in prison or at least stripped of their pensions IMHO

Aidan1

We are now in the third seperate "Weather Event" to effectively halt the Capital City and environs

Define 'halt'? It's been snowing heavily in the city centre, on and off, all day, and pedestrian and motoristed traffic is still moving freely, buses are still running, and roads (and some footpaths) have and are being treated.

Over react much?

Polar101

Rock of Gibraltar wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea what the snow and ice infrastructure is like at our airports?
Channel 4 news were reporting that Heathrow has 69 snow clearing machines including plows, de-icers and sweepers.
Gatwick has 47 (expanding to 95)
Charles deGaulle has 74
Frankfurt has 60

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042213

Apparently Helsinki airport has 250.

I'd say it'll soon be worthwhile to invest a little more at the airports that can't handle winter very well with their current equipment.

Chris_5339762

Footpaths generally havent been touched, thats one of the biggest failings.

markpb

Aidan1 wrote: »

Define 'halt'? It's been snowing heavily in the city centre, on and off, all day, and pedestrian and motoristed traffic is still moving freely, buses are still running, and roads (and some footpaths) have and are being treated.

Over react much?

Maybe in the city centre but the suburbs are another story entirely. People trying to leave Sandyford industrial estate spent between 2 and 7 hours getting home on Tuesday for trips that normally take a few minutes. Buses to large parts of the suburbs have been cancelled or curtailed for several days and there was no bus service after 10pm.

Apathy much?

AlekSmart

Aidan 1.....It's been snowing heavily in the city centre, on and off, all day, and pedestrian and motoristed traffic is still moving freely,

Obviously you were`nt around the same area on Monday evenin...:) or the Tallaght Area all-day yesterday or then again,maybe just maybe,you`re correct and everything is actually ok and all of the cohesive emergency response plans have been fully engaged and are working to spec.....Jobs OxO so....my apologies for the overreaction...much !! :rolleyes:

itarumaa

What I do not understand at all is that nothing has been done.

I live in Maynooth, take a one council worker, one 4x4 pick up truck with chains in the wheels, put a plough in front of it and that one person could clean the whole town in one day. But no, why bother. Instead Kildare council have just given up and I think it is waiting for summer.

I drive 50km every day and I have not seen one snow plough yet.

This is the main thing that annoys me, nothing have been learned from last year and nothing will be learned to next year either. I am from Finland and I think you can understand me if I say this is a bit joke.

DAA lady saying in tv that they had to cancel the flights because it is too dangerous to fly when it is snowing and no-one wants to do that. How the planes can fly in Finland then, in the north it can be -40 and planes still fly.

I think Ireland have just given up with the weather, there is no planning, no creativity, nothing.

steamengine

Heard something about the use of cable ties fastened around shoes as being useful in providing grip on slippy footpaths. The idea apparently is that the 'tie part' or buckle is left facing outwards on the sole of the shoe !!! Has anybody tried it, it sounds like an excellent idea and cable ties are readily available in hardware and diy shops ???

salonfire

itarumaa wrote: »

What I do not understand at all is that nothing has been done.

I live in Maynooth, take a one council worker, one 4x4 pick up truck with chains in the wheels, put a plough in front of it and that one person could clean the whole town in one day. But no, why bother. Instead Kildare council have just given up and I think it is waiting for summer.

I drive 50km every day and I have not seen one snow plough yet.

This is the main thing that annoys me, nothing have been learned from last year and nothing will be learned to next year either. I am from Finland and I think you can understand me if I say this is a bit joke.

DAA lady saying in tv that they had to cancel the flights because it is too dangerous to fly when it is snowing and no-one wants to do that. How the planes can fly in Finland then, in the north it can be -40 and planes still fly.

I think Ireland have just given up with the weather, there is no planning, no creativity, nothing.

How do they keep going up there? I have no idea how these countries keep going and would love to find out more.

Is there such thing as heated runways anywhere in the world?
Is it possible to have your car plugged into an electrical output overnight to keep the engine block warm? I heard that before but not sure if its true.
I know remote start of a car is possible. That would be cool.

Anyone else have any snippets of info of how others live with extreme cold?

k3y

salonfire wrote: »

Is it possible to have your car plugged into an electrical output overnight to keep the engine block warm? I heard that before but not sure if its true.

see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_heater

Victor

Polar101 wrote: »

Rock of Gibraltar wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea what the snow and ice infrastructure is like at our airports?
Channel 4 news were reporting that Heathrow has 69 snow clearing machines including plows, de-icers and sweepers.
Gatwick has 47 (expanding to 95)
Charles deGaulle has 74
Frankfurt has 60

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042213

Apparently Helsinki airport has 250.

I'd say it'll soon be worthwhile to invest a little more at the airports that can't handle winter very well with their current equipment.

Apparently Helsinki airport has 250.

I'd say it'll soon be worthwhile to invest a little more at the airports that can't handle winter very well with their current equipment.

But how much can each vehicle do and how much runway / taxiway / ramp do they need to cover and how many runways are there?

Main Runways
Heathrow 2 (other 4 permanently closed)
Gatwick has 1
Charles deGaulle 4
Frankfurt 2 + 1 cross runway
Helsinki 2 + 1 cross runway

salonfire wrote: »

Is there such thing as heated runways anywhere in the world?

There are heated roads, however, I get the impression it only really works with fog, not snow.

Capt'n Midnight

Russian snowblowers
[IMG]http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2009/08/08/jet-engines-as-snow-blow http://topentertainmentblog.com/jet-powered-and-futuristic-trains/ers_T3TjF_5965.jpg[/IMG]





Not so good for trains though http://topentertainmentblog.com/jet-powered-and-futuristic-trains/

Wetzel and his team reused the jet engines for another research project, a high-powered snow blower for opening winter track. In tests at the Central’s Buffalo yards, the jet blower efficiently cleared the rails; it also blasted most of the ties and ballast from under them.”