In a snowy area, there are barriers peculiar to winter; pedestrian space is narrowed by snow cover and there is an increased risk of falls due to freezing of road surfaces, etc. It is a critical issue to clear footways inwinter. At present, most footway snow removal work by the Tohoku RegionalBureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan is performed using a snow remover for footways (small size rotary snowploughs). However, there are some issues to be solved; this snow remover cannot clear sufficient footway space for wheelchairs and the remaining and compacted snow on the footway results in increased surface irregularities by compacted snow cover and slippery icy roads. Thus, the Tohoku Regional Bureaudeveloped a variable ploughing width footway snowplough in order to effectively clear pedestrian space and acquire a width so that a wheelchair canpass on wide sidewalks. For the covering abstract see ITRD E143097.
Abstract