More than 100 vehicles of Irkutskavtodor went out onto the streets of Irkutsk, and about 300 people are involved in city cleanup per day. The article explains how utility workers operate on the right and left banks, why the main efforts are shifted to night, and how during snowfall roads are first treated with anti icing materials and only then cleared mechanically. It also explains why main roads are cleared first and how work is organized during heavy snowfall.

More than 100 units of equipment from the municipal enterprise “Irkutskavtodor” went out onto the roads and streets of the city of Irkutsk.
Of these, 11 KAMAZ trucks were deployed on the right bank, 5 tractor sweepers were used for sweeping, 3 universal cleaning machines of the “Wille” and “Hakko” brands, 16 combined road maintenance vehicles and dump trucks were engaged in spreading, salting with brine, and sweeping roads, as well as 4 front-end loaders and a grader. On the left bank, 7 KAMAZ trucks were deployed, 5 tractor sweepers were used for sweeping, 3 universal cleaning machines “Wille” and “Hakko”, 17 combined road maintenance vehicles and dump trucks, and 4 front-end loaders. The remaining equipment serves as standby vehicles, transporting inert materials to replenish warehouse stocks. In total, about 300 people were involved during the day.
“Our main task is to ensure road safety. Sweeping equipment worked at night, as it is difficult to do this during the day. Today we are working on the wide main thoroughfares with traffic police escort; we also approach drivers ourselves and ask them to move parked cars. Due to the large number of vehicles, the effect of street cleaning during the day is low, so we carry out the main work at night — this does not disturb residents, and the effect is greater,” explains the director of MUP “Irkutskavtodor” Maksim Karaulov. “People sometimes get the impression that when it snows, no one does anything and nothing is cleared away. There is a street-cleaning technology: when there is heavy snowfall, removing it mechanically is simply dangerous. A machine scraping snow from the road will leave bare ice behind. Therefore, during snowfall, the road service’s main task is to treat the roads with anti-icing material. And only after the snowfall ends are the roads cleared and swept. There are technologies and GOST standards in accordance with which we work.”
First of all, cleaning is carried out on the main roads so that public transport can move without hindrance. The second category of streets consists of those adjoining the main roads; they are cleared next. During heavy snowfall, cleaning equipment has to make several passes along the main roads; at night, according to regulations, all other streets are cleared.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk city administration.