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Shovel or sprinkle and sink
Construction workers unclog the sprinkler heads alongside a road. 99.12.17/ Temperature: 3C/ Weather: Rain/ Wind Direction: W
Start: Yamato Town 37 10 03 N 138 55 25 E
Destination: Yuzawa Town 36 55 57 N 138 48 36 E
Distance Traveled: 32 kmPassing through the snow buried mountainous region of Nigata Prefecture, I have spotted several clever uses of water to ease the demanding winter work of shoveling snow. Ponds are built near houses to melt snow which falls from roofs, drainage channels are used for the same purpose, and water from mountain streams is redirected to help melt driveway snow. I cameacross another use of water to melt snow which carries with it several questions about when to say when.
If you had a choice of weather to shovel your driveway and roof clear of snow or to let water melt it away for you, which would you choose? Many towns I have passed through in central Nigata (also one in Yamagata) utilize well water for this very purpose.
Along much of today's route, water shot up and out in four fountain-like streams from the circular heads which form a line up the middle of the roads. Apparently a snow detector turns the "road sprinklers" on when snow begins to accumulate. As clever as the sprinklers seemed to me at first, this would never work in my hometown of Upstate New; it's too cold.
A gentleman points to the drainage pipe which runs from his roof to the road. Snow on the roof is melted with underground water. "They used to plow here but there is no where to plow the snow to," said one local I questioned on the street. He pointed showing me that there is almost no space from house to house and between houses and the road. "Water is pumped up from ground water. Since it is warm water, it melts the snow better. The only problem is that if too much is pumped out, the ground plate will sink. I think Muikamachi has the worst ground plate sinking problems in all of Japan."
The road sprinklers themselves have only begun to appear over the past 20 or so years. As more people are driving and more roads are being made, road maintenance has become very difficult. Plows have more roads to plow and less place to dump snow. One local I spoke with was very satisfied with the road sprinklers as well as his own roof sprinkler. "Using the well water makes life so much easier. No more climbing onto the roof to shovel off snow. No more shoveling my driveway." he said. "The city takes care of the roads and I use well water to melt the snow on my roof and driveway." He pointed to the long pipe which runs down along the side of his home. His winter load of work is reduced tremendously. My question is, "What might this do to the ground plate?"
When asked whether he is concerned that the ground plate may sink, he responded, "That's only happening in Muikamachi. We'll be okay. The town is being cautious." I hope he is right.
Greg
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