Hamburg is preparing: Winter service ready for snowfall!

Hamburg is preparing: Winter service ready for snowfall!

With the temperatures dropping in the coming nights, the Hamburg city cleaning service is preparing for winter service. A look at the weather forecasts shows that the values ​​will fall below zero degrees. This makes forward planning even more important. The city cleaning center has been staffed since the end of September and has already practiced its processes so that the employees are well prepared for the challenges ahead. The vehicles are also already equipped with the necessary clearing blades.

The Hamburg city cleaning winter service center has everything under control: gravel and salt silos are well filled, and there are tons of gritting material and hundreds of thousands of liters of salt solution available. If necessary, over 7,000 liters of salt solution can be produced per hour. In the event of a possible snowfall, hundreds of emergency services are ready to properly clear and grit streets, cycle paths, bus stops and pedestrian crossings, as [NDR](https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/hamburg-stadtreinigung- preparet-sich-auf-winterdienst-vor,schnee-578.html) reports.

Obligations of residents

While city services are fully prepared, residents must also fulfill their obligations. They are obliged to remove snow and ice from the sidewalks in front of their properties themselves. It is important that no salt is used, only sand or granules. The deadlines for eviction are clearly defined: on working days from 8 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., on Sundays and public holidays until 9:30 a.m. The city has not forgotten the past winter extremes, and GHG has already proven that they can work reliably even under difficult conditions.

The city cleaning winter service operations center is staffed around the clock from mid-October to mid-April. The aim is to ensure smooth processes through close cooperation with the police, the HVV and weather services. Current weather forecasts and on-call times for the city cleaning service can be viewed on the [SRH] website (https://www.stadtreinigung.hamburg/stadtsauberkeit/winterdienst), so that citizens are informed at all times.

Scope of services and emergency driver

In winter, the city cleaning department has a total of 728 employees with over 360 vehicles at its disposal. These ensure a route length of around 4,640 kilometers, including 1,600 bus bays and 8,370 pedestrian crossings. In the event of an emergency, 57 drivers work mechanically and 255 emergency services work manually to clear the paths of snow and ice. It is particularly worth mentioning that around 290 emergency services are specifically responsible for the pedestrian crossings.

The use of fine-grained gravel or wet salt is also planned to ensure the safety of road users. The emergency services are comprehensively informed, and reports of slippery conditions come directly from the police or the HVV. Preventive measures are an important element in ensuring mobility in the city.

Winter service preparations are essential to ensure that citizens can get through safely during the cold season. Anyone who pays attention to the information provided by the city cleaning service and lends a helping hand will help ensure that Hamburg remains free of snow and ice in the cold season.