snowplow

A snowplow mounted on a dump truck on a main street in Washington, DC

A snowplow (also spelled snow plow, snowplough or snow plough, see miscellaneous spelling differences) is a vehicle, or a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, for removing snow and sometimes ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. In many cases, pickup trucks and tractors are outfitted with plows to fulfill this purpose. In areas that regularly receive large amounts of snow every year, and also in specific environments such as airfield, specifically snowplowing winter service vehicles are used. Some regions that do not frequently see snow may use graders and other equipment to fulfill this task, but graders are nonetheless the best equipment to remove compacted snow and ice off the streets. Snowplows can also be mounted on rail cars to clear railway tracks.

A snowplow works by using a blade to push snow to the side or straight ahead, clearing it from a surface. Modern plows may include a great deal of technology to make the job—and staying on the road—easier, such as Global Positioning System receivers, heads-up displays and infrared cameras.

When snowfalls accumulate above a certain height, snowplow operators may be seen clearing primarily designated "snow routes", often for the exclusive use of emergency vehicles such as fire trucks.

History

Historic wooden wedge-plow drawn by horses

The first snowplows were horsedrawn wedge-plows made of wood. With the advent of the automobile, a number of inventors set about to improve existing snowplows. In the US, patents were issued for snowplow improvements at least as early as 1920.

In 1923, the brothers Hans and Even Øveraasen of Norway constructed an early snowplow for use on cars (David I Munson invented the first snow plow in 1911 and he invented a mechanism to attach it to the front of his truck, original patents are in a library basement in Boston, Mass.). This proved to be the start of a tradition in snow-clearing equipment for roads, railways^[1][2] and airports, as well as the foundation of the company Øveraasen Snow Removal Systems. Carl Frink of Clayton, New York, USA was also an early manufacturer of automobile-mounted snowplows. His company, Frink Snowplows, now Frink-America, was founded by some accounts as early as 1920.^[3]

See also

• Snow blower
• Rotary snowplow
• Winter service vehicle
• "Mr. Plow", an episode of The Simpsons about snow removal.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Snowplow

Gallery

A small sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	Sidewalk snowplow in Hallowell, Maine, USA
A small wedge plow mounted on a passenger train in Lower Austria	A grader plowing snow		Garbage trucks fitted with snowplows
Backhoe fitted with special snowplowing attachment	Snow plough attached to an agricultural tractor	TowPLow truck on rural Interstate	CPR prairie rail snowplow
CNR prairie rail snowplow	LIRR snowplow, made from an old caboose, behind an even older one

References