Street sweeping and weed control
In Nuenen we keep the outdoor space tidy by sweeping the streets and controlling weed growth. The municipality cooperates with the company Blink and the social work company WSD for this purpose.
We sweep the streets on frequency. That means each neighborhood is swept ten times a year. This way we keep the breeding ground for weeds well away and the weeds don't get a chance to grow. Moreover, by sweeping by frequency, we can clearly indicate when we are in which neighborhood.
Together with Blink, we assess image quality once every three weeks. We then check at about 20 different locations whether the work has been carried out correctly and whether the locations meet the image quality we have established. If we come across a location that does not comply, Blink takes this up immediately. The inspection is of course a snapshot and a deviation from the image quality is not always culpable.
In this video, we show how we sweep the streets:
Planning and routes
Because we sweep by frequency, we can specify which route we drive each week. It is not possible to indicate exactly which day we will be on a particular street. The map below shows all routes. The sweeper always includes the bike paths in the route.
Sweeping schedule 2024
| Route | Week number |
|---|---|
| Southwest/Gerwen/Nederwetten | 3, 8, 13, 18/19, 26/27, 35/36, 40, 45, 50 |
| South | 4, 9, 14, 20/21, 28/29, 37,41,46,51 |
| North | 6, 11, 16, 23/24, 31/32, 38, 43, 48 |
| Center | Every Tuesday |
| East | 2, 7, 12, 17, 25/26, 33/34, 39, 44 ,49 |
| Through roads | 5, 10, 15, 21/22, 30/31, 42, 47, 52 |
Equipment
We sweep the streets throughout the year, and depending on weed growth, we determine which equipment to use.
The sweeper truck we use is equipped with a third arm with a weed brush attached to it. This eliminates the need for a separate brush machine. The brush machine is only used on sidewalks and in places where the sweeper cannot reach. If the brush machine cannot reach it either, our employees use a brush cutter.
Some places we cannot treat with a brush machine or brush cutter because it causes damage to the paved surface. Those places we treat with the hot water lance. Repeating the treatment over a period of time exhausts the weeds and they will not grow again.
Weather effects
Dry, sunny weather allows for little weed growth and then we can keep up with it. When it rains, weeds will grow earlier and faster. Because we sweep on frequency and the municipality tackles neighborhood by neighborhood, there is a chance that the streetscape will then not always meet the established image quality.
We take the seasons into account. In the fall, we deploy more people and equipment from the WSD, such as leaf blowers to blow leaves out of the parks. There is also a leaf vacuum cleaner. It drives in front of the sweeper truck to remove the leaves. Behind it, the sweeper truck sweeps up the fine debris. The sweeping schedule is scaled up if necessary. In case of emergencies, such as a storm, we can temporarily no longer guarantee the image quality.
When the sweeper finishes its route earlier, we can deploy it on the blossom route in the spring. This route includes neighborhoods with trees that have early, or many blossoms falling. These streets are then swept extra.