REPORT THE CLEANER
REPORT THE CLEANER Clean-up Crew OF LANCY Today, street-cleaning machines for heavily populated areas are virtually silent and produce very few emissions. A growing number of maintenance yards are turning to innovative and energy-efficient technologies. The Ville de Lancy in Geneva is among them. Think of the Ville de Lancy as a town within a town. Consisting of Grand and Petit Lancy, it directly adjoins the city of Geneva to the west. In the early 1960s the two Lancys numbered some 5,000 inhabitants; now they have over 28,000. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the municipality’s land area of 485 hectares (4.85 km 2 ) is very densely populated. This makes maintenance and care of roadways and other municipal services a challenge. What’s more, the Ville de Lancy has been a certified Energy City (www.energiestadt.ch) since 2008. EVERY BIT COUNTS The municipal budget for 2009 came to some 97 million francs, but for maintenance yard manager Jean-Paul Deschenaux, what counts most is contributing to his community’s high environmental standards and quality of life. Among other things, the yard has been using vehicles capable of running on natural gas for several years. It now has no fewer than eight gas-powered vehicles, ranging from a Fiat Panda to an Iveco light van and 26-tonne three-axle truck to the newest Ravo S4 road sweeper. 10
Lancy’s gardeners are considerate of nature and passers-by alike in their electric vehicles Tender loving care: the driver regularly checks his machine’s fluid levels Rapidly biodegradable hydraulic fluids like OEKOSYNT HEES from MOTOREX are ideal for municipal vehicles REDUCING EMISSIONS MOTOREX is a major link in the chain that enables Lancy to successfully use environment-friendly technologies. The local MOTOREX partner keeps the workshop manager informed of new products and matters such as special motor oil requirements for natural gas-fueled engines. He also points out how conventional products can be replaced by greener alternatives. For example, the following improvements have been made at the Lancy maintenance yard: • special motor oil for CNG-powered vehicles • rapidly biodegradable hydraulic fluid • low-emission ASPEN alkylate 2- and 4-stroke fuels • VOC-free cold cleaning solvents • biodegradable greases and chainsaw oils RAVO SERIES 4 STREET SWEEPER The Ville de Lancy’s latest purchase, a Ravo Series 4 street sweeper, is especially fascinating. Powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), it boasts extremely low exhaust gas emissions and minimal particulate and CO 2 emissions. The proven three-liter engine (Iveco FIC Sofim CNG) is equipped with a three-way catalytic converter and a common rail fuel injection system. Its advanced technology already meets the Euro 6 standard that will take effect on September 1, 2014. The Ravo is also the ideal size for a compact street sweeper, making it a perfect piece of equipment for nearly any environment. A generous 1.95 m 3 sweepings container means fewer trips to the landfill and thus higher productivity. The importer for Switzerland, Toni Küpfer AG of Bex, recommends MOTOREX lubricants for the machine. MOVING FORWARD – ALSO ON ELECTRIC POWER Every point of deployment presents clearly defined infrastructure requirements. Goupil electric utility vehicles are perfectly suited for transportation within the city. Among the maintenance yard’s 70 employees, the gardeners are especially conscientious about using these electric vehicles in their landscaping work. In winter the Goupils are used to move chestnut roasters to the pedestrian zone. Winter is also the time for snow clearance, requiring hard work from the staff and careful coordination of the entire equipment fleet. Public transit and commuter traffic are omnipresent in Petit and Grand Lancy. There’s no room for traffic problems either in the minds of the road maintenance staff or in the town’s actual streets. • www.lancy.ch MOTOREX MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2009 11
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