During the snowiest winter in a decade, nearly 595,200 cubic meters or 39,680 truckloads of snow were removed from Tallinn, the council said on Monday. This season snow first fell in November.

Fluctuating temperature also caused extensive slipperiness. To combat the ice hazard, 9,955 tonnes of chlorides and 4,944 tonnes of sieves were spread.

In addition, the district governments distributed granite sieves free of charge to housing associations throughout the winter.

"So the amount of snow transported out of the city was also very high. For example, in the winter season 2020/21, which was also quite snowy, 'only' 251,260 cubic meters of snow were removed. However, the previous record for snow removal remained unchanged from the winter of 2010/11, when 609,070 cubic meters of snow were removed," said Deputy Mayor Vladimir Svet (Center).

In the difficult weather conditions, the extreme snowfall meant that the machines were slower than usual at clearing the pavements, and clearing the roads took longer than expected.

On side streets, snow and ice ridges had to be dealt with more than usual, requiring additional resources. The quality of the maintenance work was also affected by the large number of parked vehicles, which prevented maintenance vehicles from reaching all areas.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!