Ice injuries in St. Petersburg drop threefold

Sergei Petrichenko, head of the Committee for Improvement (Komitet po Blagoustroistvu), reported a significant reduction in ice-related injuries in the city. According to him, this resulted from a change in the approach to street cleaning and anti-icing treatment. Comparative data are provided for the period from 15 October to 1 February of each winter season.

Statistics show a steady downward trend:

Sergei Petrichenko noted that the most problematic areas remain those with lowered pavement levels, for example, at pedestrian crossings. «Indeed, the greatest number of injuries occur at lowered areas. At lowered areas, slipperiness occurs; cleaning and treatment with anti-icing materials, unfortunately, in our climatic conditions do not exclude the formation of that same ice crust that causes slipperiness. As a result, our residents sustain injuries,» he explained.

Similar difficulties, according to the official, arise in the city center on granite slabs. At these sites, treatment and cleaning are carried out more frequently than required by standard regulations. Currently, preventive treatment of hazardous areas is applied before expected snowfall.

Petrichenko also commented on residents’ complaints about the use of salt. «Residents do not always agree: why so much salt, what is the salt for? Salt was applied to the streets of our city, sidewalks, and pedestrian crossings precisely to prevent the formation of ice, so that manual workers and mechanized equipment could lift that snow down to the hard surface,» the committee head stated.