New port sweeper to aid runway clean-up

Equipment expected to last for 20 years

MOSES LAKE — They're sweeping the runways with style out at the Port of Moses Lake these days.

In the course of replacing two older sweepers, the port district brought in a new Schwarze A7000 street sweeper. It arrived Oct. 5.

"It's got a runway suction head on the bottom, so it's made for high-speed clean-up that we need to do on the runway," said Scott Olson, maintenance and facilities superintendent for the port. "We use it generally for any time there's chipped rock or debris out there on the runway that can get sucked into an engine."

That debris is called FOD, or Foreign Object Debris, Olson explained, and if it gets sucked into an engine, it can cause the blades in a jet engine to chip off.

"That can snowball into kind of serious problems for that plane's engine, which is very expensive," Olson explained. "That's a main reason we have to have a high-quality sweeper."

"It's quite a machine," said Herb Wood, senior maintenance mechanic at the port. "This sweeper will maintain a higher speed and still pick up everything than the ones we tried before. We've (gone) 15 mph and picked up anything from 1 to 2 inches in diameter around."

Wood added that the machine can be used as an all-around sweeper for the port.

The port district retained the services of Portland, Ore.-based engineering firm CH2M Hill. David Bailey, port manager from 1984 to 2002 and senior airport-port operations consultant for the engineering firm, prepared the technical specifications and bid package for the port.

Bailey said the list of specifications was a lengthy one.

"The key thing is looking for a regenerative air sweeper used primarily for FOD control," he said, explaining that that means a type of sweeper that is like a big vacuum cleaner. The port wanted something with a higher ability of picking up rocks and debris on the pavement, but could also be used to clean parking lots and the like around the Grant County International Airport terminal building.

Wood recommended that anyone in need of a new sweeper use a test similar to the port's — lay out a bunch of big rocks, then drive over them and see what the equipment picks up.

Bailey said that the sweeper was observed in operation at other airports.

"We felt it was a good piece of equipment," he said. "It's always kind of nice to work on projects on ports and airports. I'm happy I could provide a service to the port in getting a piece of equipment they were in need of."

"It's pretty unusual for us to get new equipment," Olson said. "We usually buy our equipment that's used, in order to finance it."

The Federal Aviation Administration funded the purchase of the sweeper through its Airport Improvement Plan program. The FAA has also enabled the port to purchase two other pieces of equipment, a snow plow with a broom attachment and a snow blower, which have not yet been received.

"We would not expect to get a purchase like this for at least another 10 years," Olson said.

Olson said that he would expect to get 20 years of use out of the sweeper, and estimated that the sweeper already has 500 miles on it since its arrival earlier this month.

"It's been being used, on a regular basis," he said.