– What holiday?
This is what Øyvind Ramberg (20) in Hadeland Maskindrift replies with a small laugh, when Dagbladet asks him how the Christmas holidays were.
Much of Ramberg’s Christmas and New Year’s Eve was spent behind the wheel of the plow and garbage truck in central Oslo. His mission is to make roads and sidewalks passable above all the snow and ice.
Central Oslo can get chaotic on snowy days.
– There are a lot of people and managers, says Ramberg.
Falling on smooth ice
A total of 3,629 municipal notices have been received in Oslo since 15 October 2022.
The requests cover everything from ploughing, to spreading, to snow removal requests on roads, streets, sidewalks and cycle paths, says Joakim Hjertum, section manager for road operations and maintenance in Bymiljøetaten (BYM).
14,000 tons of gravel
In Oslo, a total of over 14,000 tons of gravel were spread this winter. 9,000 of these were scattered between Christmas and New Year’s, according to Hjertum.
BYM has primary responsibility for municipal roads in Oslo. They have their own plowing crew, but must also use wage labour, such as Hadeland Maskindrift.
Plowing and spreading is a battle against the clock that has been of late. It snows, then there is the sun, then there are more degrees, then there are less degrees, often on the same day.
EXPERT: Øyvind Ramberg spent four winters behind the wheel of the plowing and spreading truck. Photo: private
sea View
Ramberg plows, then there’s more snow, and shortly after he has to go back on the same road to do the same job.
The 20-year-old works 12-hour shifts and is always on standby, ready to throw away whatever he’s doing, he says.
– Jaws and jaws
Karl Johan’s drunks on weekends are among those who often give him the thumbs up, according to Ramberg.
Otherwise, most of the feedback it receives goes directly under the complaints category.
– This is my fourth winter and people’s patience hasn’t exactly improved.
Some complaints are justified, like the times handicapped parking spaces are accidentally used as snow dumps.
There have already been 764 city reports on snow and roads so far this year.
Other times not.
– People come up to me, shout and shout, ask me why I can’t add more salt and tails. You swell a little, she says.
Messages from the city pop up one by one, and Ramberg sets course for neighborhoods to fix the problems.
– Many people complain about every little thing. It’s not plowed well enough here, it’s not spread well enough there, she says.
Always someone complaining
It’s hard to be all over town at the same time. Although there are many requests, Ramberg is motivated and takes complaints head on.
– You can’t take care of everything because it would have become too much. You just screw it up, Ramberg says.
Hadeland Maskindrift General Manager Arne Christian Sandsengen confirms to Dagbladet that a lot of inquiries are coming in.
– Some want a lot of salt, some don’t want salt, some want gravel, some don’t, says Sandsengen.
NAF reacts after lorry train mayhem
Crews are out all day. On the worst days, they have between 150 and 200 workers working against the slippery pipe.
– There is always someone who complains, but we bear it. We just have to bend our necks and keep going, says Sandsengen.
Sprinkle and sprinkle
Hjertum in BYM tells Dagbladet that many people may not see the work being done by the plowing and stream crews.
– Considerable effort was made, but time was demanding. Sometimes it’s hard to do visibly good work, says Hjertum.
The ice quickly freezes over the areas that have been littered and the roads become smooth again.
According to Hjertum, some workers can work up to 16 hours at a time. Several are also said to have promptly launched into the midst of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
She says they get a lot of inquiries from the public about shoddy work or difficult circumstances.
– We feel we are working against the odds because we have to go back to the same places and litter and litter. It’s a little demotivating, but we roll up our sleeves and work until people are satisfied, she says.
In Dagbladet, he brags about the crews that are on their way.
– It’s a big and extensive job to make sure it’s passable for everyone. Crews work around the clock and they’ve been hard at work lately, even though people might not see it, Hjertum says.
