Buying Equipment for Sweeping Construction Sites

by Kimberley Schmitt
Created: August 16, 2011

A variety of features are available when choosing a unit for construction site sweeping.

Bigger brooms and the ability to travel at highway speeds are two features contractors may want to consider when purchasing a larger unit to be used on construction site sweeping.
Bigger brooms and the ability to travel at highway speeds are two features contractors may want to consider when purchasing a larger unit to be used on construction site sweeping.
A better alternative to construction site sweeping are medium size sweepers because they have equal maneuverability and a larger hopper capacity.
A better alternative to construction site sweeping are medium size sweepers because they have equal maneuverability and a larger hopper capacity.
Unlike parking lot sweeping, construction sweeping may require a larger sweeper to pick up debris such as heavy fine dust, rock, stone, gravel, mud, and small pieces of 2x4s.
Unlike parking lot sweeping, construction sweeping may require a larger sweeper to pick up debris such as heavy fine dust, rock, stone, gravel, mud, and small pieces of 2x4s.

Stewart-Amos Co. offers several units including the Starfire S-4, a mechanical broom street sweeper that incorporates a tight turning radius and 16-in. to 10 ft. dump. The Galaxy R-4 (70-in. high-dump/4.65 cu. yd. hopper) and R-6 (6 cu. ft.-plus hopper/38-in. dump) are regenerative air street sweepers with stainless steel hoppers and tight turning radius that use a blast-oriface style sweeping head to loosen compacted debris.

Three available units by Elgin can be used for construction sweeping. The Road Wizard (10-ft. dump/5.4 cu. yd. hopper) is a mechanical sweeper that picks up heavy gravel. The Broom Bear (10-ft. dump/4.5 cu. yd. hopper) has similar technology as the Road Wizard but uses one engine. The Eagle has a dump height up to 10 ft. and a 4.5 cu. yd. hopper. It also has a belt conveyor that can handle debris such as hubcaps and 2x4s.

Features to Consider

When looking at purchasing a unit capable of handling large construction site cleanups, one factor to consider is location of your facility to jobs. Contractors can benefit from having extra space in the unit. “Sometimes these jobs are away from your facility,” Rokas says. “The sweeper should have a large area for tools and extra water capacity to keep the dust down.” He also suggests having a vertical steel gutter broom.

Style of brooms also can help make a construction sweeper more efficient. “It should have big side brooms so that they can scrape up the mud,” Giles says. “The bigger the side brooms the better. It’s the metal brooms on the side that dig that stuff off of the surface.”

Paraschak suggests that contractors look for a unit that is highly maneuverable and capable of traveling at highway speeds between jobsites.

Whether using a current unit or purchasing a larger unit, contractors have options when approaching construction sweeping. Rokas says that if contractors are finding that construction sweeping is becoming more of their business, it might be time to consider purchasing a larger unit. “If it is becoming a hassle of using your parking lot sweeper, and you put it on paper to buy a larger one, by all means do it,” he says. “A bigger unit opens up doors, and they have confidence in attacking these particular jobs.”