Monday, April 17, 2000
Atop his sweeper, he turns mean streets into clean streets
Sanitation worker sweeps while litterers sleep
BY William A. Weathers
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Edward Beverly Jr. goes to work in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine five nights a week, he sees the streets at their worst.
Edward Beverly Jr. guides a street cleaner along Schiller Street near Hughes in Over-the-Rhine.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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Cigarette butts, fast-food wrappers, plastic soft-drink bottles and newspapers are strewn along the sidewalks and streets.
But when the 43-year-old North College Hill resident calls it quits for the night, the neighborhood's streets, including Vine, Race and Sycamore, and Central Parkway — are virtually free of debris.
Mr. Beverly operates a street sweeper for the city of Cincinnati's sanitation division. He works third shift. He's never met litter he couldn't handle.
Call him the Clean Sweeper.
“I enjoy sweeping,” Mr. Beverly said on a recent night as he guided his street sweeper along Findlay Street near Findlay Market. “I like to look back and see the job I've done. I feel good when the public comes out and sees the streets nice and clean.”
The 20-year veteran city employee has been maneuvering the 6-ton, $100,000 sweeper through Over-the-Rhine streets for almost a year.
“It's a little noisy,” Mr. Beverly said of his street sweeper, which is loudest when it's moving along without its brushes operating. It sounds like a police siren that never quite reaches a peak.
The sweeper, one of 12 in the city's fleet, has a maximum speed of 30 mph and cruises at about 5 mph while it sweeps.
Mr. Beverly's area of responsibility is Over-the-Rhine from McMicken to Central Parkway. Other sanitation division workers with hand-held blowers precede Mr. Beverly on his route and blow trash from the sidewalks out into the gutters where the sweeper can get it.
Mr. Beverly is meticulous about his work. The sweeper's brushes, he explained, can be tilted at an angle so they can get debris embedded in the crack between the curb and the street.
His bane is parked cars that block the sweeper's access to trash near the curb.
“It used to worry me to death,” he confided.
But now, time permitting, he doubles back on his route and gets the spots if the cars have moved.
“I love it when I've got a clear street — four or five blocks,” he said enthusiastically.
Warmer weather usually means more litter on the streets.
“In the summer it's three times as bad as winter,” Mr. Beverly said. “People are out all night.”
Although it personally bothers him that some people are so cavalier that they routinely toss litter in the street, he's philosophical about it.
“As long as they keep doing it, I got a job,” he said. “Somebody's got to do it; why not me?”
A relative newcomer to the night shift, Mr. Beverly has ad justed well. He previously worked days as a custodian at City Hall.
“I like working third shift,” said Mr. Beverly, who begins his work day at 11 p.m. “Working at night is peaceful. It's easy to concentrate on your work.”
Mr. Beverly said having his days free offers another advantage: It allows him to go to Eden Grove Academy in College Hill to visit his two younger children — daughter Brielle, 7, and son Cuyler, 5 — and help in their classrooms. (He also has a 17-year-old son, Edward III.) If either child is sick, he can stay at home during the day while his wife, Brenda — an instructional assistant at Eden Grove Academy — is at work.
Mr. Beverly's pride in keeping Over-the-Rhine streets free of debris carries over to his own neighborhood. He takes pride in keeping the sidewalk, curb and street in front of his home free of debris.
“I sweep the curb (with a regular broom) in front of my house and my neighbor's, too. I've even got (my neighbors) sweeping the curb.”
If you have a suggestion for Night Watch, call William A. Weathers at 768-8390 (fax: 768-8340).
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