Anyone who has worked with nails or small screws knows what a boon high powered magnets can be when it's time to clean up a workspace, and now city officials in several locations have applied this tactic to road cleanup efforts.

Pranksters attack cyclists
Someone in the Portland area has been throwing metal tacks onto the Hawthorne Bridge in Multnomah County, and this has caused a serious problem for area cyclists, NBC affiliate WKGW reported. The metal objects puncture tires and can lead to serious bodily harm for a rider who hits them at high speed. Luckily, county officials have found a way to combat this issue with magnets.

Magnets save the day
The city equipped several large rollers with powerful magnets that can pick up the tacks. Now, workers are able to magnetically sweep the path before any cyclists are injured. Multnomah County isn't the first location to institute this type of solution, either.

Officials Otoe County, Nebraska, use magnetic sweepers to clear dangerous debris from country roads, according to the Nebraska City News-Press. The sweepers are attached to road graders that would travel the road anyway. This allows the machines to do two jobs at once, as they can clean the road and simultaneously flatten the surface. On the first pass with the sweepers, the county collected 100 pounds of metal that could have punctured motorists' tires.

Powerful magnets can help any municipality protect drivers on its roads.