The scraper blade device is provided for cleaning a surface, for instance a roadway surface, when moving in a forward direction relative to the surface. The scraper blade device includes an upper blade portion and a bottom blade portion. The bottom blade portion has a plurality of widthwise-disposed blade segments that are adjoined and juxtaposed to one another. The bottom edge of each blade segment is independently slidingly movable in an up and down movement out of alignment with reference to the bottom edge of the other blade segments and is biased towards a downward working direction. The bottom edge of the blade segments is also pivotally movable with reference to the surface to be cleaned about a pivot axis that is substantially parallel to the lowermost edge of the scraper blade device. The bottom edges is biased towards a forward working position.