WITH A WEALTH OF TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE FROM THE LEADING EUROPEAN TRAILER MAKERS, HEAVY HAULAGE OPERATORS ARE ALMOST SPOILT FOR CHOICE. HEAVYTORQUE TAKES A LOOK AT THE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM THE MAJOR PLAYERS AND ANALYSES THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.
Manufacturers are constantly both updating existing designs and introducing new products aimed at different sectors of the market, with new tyre, axle and suspension technology being the driving force behind many of these developments, allowing heavy loads to be carried at higher speeds, combined with more efficient braking and greater manoeuvrability, even with very long loads. Many manufacturers continue to refine the design of their step frame and low loader trailers, making it easier and faster to load and unload heavy construction plant, often allowing relatively large machines to be carried complete, dramatically reducing downtime when arriving on site.
Also, the use of new high strength steel along with other specialist materials reduce unladen weight, improve payloads and have greater resistance to fatigue and distortion when under load.
LONDON TIDEWAY TUNNELS LEE TUNNEL: AT THE HEAVIES AWARDS 2015, PROJECT OF THE YEAR WENT TO SARENS UK FOR THEIR USE OF COMBINED TECHNIQUES DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LEE TUNNEL, A VITAL PIECE OF THE LONDON TIDEWAY TUNNELS SCHEME. HEAVYTORQUE SPOKE TO PROJECT MANAGER SIMON CRAWLEY TO FIND OUT JUST WHAT THEY ACHIEVED, AND HOW THEY MADE IT LOOK SO EASY.
Designed and built in the Victorian era, Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s brick sewer system has served the nation’s capital well, but is now completely out of capacity, serving a population of 8 million, which is twice that for which it was designed. The result is increasingly frequent discharges of raw sewage directly into the tidal section of the River Thames – 55 million tonnes of it last year alone – a situation which obviously cannot be allowed to continue. The Thames Tideway Tunnel will divert the current overflow and take it to Abbey Mills Pumping Station near Stratford, where the Lee Tunnel will take it on to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works to the east of the city to be processed.
Issue Three: with 144 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
DAF’S NEW XF HEAVY HAULAGE TRACTOR IS NOW IN SERVICE, AND ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE UK IS ALREADY WORKING HARD FOR COLLETT & SONS LTD. HEAVYTORQUE JOINED THE TRUCK ON IT’S SECOND DAY OUT; DELIVERING A 50 METRE BLADE TO A WIND FARM. ROUTINE FOR THEM, AN EYE-OPENER FOR US.
DAF’s latest XF tractor range has been out for a while now, and in common with most truck makers, some of the more rarified models like this 8×4 tridem tractor take longer to arrive. We attended the driving launch in Antequera, southern Spain, in late 2012, before it came to the UK market the following year. Much of the debate there was of the route to Euro 6 (then under a year away), and as all other makers have done, with the exception of Iveco, DAF have emptied the after treatment cupboard to attain the necessary strictures. SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction), EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter), common rail injection, a VTG (variable geometry turbocharger) and OBD (On Board Diagnostics) have all piled in to limbo down to those tough new limits.
But much of the technology used had already been thoroughly aired in the United States, where Paccar’s North American truck brands had been using it.
STEP FRAME LOW LOADERS ARE THE OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR MOST OPERATORS IN THE 44 TO 80 TONNE SECTOR. HEAVYTORQUE LOOKS AT THE MARKET AND HIGHLIGHTS THE MANUFACTURERS LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.
The first part of this feature looked at tractor units suitable for operation under both Construction and Use regulations at up to 44 tonnes gross and working at up to 65/80 tonnes gross under Special Types Cat 2 regulations. These dual purpose outfits are the backbone of many fleets, versatile combinations that can handle many types of work and are used by many specialist hauliers.
For most operators the modern step frame trailer is the obvious choice in this weight range for the majority of tasks, they have pretty much taken over from the knock-out front end low loader in this sector, except where either height restrictions, or very high point loadings on the load bed are a regular issue. The three and four axle step frame can be specified to handle most type of construction equipment, be it tracked or wheeled; they are equally useful for transporting machine tools, large bulky fabrications and almost any cargo that will fit on the load bed within their load capacity.
Issue Three: with 144 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
HEAVYTORQUE SPEAKS TO SCOTTISH OPERATOR McFADYENS TRANSPORT LTD., TO FIND OUT HOW THEY RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF PROVIDING HEAVY TRANSPORT SERVICES TO THE WIND ENERGY SECTOR.
Two key features required of a successful road transport business based in a rural area – a relatively long way from a major conurbation – are self-sufficiency and the ability to adapt to a changing market place. Scottish heavy transport specialist McFadyens Transport Ltd., based in Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute are a perfect example of this principle. The company was founded by Charles McFadyen in 1901, with just a horse and cart carrying goods from the local harbour pier. As the local community prospered and developed, the operation expanded and the next generation joined their father in the business.
Demand for a more sophisticated transport service capable of travelling outside the local area increased as the road network improved after the war, leading to McFadyens investing in their first motor lorries in 1945, so they were able to venture much further afield than before.
THE AWARD FOR TEAM OF THE YEAR AT THIS YEAR’S HEAVIES, WENT TO THE REBUILDERS OF TANK TRANSPORTERS, BACK FROM A THEATRE OF WAR, AS HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT.
If your fleet of heavy haulage vehicles had been damaged during military operations, you might reasonably expect to write them off. However, when each vehicle costs in the region of $1 million, it is worth putting some effort into seeing if they can be saved.
This is the thinking behind an imaginative relationship between the Ministry of Defence (MoD), logistics specialist KBR FTX and three heavy equipment specialists that has so far seen 16 war-damaged Army transporters regenerated and brought back into active service. The success of the project saw the organisations involved win ‘Team of the Year’ at HeavyTorque’s inaugural event, “The Heavies” awards in March.
The vehicles in question are heavy equipment transporters (HETs), which were supplied to the MoD by KBR FTX in 2004 as part of a £290 million private finance initiative (PFI) arrangement.
Issue Three: with 144 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
NEW MODEL LINES INEVITABLY DON’T HAVE THEIR FULL RANGE AVAILABLE AT LAUNCH; THE SPECIALIST CHASSIS FOLLOW ON AFTER THE BUNTING HAS BEEN SWEPT UP. EXPERIENCE TELLS US THAT’S WHERE SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING VERSIONS ARE OFTEN FOUND. VOLVO’S FH16-750 8X4 TRIDEM TRACTOR, IS CERTAINLY SUCH A BEAST. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT OF THE FIRST SPECIMEN TO ARRIVE IN THE UK
Putting a heavy haulage press demonstrator on the road, with a suitable trailer and load, together with a meaningful test route has to be a pragmatic exercise. To go to a vehicles’s full Category 1 capacity means organising a raft of permissions and escorts. Running this FH at 65 tonnes and a Cat 3, is obviously well within its capabilities, but it’s still a very useful test of ability. At the FH launch in late 2012, we drove an FH-16 700 (those extra 50 horses were still in the barn) at 60 tonnes, as a 25.25m drawbar combination, where it performed well.
It’s worth noting that Sweden consistently tops the GCW tables in Europe, so it’s a reasonable conclusion that their higher horsepower chassis are used to continuous operation at these high weights.
HEAVYTORQUE RECALLS THE DAYS WHEN ABNORMAL LOADS WERE A REGULAR SIGHT LEAVING THE AIR PRODUCTS FACTORY AT ACREFAIR
I am sure that most if not all readers will be familiar with the ‘Air Products’ company. What some may not know is that up until the end of 2009, they had a factory at Acrefair in North Wales, providing a source of abnormal loads for various heavy haulage companies over the years.
The factory, which had been in operation for 50 years prior to its closure, manufactured large and heavy columns and cold boxes etc., used for such purposes as air separation, natural gas liquefaction and hydrogen purification. The finished products were exported to many different countries, involving a heavy haul, mainly via Ellesmere Port for onward shipment.
Before we move on to the transport side, we’ll take a brief look at the company and its closure.
Issue Three: with 144 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.