49
may 2014
international
construction
DEMOLTION&RECYCLING
Cutting-edge techniques
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A
s with other parts of the construction equipment world,
the latest engine regulations are driving the development
of new machines in Europe and North America. The
industry is currentlymoving from the Stage IIIB/Tier 4 Interim
laws toStageIV/Tier4Final,and it looks likemanymanufacturers
are waiting for this latter stage to come fully into force before
updating their ranges of high-reachdemolition excavators – a low
volume, niche product.
As always, there are exceptions to the rule and in this case they
come fromVolvoandHitachi.Volvo launchedStage IIIBversions
of its 27.4m reach EC480DHR and the 21m EC380DHR at
last April’s Bauma exhibition.
Hitachimeanwhiledeveloped aStage IIIBhigh-reachversionof
its 45 tonne classZX470-5LCH excavator forGerman contractor
Specialist demolition excavators are becomingmore and
more flexible thanks to new boom systems, while the
science of explosive demolition is advancing to ensure
this discipline still has a place in the industry.
Cutting-edge techniques
BTrinkl,which required the lowest emissionmachineavailableon
themarket to be allowed towork on a residential redevelopment
inMunich, Germany.The ZX470 high reach has a pin height of
25mwith amaximum tool weight of 2.5 tonnes.
It is reasonable to suppose that when the next engine evolution
is achieved andmanufacturers have carriers available with Stage
IV/Tier 4 Final compliance, development work will start on the
next generation of demolition specification standard machines
and their high reach variants.
Specialist suppliers
Butwhen it comes tohigh-reachmachines, the householdnames
in the construction equipment industry are onlypart of the story.
There are several specialist engineering companies that modify
standard excavators into high-reach machines, and many add
innovative featureswhen they carry out thiswork.
When high reach excavators first emerged, theywere dedicated
machines that couldonlybeused in that role.Over time, coupling
systems were developed to allow them to be used in both high
reach and standardboom configurations, with change-over times
coming down over the years to, in some cases, less than half an
hour on today’smodernmachines.
Specialist demolition equipment rental company JCH Plant Hire of Coatbridge, UK has
added a demolition specification Doosan DX300LC-3 Stage IIIB-compliant 30 tonne
crawler excavator to its fleet. The company has been buying Doosan excavators for
more than 10 years and says it finds them robust, with low running costs.
