by Sawon Banerjee | Aug 15, 2020 | Construction Equipments
An Ammann ABC 180 ValueTec Asphalt-Mixing Plant provided the essential reliability and quality, on a recent project at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai
The work included resurfacing and profile correction of the runway intersections. The repairs were conducted between 7th February 2019 and 30th March 2019.
The stakes were high during the project. An average of 1,000 flights arrive or depart from the airport everyday. To minimize disruption to service, the airport was closed daily for only six hours. Even this limited timeframe impacted approximately 240 flights during each closure. Further, plant production and dependability were also crucial to meeting the project deadline.
AIC Infrastructure handled the asphalt production and placement. The firm utilized an Ammann ABC 180 ValueTec Asphalt-Mixing Plant. The plant produced approximately 700 tons of asphalt mix per day to help keep the resurfacing work on track.
The firm also utilized two Ammann AP 240 Pneumatic Tyred Rollers, two ARX 91 Tandem Rollers and an AFT 600-3 Tracked Paver.
The company describes the biggest challenges as “procurement of plant and machines; time management to ensure everything was executed as planned; quality to meet the desired parameters; safety to ensure zero incidents and zero accidents.”
Ammann was chosen because of its technological advantages, on-time delivery and long-lasting business relationship with AIC Infrastructure.
The project was completed successfully – on schedule, with minimal interruptions to travellers.
Mr. Kritharth Raja Desai, Managing Director, AIC Infrastructure, reported that the Ammann plant, paver and rollers were the ideal matches for the project.
“Excellent team work, a pro-active approach and the customer centricity of the Ammann team members helped us to complete the runway resurfacing and profile correction work at India’s busiest airport within the stipulated timeframe,” he said. “We are happy to note, we did not lose even a minute of productivity.”
“Several factors contributed to the successful project completion,” added Desai. “The Ammann customer support team was very cordial and cooperative in extending on-site parts support,” he said. “In addition, Ammann India deployed trained operators and technicians on-site, which helped us become productive instantly.”
Ammann engineers monitored the condition of the plant and machines nearly every day. Proactive maintenance ensured there were no breakdowns.
“The best part is, the maintenance routines were scheduled by Ammann India in such a way that our productive hours were not impacted at all,” Desai said. “The suggestions given by Ammann India towards proactive maintenance were very helpful and gave our team a new perspective on how to achieve more with Ammann products.”
For further information,
visit: www.ammann.com
by Sawon Banerjee | Aug 15, 2020 | Construction Equipments
Excerpts of the interview with Mr. Vinod Kumar Agarwal, MD of G R Infra on success factors in their prestigious projects.
Please tell us something about your company.
In the last 12 years itself, we have executed over 100 projects. We have, since inception, focused on the roads in the EPC sector, which has given us a distinct advantage of mitigating risks associated with the dynamics of the road construction sector, while simultaneously establishing our credentials as an EPC player capable of implementing a variety of complex road construction projects.
What are the recent and ongoing projects at GR Infra?
Our ongoing projects comprise of 23 road EPC projects across India. We have, in the past, executed projects in Jharkhand and Meghalaya, providing us with an experience of executing projects across diverse geographic locations in India.
Among the ongoing projects, which all do you consider to be the prestigious and successful?
We consider the 6-laning of Handia-Varanasi section of NH-2 in State of Uttar Pradesh under NHDP Phase-V on Hybrid Annuity Mode to be a significant and prestigious project, because this is the Highest Single Value Contract with contract value of Rs. 2447.00 crore and 1st year O&M cost of Rs. 19.87 crore.
The other project that is of significance is the four laning of Gundugolanu-Devarapalli-Kovvuru section of NH-16 in the State of Andhra Pradesh, under Bharatmala Pariyojana on Hybrid Annuity mode with a contract value of Rs. 1827.00 crore, because this project has opened doors for us in Andhra Pradesh.
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What according to you are the key success factors for these two projects?
We want to attribute our success of these two projects to our supplier partners and more particularly Amman India. One of
the key success factors is that we did not lose out on our productive hours by even a minute. I would attribute this high productivity, which was instrumental to our success of these two projects, to Ammann India and their employees.
Excellent teamwork, pro-active approach and customer centricity of Ammann team members plays a significant role in seamless execution of these two projects in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
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Can you please give us more specific inputs on the support from Ammann India, which you say has been instrumental to your success at your prestigious projects?
It will not be out of place to call out the helping attitude of Ammann India people. As you may know, people make all the difference. To give you more specifics, let me list some of the outstanding work of Ammann India team that enabled seamless performance of our equipment.
- The Ammann customer support team has been very cordial and co-operative in extending on-site parts support.
- Ammann India deployed trained operators and technicians at site, which helped us significantly in becoming productive, instantly.
- Ammann Engineers have been monitoring the condition of plants on regular basis.
- The plants were maintained pro-actively, and ensured zero breakdowns.
- The best part is, the maintenance routines were scheduled by Ammann India in such a way, that our productive hours were not impacted at all.
The suggestions given by Ammann India towards pro-active maintenance were very helpful and gave our team a new perspective on how to achieve more with Ammann products.
That sounds great. Please tell us about the Amman India products that you used for your prestigious and successful projects?
Ammann India supplied us two plants – ABA 260 and ABA 180, and these plants are deployed in both of our prestigious projects. We wish to place on record, these plants functioned seamlessly and backed by their excellent after sales support, enabled seamless implementation of these projects.
Ammann India offers wide range of products for road constructions. Having used Amman India plants for our prestigious projects, we now have full confidence on their product range.
We have plans to purchase more plants from Amman India for our other projects as well.
Thank you, sir, for your time. Your inputs will be of great value to our readers. We wish you greater successes in the future.
For further information,
visit: www.ammann.com
by Sawon Banerjee | Aug 15, 2020 | Construction Equipments
CASE Graders are the best available machinery in their class and are engineered to give a very long product life.
865B is equipped with tech upgrades such as an attached accumulator and bigger tires for mining application. The main features of CASE 845B ideal for road construction and CASE 865B ideal for mining application are:
Maximum Productivity: Unique ‘multiradius moldboard design’ provides mixing effect that does not only push the material on ground but also rolls it. 845B along with dual HP-150HP/173HP and 865B with triple HP-193HP/205 HP/220 HP gives a unique mix of power and fuel efficiency.
Advanced Engine and Hydraulics: To increase the machine’s durability, CASE focuses on the use of quality engines along with regular maintenance across their equipment, which helps deliver excellent fuel efficiency. Consistency of controls, response of hydraulic operations, and the ability to make small and precise adjustments in the blade position has a significant impact on profitability of the job.
Optimize Fuel Efficiency: CASE 845 B and CASE 865 B graders are equipped with 6.7-litre FPT engine with dual horsepower and triple horsepower, respectively to match the power requirements of various applications and deliver optimum fuel efficiency. The graders are offered with an Automatic ZF Transmission. The machines have a multi Curvature Moldboard, which reduces the resistance coming on the engine and hence, reduces the fuel consumption.
Operator Comfort: CASE’s motor graders are equipped with closed air conditioning ROPS cabins, whereas most of CASE’s competitors provide open canopy. Air suspension seat further adds to the operator comfort. The operator can also customize all the working parameters of the machine to achieve excellent controllability and faster cycle times. The automated functions in the cab, which includes an electrohydraulic joystick to customize the reversing and steering sensitivity, makes the drivers’ job easy, allowing them to achieve shorter cycle times and boost their productivity.
Structural Stability and Ease of Maintenance: CASE 845 B and CASE 865 B focuses on providing easy engine compartment access along with daily service checkpoints for quick and efficient maintenance of equipment.
Remote Diagnosis and Monitoring Technology: Equipment are installed with a unique trip metre on the operator dashboard that continuously monitors the fuel consumption, hours operated and operating temperatures. Electronic indicators are also connected to the dashboard for safety or operation related parameters.
For further information,
visit: www.casece.com/apac/en-in
by Sawon Banerjee | Aug 15, 2020 | Construction Equipments
SDLG motor graders offer an economical, easy to use and efficient solution. These machines are robust, balanced and designed to deliver precision levelling no matter how hard the surface. The motor graders are designed to reduce cycle time and maximize value. For instance, the SDLG G9190 features a 3,658 mm mould board for wide grade coverage, a down force of 8,386 kg to maximize the cut depth without front-end drift and a tractive force of 82 kN. The blade can rotate through a full 360° and incline up to 90° gradient. It is operated via the Moveable Blade Control System for excellent grading precision. The cab features wrap-around glass for enhanced visibility. It also incorporates an ergonomic control layout and a shock-absorbent seat that minimizes vibration during operawtion.
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This machine has displayed its strength time and again; for instance, the G9190 was used for spreading and levelling of the roads at a road expansion project in Maharashtra, India. Y P Deshmukh Construction, a road construction company in India, was awarded sub-contracts for the prestigious NH211 Highway Project to improve traffic by expanding a 189 km section of the highway from two lanes to four lanes, and they used SDLG machines to achieve their target.
“We switched to SDLG motor graders a couple of years ago. Initially, we picked up one machine because we wanted to be 100% sure we got value for our money. A year later, we added one more,” said Yograj Deshmukh, owner of Y P Deshmukh Construction. “To survive and thrive in our business, you’ve got to have machines that do more and more for less.”
He further adds, “With the G9190 graders, we find ourselves consistently achieving high productivity while saving on costs. The best thing about the SDLG G9190 motor graders is you get all the performance and support you want — while smiling all the way to the bank
For further information,
visit: www.sdlgindia.com
by Sawon Banerjee | Aug 9, 2020 | Construction Equipments
North of Sacramento, a W 210i and W 2100 precisely milled the spillway chute of the Oroville Dam, the highest dam in the USA. In this process, the milling contractor also benefited from cold milling specialist Wirtgen’s application experience in steep gradient milling.
Temporary Solution Makes Milling In Two Passes Necessary
At an altitude of 235 m, the earth fill embankment dam on Lake Oroville dams the waters of the Feather River. After several weeks of rainfall, the dam reached its maximum water level of around 4.3 billion m³ in the winter after only 50 days. As a result, the owner, the California Department of Water Resources, had to initiate flood control measures at an early stage. The water was discharged in a controlled manner over the top of the dam structure at the level of the dam crown and the adjacent spillway. Due to the large quantities of water and the extremely high water-pressure, however, the 55 m wide, main concrete spillway eroded to such an extent that rehabilitation was unavoidable. The damage was initially minimized provisionally by filling the erosion in the surface with rolled concrete, “so that the owner could open the overflow system during the winter months, if necessary,” explains Chris Anderson, project manager at the subcontractor, milling service provider Anrak. This temporary material had to be removed prior to final concrete paving with Portland cement, however, to achieve the desired surface quality. To complete this task, the contractor decided to use two cold milling machines from Wirtgen.
Built-In Wirtgen Levelling System And Milling Drum Design Impress Contractor
Eight days had been scheduled for the removal of the first layer of rolled concrete.
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Wirtgen Cold Milling Machines Prepared the Oroville Dam’s
Spillway for the Repair Project.
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Before the Cold Milling Machines could Begin their Work, They were Lifted Onto the Surface to be Milled by Lattice Boom Cranes.
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The lower section of the spillway was about 300 m long. The milling depth required was approx. 5 cm. This job was performed by the W 2100 equipped with an ECO Cutter milling drum. This milling drum is fitted with up to 50% fewer picks at larger tool spacings (LA) than a standard milling drum. Fewer picks mean a lower cutting resistance, making it possible to mill hard surfaces such as concrete. This process was followed by the W 210i, with a standard LA15 milling drum to give the milled surface the finer texture required to pave the new concrete layer. During the job, both machines used the Level Pro levelling system developed by Wirtgen. According to Anrak’s CEO Tom Schmidt, this is a perfect symbiosis, “We have used almost every machine under the sun, but none can compete with the Wirtgen milling machine together with the Level Pro system. It is both reliable and extremely precise. The evenness of the surface is perfectly uniform, and the machine always has excellent traction. The latter is important when milling rolled or Portland cement concrete. And the vibrations that are unavoidable when milling such a hard surface don’t affect the Level Pro system one bit.”
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Wirtgen Cold Milling Machines Prepared the Oroville Dam’s Spillway for the Repair Project.
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Before the Cold Milling Machines could Begin their Work, They were Lifted Onto the Surface to be Milled by Lattice Boom Cranes.
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Logistical Challenges
After the flatbed trucks had transported the cold milling machines to the upper end of the spillway, the machines were lifted onto the structure with the aid of lattice boom cranes and driven onto the area in need of rehabilitation via specially constructed ramps. Here they faced the next challenge – milling on a 30° gradient. This challenge was solved by attaching steel cables with a total length of more than 450 m to the blades of a large wheel loader and to the rear of the large milling machines, thus securing the machines while work was being carried out. In the process, the heavy steel cables were attached to several hundred trolleys that are normally used for transporting heavy furniture to prevent them from rubbing against the ground. “We used the trolleys to prevent the texture of the freshly milled concrete surface from being damaged,” explains Tom Chastain, Applications Specialist at Wirtgen America.
At an Altitude of 235 m, the Embankment Dam on Lake Oroville Dams
the Waters of the Feather River. This Makes it the Highest Dam in the United States.
Application Expertise And Safety Go Hand In Hand
The machines have a working width of 2.2 m, and it took an average of two hours to remove an entire length. “In order to achieve the desired surface quality, but also for safety reasons, the cold milling machines were operated at a low advance rate of approx. 3 m/min,” says Chastain. In the end, the W 2100, and the W 210i had each milled 28 full lengths. The cold milling machines loaded the milled material directly onto tracked vehicles with a capacity of 5 m³. These machines are mainly used in open-cast mining, but their excellent manoeuvrability also made them valuable for steep gradient milling at the Oroville Dam. As soon as the tracked vehicles were filled, they unloaded the milled material at the lower end of the spillway so that it could be transported to a nearby
concrete plant. There, the concrete milled material was reprocessed into new concrete for the subsequent construction project.
After the “milling the spillway” subproject had been reliably completed within the scheduled time frame, the entire rehabilitation project costing
1.1 billion US dollars was completed on schedule after around two years.
For further information,
visit: www.wirtgen-group.com/india
