Case Study

We were set a task not attempted before. Traditionally to do this job we would have used a high pressure water jetting truck, however the material was sand which is difficult to move and the pipes were too long to jet efficiently and the volume of water required and the mess it would create made this option unviable. We had to come up with another option. We searched the internet and couldn’t find anything even close to suitable.

I have had this design in my head for several years and this was the perfect opportunity. We teamed up with a local engineering company to bring it to fruition

The machine had to be

1. Robust
2. Have plenty of power
3. Simple to maintain
4. Simple to operate
5. Low maintenance
6. Minimal electronics (means less problems)
7. Made from readily available off the shelf parts
8. Be quick over the ground (10 klm/h)

• Build a remote controlled machine from scratch to fit in a 1200mm diameter pipe
• Clear sand from storm water drains x 4, 300m long with no access other than the ends
• Work in 40 degree heat
• Approximatly 800 m3 or 1200 tonne
• During the process the machine travelled 3100 klm
• Run for 330 hrs
• Used 1050 ltrs of diesel
• The process took 42 days with 2.5 days downtime
• Not bad for a prototype

To say we were happy with the end result would be an understatement and there are some very happy clients.