UK contractor takes delivery of “world’s biggest breaker”.
777 Group has purchased an Atlas Copco HB10000 hydraulic breaker attachment. Weighing in at around 10 tonnes and capable of an impact rate of 380 blows per minute, the Atlas Copco HB10000 is reputed to be the world’s biggest and most powerful volume-manufactured hammer, and 777 Group is the first to purchase one of these for use in the UK.
777 Group won the contract for the final clearance of the 1.5 acre site in Woolwich, which was formerly occupied by Peggy Middleton House, a six-storey office block. The office building had already been demolished and removed, but the deep-rooted reinforced concrete foundations remained. 777 Group was tasked with removing and recycling these foundations. Speed and efficiency were very important for this project as there was a tight time schedule for completion with sizeable financial penalties for overrunning, with the additional complication of working hour restrictions.
To help meet the tight schedule, the company moved its two giant Hitachi EX1200 excavators to the site. One of these was equipped with a 7 cubic metre MST bucket for rapidly clearing broken concrete. For breaking the concrete – which proved even tougher and deeper than was initially anticipated – the company decided that it needed to equip its second EX1200 with an exceptionally powerful hydraulic hammer attachment.
777 Group knew that Atlas Copco offered a 10 tonne breaker – the HB10000 – that is not matched by any other supplier and the company also had very positive experience with the smaller Atlas Copco HB4200 heavy breaker in its fleet. Further attractions of the HB10000 were its low noise level of 123 db(A) maximum, which was important because of the location of the site’s built-up surroundings, and the one-year warranty, which is extended by two further years on registration. With these factors in mind, 777 Group decided that the HB10000 was the ideal choice for this challenging project.
The Atlas Copco HB10000 was used to break out over 50,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete over a 7 week period at the Woolwich site. 777 Group reports that, with the new hammer, the work could have been completed even faster had it not been decided to recycle 25,000 cubic metres of the concrete and reuse it on site to reduce the amount of primary aggregate needed for the new development.
“The HB10000, powered by the EX1200’s very capable hydraulic power pack, was able to break out the concrete at a truly impressive rate,” said Daryl Pearce, 777 Groups’ Business Development Manager. “In fact, there’s little doubt that without it, we would have found it difficult to complete the contract on time. Our HB10000 was a significant investment, but it’s already proved its worth on this project, and it will undoubtedly be an invaluable asset for us on future contracts.”
