Look ma, no hands…or operator.
Regular readers will recall that way back in June last year we brought you some exclusive footage of a new remote controlled demolition excavator that had been developed by JCB for Birmingham-based Coleman & Company. Well that machine has now gone to work and we have some more footage of the machine in action.
The 21-tonne excavator combines a JCB JS190 upper structure with a JS220LC undercarriage and rubber track pads. The result is a machine powerful enough to deploy a 4-tonne multi processor attachment without exceeding a gross weight of 25 tonnes.
The development of the groundbreaking machine has required close co-operation between Coleman Engineering Services, dealer Gunn JCB and JCB Heavy Products in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
The new excavator is working 20 hours a day on the highly prestigious redevelopment of Birmingham New Street Train Station. It has been purpose designed for the project at the redeveloped station and Grand Central shopping centre. Its work involves the removal of existing reinforced concrete floors to create a void beneath the new atrium roof.
Coleman is the principal demolition contractor working on the Birmingham New Street project and is now in its fifth year on site. The current phase sees the removal of 6000 tonnes of mass reinforced concrete during 2014/2015. Some beams weigh as much as 80-90 tonnes and are 2.5 wide and 1.5 metres deep. Outside, on an industrial site, these would present a significant challenge – yet this project is taking place inside, directly beneath the newly constructed, multi million pound atrium steelwork structure which must be protected from all aspects of the demolition. It is also taking place within a live construction site while 140,000 people continue to travel through the station each day.
Remote control enables the operator to work the machine while positioned in a mobile elevated work platform or cherry picker above the beam being demolished allowing for close assessment of the task in hand. The integrated infra red laser fence restricts the unit’s operation to a designated safe zone preventing it from operating too near the edge of the suspended floor.
In addition, the JCB excavator also features: LED lighting for night vision, a non-biodegradable safe fuel system, TAB (triple articulated boom), range control, on board auto fire fighting equipment, on board dust suppression and a jet ski-style emergency stop pull chord.
