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Drainage vehicles What do they bring to the industry?
When one looks at the title of this article it would be easy to think ‘Vehicles - well what do they bring, they are only vehicles’. The answer to that, when one looks a bit closer, is pretty much everything!
Then again it should be very obvious why this is the case. Sewers and drains are not objects that can be brought into the workshop for maintenance or repair and they must be installed where they are needed not just where it is convenient. This means that whatever the circumstance staff, equipment and materials have to be brought to and removed from site. This means transport.
HUGE VEHICLE RANGE
It may be useful here to perhaps have a look at the range of vehicles that we are talking about. In reality this could probably form the basis of a book let alone an article but we will have a go, just to highlight how huge the range of vehicles is that can be used to service the drainage industry. We will start at the smaller end of the scale.
As has just been said the purpose of vehicles in the drainage sector is to get staff equipment and materials to and from site. At the smallest end of the scale this can mean anything form a small works van carrying a couple of workers with some shovels and an equipment selection to a van load of personnel with some of the more portable equipment such a jack hammers, hoses,
road signage, cones etc. depending on the size of the job in hand, to the ‘white van man size transit type where the works are larger scale there may be a need for more equipment or more personnel.
These vans can also be used to transport larger pieces of equipment such as mini-diggers and the like but this is now becoming more regulated with the need for drivers to be aware of the restrictions on weight of the combined van and trailer and the requirements of the correct licenses for such transport operations.
Where the range of vehicles supporting the industry goes from this basic transport need really then depends on the type of work being undertaken. So, let us subdivide the industry sectors and see where we go. There will of course be overlaps between the various industry sectors with some vehicles being required on more than one subsector.
VEHICLES FOR NEW INSTALLATION OPERATIONS
The need for personnel and equipment can vary greatly o site depending on the size of the project in hand. But for new installations, in general there is a need to transport not only staff and equipment but also pipes, shaft/manhole sections, jointing equipment, pipe bedding materials, backfill and where the installation is under roadways or pavements new black top or pavement.
The range of vehicles is therefore extremely wide with the need for flat-bed trucks for larger pipe, shaft segments as well as excavation equipment and trucks for the transport of the ‘dry’ materials use for bedding, backfill and surface reinstatement materials. This is particularly true for any open cut operations that are used for the new installation. Other materials can be transported in the van previously mentioned.
Where there is a growing difference is the increasing use, particularly in urban situations, of trenchless techniques for new installations.
Here the need for materials transport remains somewhat the same but where HDD or microtunnelling system may be used for the installation there may be the need for container transport facilities also which will also often
4 drain TRADER | October 2017 |
www.draintraderltd.com
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