U Mole Expands Suction Excavation Options

U Mole (a division of Vp plc) has announced the delivery of a new MTS CitySucker to Brenchley Civil Engineering Ltd of Farlington, near Portsmouth.

Brenchley Civil Engineering is an established contractor that carries out works for the likes of Colas Ltd., Portsmouth City Council, Southern Electric Contracting and Windsor and Maidenhead Council including highway maintenance and street lighting works.

Brenchley Civil Engineering has used vacuum excavation on its SSE South Coast Street Lighting PFI contract for the last three years and believes that on a contract that involves digging down on live cables in congested footways of up to a thousand excavations per week there is no safer or cleaner way to carry out its operations.

Based on the standard Single Fan 32,000 m3/h air flow option outlined below, the unit obtained by Brenchley differs from the ‘off-the-shelf’ system because, as part of the purchase route, Brenchley partner, Paul Marples, took an active role in the design process for the unit, including paying a visit to the MTS factory during the build stages of the machine.

The unit purchased by Brenchley used the ‘tip-to-bag option  that is available with the CitySucker as well as having a twin hose reel positioned towards the rear of the vehicle, a position protected by the rear bumper (fender), for ease of access and use by the operators.

Commenting on the design, build, purchase process and future use of the unit Marples said: “Vacuum Excavation has been the way forward for Brenchley and the purchase of the City sucker will enable us to use this method of works in built up towns and keep Brenchley ahead of our competitors.”

Design Options

The compact CitySucker excavation unit can be supplied in various formats including:

a) MTS Single high performance fan system which offers:

• The MTS F 25,000.00 fan with an air flow volume of up to 25,000 m3/h and a negative pressure of up to 17,000 Pa with fan blade wheels made of high abrasion proofed steel, including the coupling
• Turbine power of 110 kW
• Integrated FES (Fuel Economy System)
• A central lubrication system for the turbines
• A drive powered by an intermediate gear transfer box

b) MTS Single high performance, ‘high speed’ fan which offers:

• The MTS F 32,000.00 fan with an air flow volume of up to 32,000 m3/h and a negative pressure of up to 22,000 Pa, again with fan blade wheels made of high abrasion proofed steel, including the coupling
• Turbine power of 120 kW

This system also includes, as above, the Integrated FES (Fuel Economy System), Central lubrication system for turbines and a drive powered by an intermediate gear transfer box, as does the third unit option:

c) The MTS Twin 710-mm diameter high performance fans which offer:

• Twin MTS F 22,000.00 fans with an air flow volume of up to 21,000 m3/h and a negative pressure of up to 28,000 Pa with fan blade wheels made of high abrasion proofed steel, including the coupling
• Turbine power 120 kW

As well as these various options, the units also have twin circuit hydraulic systems that operate the boom and compressor that uses hydraulicoil HLP 46. The belt driven, oil cooled compressed air system uses a rotary compressor for up to 7 bar air pressure with 4 m3/min air flow. There are two oiled and non-oiled air tool connections at the rear of the vehicle.

The unit’s spoil system has a 2 m3 capacity and is a hydraulically operated rear tipping spoil hopper. A water valve is available in the hopper if required and the hopper can tip to ground or into bags.

The full telescopic suction boom arm has a fully hydraulic opening and tipping operation that can be used with a fully proportional radio control unit. The boom swivels through 180o and extends to 2.8 m. On units with a single fan there is a 250 mm diameter hose and with the twin fan set up the hose is 200 mm diameter.

The unit also offers a dust free filtration system, using three-stage self-cleaning. Known as the MTS High capacity filter system fitted (EU Patent) the system comprises:

• Three-stage MTS high capacity filter system with automatic electronically controlled pulse jet filter cleaning system
• 98 percent Physical separation of suction material before filters
• 125 m2 fine filter area with washable polymer filter
• The Filter chamber empties when tipped

The MTS CitySucker is also equipped with an exhaust silencer and numerous well located and easy access storage boxes and frames.

The control system is easy to operate and the electrical controls use:

• Electrical control with SPC/PLC technology
• Remote diagnostics of entire controller for fast fault location
• Plain text error display as standard
• Integrated SIM card and unlimited time

The unit is also supplied with various tools and support equipment including a Suction hose cleaner, Air Lance, Greasing device and an Air Spade.

In terms of economy the fuel system is set up to use both red and white diesel for economic operation both during transport to and from site and during site operation. Using a built-in twin tank fuel system the unit operation switches automatically between white and red diesel use when the hand brake is closed or opened.

Commenting on the sale of the MTS CitySucker unit to Brenchley, U Mole sales and marketing director Frank Gowdy said: “The MTS CitySucker is a neat, compact unit for use in tighter urban situations and limited access sites where our larger excavation units might find difficulty operating or maneuvering. So, it is a significant expansion in the suction excavation options we now have on offer. This very maneuverable, quiet and yet highly productive system will enable our clients, both on the hire side or as purchased equipment, to complete jobs that they may not otherwise have been able to attempt, and all whilst causing minimum disruption to the local area, its population and the environment.”

Equipment Range

U Mole is the direct factory U.K. and Ireland distributor for Earth Tool equipment offering the company’s full range of products for trenchless installation and pipeline replacement. This range includes impact moles (earth piercing tools), pipe ramming hammers, twin capstan winches, static rod pipe bursting systems and the portable cable-based, hydraulic pipe burster range.

U Mole also supplies a full and extensive range of trenchless and limited dig equipment including: Suction/vacuum excavation systems (including various other MTS systems alongside Vac-Tron systems) and surface coring equipment for the ‘Keyhole’ excavation of utilities and services with minimum disruption to the local area and minimum damage to the buried service. Other trenchless related equipment available includes the market leading Robbins SBU equipment, Pipe to Site coiled pipe trailer range, pipe fusion systems, Reed Tools and a complete range of accessories such as Cobra flexible rodding, towing heads, cable socks, pipe pigs, swivels, breakaway connectors etc. 

Thisarticle was provided by U Mole, Cambs, United Kingdom.