Rermag 3404 Atlas Copco Web 1
Rermag 3404 Atlas Copco Web 1
Rermag 3404 Atlas Copco Web 1
Rermag 3404 Atlas Copco Web 1
Rermag 3404 Atlas Copco Web 1

Demolition job in Belgium uses an Atlas Copco HB 7000 and AutoControl

May 20, 2009
Demolition work is often associated with brute force. Professionals know better and opt for a more sensitive approach. Demolition work not only requires a fair amount of experience and a proper understanding of what has to be done. The right kind of equipment and experienced operators make the difference if the work carried out on a construction is to be efficient. That demolition work is a discipline taken seriously and demonstrated by the contractors De Meuter from Ternat in Belgium. The company utilizes http://link.argifocus.com/0V4-113 Atlas Copco Construction Tools in its demolition jobs.

Demolition work is often associated with brute force. Professionals know better and opt for a more sensitive approach. Demolition work not only requires a fair amount of experience and a proper understanding of what has to be done. The right kind of equipment and experienced operators make the difference if the work carried out on a construction is to be efficient. That demolition work is a discipline taken seriously and demonstrated by the contractors De Meuter from Ternat in Belgium. The company utilizes Atlas Copco Construction Tools in its demolition jobs.

“Nowadays demolition contractors have to meet increasingly stringent standards”, said Aster De Meuter. “Sometimes we have to gut office buildings, which are not completely vacated and must remain operational. In such cases noise is a major handicap. That is why we often use Atlas Copco vibrosilenced hydraulic breakers, which are designed to be silent.”

For De Meuter the safety of its own staff and that of third parties is particularly important. But also the site location, the condition of the building, the handicaps related to the annoyance caused by noise, dust and vibrations as well as the ability to recycle most of the demolition material are all criteria that call for a substantial amount of experience.

The demolition of the IPM building in the Jacqmainlaan in Brussels housing the old printing shop of the La Libre Belgique newspaper is a good example. At the time the building was constructed, the foundations for the printing presses inside the printing shop were conceived as very thick concrete slabs. They were more than 2 meters thick and consisted of heavily reinforced concrete with an extraordinary high rebar density.

A demolition of these foundations required an extra powerful hydraulic breaker. “Usually our heavy-duty Atlas Copco HB 3000, which is part of our standard machinery, should fill the bill”, said De Meuter. “But the particularly durable structure of the foundations and the location of the site in the hearth of Brussels required a different approach.”

After a few days the progress achieved with two 4-ton hydraulic breakers was behind schedule and a different solution had to be found. The Atlas Copco HB 7000 seemed to be a good alternative. “With the AutoControl feature it was exactly the breaker we needed: an automatic change-over of the number of blows controlling the impact energy to impact frequency ratio in such a way that the maximum performance was available at all times with a minimum of disturbance for the vicinity,” said De Meuter. In hard material the AutoControl increases the impact energy and decreases the impact frequency. As soon as the reinforced concrete gives way, the impact energy is reduced and the impact frequency is increased.

Experience shows that the special combination of impact energy and impact frequency is the decisive element boosting demolition progress and minimising the disturbance caused by noise, vibration and dust.

For more information, check the box for Reader Service No. 113 at http://www.freeproductinfo.net/rer.