Chepstow Plant add more Volvo machines to their fleet
BLUE chip plant contractors Chepstow Plant International (CPI), who specialize in high-production projects in the UK and abroad, have taken delivery of a package of five Volvo A40D articulated haulers, a Volvo EC460B excavator rigged for mass-excavation duties, together with the first 70-tonne Volvo EC700BLC to go to work in the UK.
The 46-tonne excavator and five A40D trucks have gone to work as a team of prime movers at a china clay pit on the outskirts of Plymouth. All five ADTs are fitted with Prolec weighing devices to give accurate tonnage figures for the various types of material being moved around the site.
Offering a payload capacity of 37 tonnes, the A40D articulated hauler is equipped with a Volvo 12-litre, turbocharged, high-performance, low-emission diesel engine developing 420hp and featuring an electronically controlled injection pump and intercooler. The engine develops high torque at low engine speed, making the hauler easy to manoeuvre in difficult terrain. Moreover, the machine has all-wheel drive and 100% differential-locks, giving the operator a number of driving options.
The Volvo EC460BLC is also powered by a 12-litre engine, this time developing 321hp. Equipped with a mass-excavation boom and arm, the machine is fitted with a heavy-duty 3.2m³ capacity rock bucket and offers a maximum breakout force of 267.7kN.
Meanwhile, the first Volvo EC700B to go into service in the UK has been deployed on an ongoing quarry contract on the edge of the Forest of Dean, where it joins other Volvo machines supplied and operated by CPI. Replacing a competitive model, the 70-tonne excavator has taken over as prime mover loading around 800,000 tonnes per annum of blasted limestone into rigid dumptrucks.
Designed from the ground up, with extensive input from customers around the world, the ‘next-generation’ Volvo EC700B is powered by a Volvo D16C EAE3 engine, which delivers 464hp at 1,800 rev/min. The Tier 3-compliant engine utilizes the Volvo Advanced Combustion Technology (V-ACT) power system, matched with Volvo hydraulic systems, to provide high digging and crowding forces and smooth operation in all conditions.
The unit supplied to CPI is rigged with a 6.6m mass-excavation boom, a 2.9m stick and a 4.4m³ capacity heavy-duty rock bucket. Maximum breakout force is 374kN while maximum reach and digging depth in this configuration are 11.5m and 7.25m respectively. In addition, for quarry duties, full guarding has been provided around the upper structure and the entire machine benefits from automatic lubrication.
