New Hitachi excavator for large earthmoving project
Israeli contractor chooses Hitachi ZX670LCH-5 model to work on major highways project
HILKIYAHU Ltd are using a new Hitachi excavator for major earthmoving work on the Road 65 construction project in north Israel. The ZX670LCH-5 unit has already clocked up more than 1,100 working hours, excavating and loading 1.5 million cubic metres of materials on the upgraded route.
The road construction company/quarry operator, which has been established for 16 years, took delivery of the large Zaxis-5 machine from local Hitachi dealers CMD. The machine has been supplied with a 4.2 cubic metre rock bucket and two-year/6,000h extended warranty to join Hilkiyahu’s expanding fleet of seven excavators.
‘We bought the large Hitachi machine specifically for this job, as we expected that it would be ideally suited to the tough conditions and high volume of abrasive materials,’ said Hilkiyahu owner Hilki Bernstein.
‘In the past, we‘ve invested in another brand of construction machinery, but we were keen to try some Hitachi excavators as we had heard so many good things about their power and reliability. We have developed a very good relationship with CMD and Hitachi, and the ZX670LCH-5 has been an excellent addition to our fleet. It is highly durable, productive and uses less fuel than our other similar machinery.’
Road 65 is a major highway that connects the Hadera (central) and Galilee (northern) regions via the shortest and easiest route. The current project is to widen the road between the Golani and new Nahal Amud interchanges. A second carriageway is being added, which will provide two lanes in each direction, along with eight new junctions and a bridge.
‘We are working as a subcontractor on the third section of the new road, which is 13km long,’ said Mr Bernstein. ‘Our responsibility is to complete all of the earthmoving, drainage, blasting and breaking of the rocks, and add the base layers to the road, before another contractor lays the asphalt. In addition, we are operating a ZX470LCH-3 in a nearby quarry, which is supplying aggregates for the road.’
Hosam Zawa has been an operator for 20 years, the last six of which have been with Hilkiyahu, and he has been working with the ZX670LCH-5 excavator since new. ‘The large Zaxis-5 excavator is very powerful – with a strong digging force – and works quickly for moving rocks and loading dumptrucks on this busy site,’ he commented.
