Norwegian contractor invests in new Hitachi equipment

Morten Gultvedt Entreprenør AS purchases new ZX490LCH-6 excavator for demanding construction project  

A NORWEGIAN construction firm has invested in a new Hitachi ZX490LCH-6 excavator to help complete a major housing project. Rock blasting and removal are being carried out on the outskirts of Oslo in order to lay the foundations for 121 new homes. 

Morten Gultvedt Entreprenør AS are overseeing the construction of the housing development in the community of Kolbotn and the ZX490LCH-6 is proving to be the ideal choice for the job.

The building process begins with seam drilling in order to blast the rock into manageable fragments. These are further broken up by the Hitachi ZX490LCH-6 excavator before being loaded on to a fleet of trucks for onward transportation. 

Once the bedrock has been completely removed, Gultvedt will prepare the groundworks. More than 30,000 cubic metres of materials are to be removed within a short time-frame, which prompted managing director Morten Gultvedt to look for a reliable large excavator that could work quickly and keep up with the rigorous workload. 

‘We needed a powerful machine to help us meet the tight deadline within the short working windows available to us,’ he said. ‘We opted for the Hitachi ZX490LCH-6 because it is ideal for the work we do. It is more than capable of handling the substantial amount of large rock. Smaller machines with less capacity would simply not have been productive enough.’

The input of Morten’s operators was also important in making the final decision. ‘At the time, we were testing a few different models,’ Mr Gultvedt continued.  ‘One of my most experienced operators advised that I had to purchase the ZX490LCH-6. In addition, they all said that not only were the hydraulics excellent, but the cab was so comfortable it was like sitting in your living room.’