NEWS

The following is an extract from the December 2008 Issue of  LAPV Magazine

HA's New Pre-wet fleet ready to roll

The first Romaquip spreaders for the HA are destined for the north of England. The Ireland-based manufacturer of spreaders and snowploughs, prides itself on thinking outside the box, explains John McKeown, the company’s Technical Director.

This year the company will be supplying 45 Ultima spreaders for Area10, which encompasses Chesire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and South Lancashire.

In addition, RomaQuip is manufacturing 70 Ultima snowploughs for the HA.

John McKeown says the snowplough design presented an interesting technical challenge. The HA required a clearing width of three metres, meaning that the plough would be over 3.7 metres long.

The contract also stated a preference for a plough that could stow within the width of the vehicle, a design challenge which the company’s team of engineers was eager to seize.

The solution is a plough that stows neatly within the vehicle width through clever geometry without any central folding or sides folding.

McKeown explains that there are no sensors or angle measurement systems with the design which has a patent pending. “The deflector had to be hydraulically adjustable to enable us to meet the stowed footprint, because when the snowplough is at operational angle the deflector protrudes beyond the 2.5 metre width of the vehicle.

Therefore we needed to devise a method of folding the plough backwards, so that it would sit back within the vehicle footprint. The benefit of this is a variable salt deflector which you can adjust to conditions,” he explains.

The pre-wet spreaders have a 10.5m³capacity, with a live drive on the MAN truck driving the hydraulic functions on the hydraulic pump and all the hydraulic functions on the spreading vehicle and the plough. The hydraulic motors are fully encased in stainless steel, none are exposed to the elements. Stainless steel hydraulic pipes are used predominantly on the vehicle, which are extremely reliable and ensure a long operating life. He adds that this is a leak proof system, similar to technology used on the MOD’s atomic submarines and tanks.

“One of the main problems in a spreader is the failure of the hydraulic pipes,” says Mckeown. “Pipes can quiet easily suffer from salt leeching into the interior metal reinforcement of the hydraulic pipes, leading to corrosion of the steel braiding and to pipes failing. We use stainless steel hydraulic fittings and a very high grade hydraulic pipe which is up to 2000 times more resistant to surface damage than a hydraulic hose.”

He continues that the hydraulic pipe construction derives from the mining industry where reliable pipe is needed for areas where it is very difficult and costly to change hydraulic hoses.

Romaquip’s emphasis on reliability is further highlighted by the choice of components in the hydraulic system.

Any failure in the hydraulics could result in 150 litres of hydraulic oil being dumped onto the road. Further safety measures have been added to these high-tech spreaders to safeguard against such scenarios.

For example, a sensor system in the hydraulic tank monitors oil levels to ensure they remain within safe operational parameters. If the level drops below the preset values at speed, this indicates a hose burst/fault. The control panel alerts the driver to park the vehicle on the hard shoulder as quickly as possible. In addition, the system enables a dump valve on the hydraulic pump to send the oil back to the hydraulic tank rather than back into the hydraulic system. Again Romaquip has a patent pending on this feature, says Mckeown: “It really heightens the safety of ths vehicle. We have a team of highly motivated young engineers who are very able and who are actively encouraged to look at design from a completely new angle, with a special focus on safety. The machines primary function is to leave the road surface safer for the public, and everything we can do to enhance that is very positive,” concludes Mckeown.

The full article can be seen in the December 2008 issue of LAPV.

Please visit www.lapv.co.uk  for more information.