Contractor prepares giant Hydrofraise cutter to excavate underground diaphragm retaining walls for a tunnel ventilation shaft.
The Hydrofraise (or Hydromill) is a giant construction machine that can weigh up to 80 tonnes, stands around 18 metres high and is a marvel of sophisticated technology. Used to build underground concrete walls (called slurry or diaphragm walls) and using onboard computer guidance, it cuts a trench using powerful hydraulic motors and rotating teeth set on twin drums through difficult ground that - when filled with concrete - create retaining walls under the surface. The absence of vibration and shock makes this system very suitable for use on urban sites. This excavation system makes it possible to drill piles panels or diaphragm wall elements in a very wide range of ground, from cohesionless soils to hard rock. A heavy metal frame, serving as a guide, is fitted at its base with two cutter drums carrying tungsten carbide tipped cutters. These rotate in opposite directions and break up the soil. A pump is placed just above the drums and evacuates the loosened soil, which is carried up to the surface by the drilling mud. A heavy crawler crane supports and manipulates the machine. It carries the power pack supplying the hydraulic power, which is conveyed through hoses to the three down-the-hole motors, two of them driving the cutter drums and the third driving the pump.
Size: 3310px × 3310px
Location: London, UK
Photo credit: © qaphotos.com / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -vi, bar, base, bentonite, borehole, boring, bottom, builder, building, cage, clean, cleanse, concrete, construction, consultant, crane, crawler, cutter, deep, diaphragm, digger, drilling, elevate, employee, engineer, engineering, equipment, erect, excavate, excavation, firma, foundation, geology, geotechnical, ground, groundwork, hard, hat, helmet, high, hoist, hose, huge, hydraulic, hydrofraise, hydromill, industrial, industry, infrastructure, lift, machinery, machines, manager, mighty, personal, ppe, project, protective, rebar, red, reinforced, reinforcement, rock, safety, site, slurry, staff, steel, structure, substratum, substructure, support, surveyor, technology, terra, trench, tube, tubular, tunneller, visibility, wall, wash, water, worker, workforce
