Hyundai machines demolish former home of Ernie the Premium Bond computer
Ernie. No, not the fastest milkman in the west but the nickname for the super computer used by National Savings and Investments to pick out the winning Premium Bonds numbers has moved to a new home. Its former home, less than 100m away, has recently been demolished by Preston based contractors Pete Marquis.
The huge reinforced concrete building sat on a picturesque site adjacent to the large Marton Mere caravan park on the outskirts of the seaside town of Blackpool. The building is now down and the site cleared and up to 160 houses will be constructed on the site.
The Pete Marquis team were out in force completing the demolition of the building which once sprawled across the site and included an eight-storey tower which dominated the local skyline. Recently, the company has purchased a number of Lehnhoff Lehmatic quick coupler systems for their smaller demolition spec’d excavators and one of these examples was on site undertaking the secondary processing of a huge pile of reinforced concrete material.
The varied range of equipment on site was dominated by three recent additions to the fleet from Hyundai. Wanting to expand the larger offerings of excavator in the fleet, Marquis has recently purchased a pair of Hyundai R520 and a slightly smaller R480 excavator from local dealer Taylor and Braithwaite.
Not wanting the massive expense of having to invest in three brand new machines of this size, the company looked at acquiring good quality used examples of which T&B were able to source from various sources around the country.
At the time of our visit the two larger excavators were working side by side removing the last of the extremely heavy footings. One equipped with a Geith ripper tooth, the other with a new Rammer 5011 5 tonne hammer were extricating the large lumps of concrete and breaking them into more manageable pieces before being fed into the mobile crushers.
Both large excavators were working well within their capabilities to remove the concrete footings with the large Rammer hammer carried with aplomb by the 52 tonne excavator. Both R520 machines are -9 models and have been supplied with full FOGs guarding to the cab along with superstructure side impact protection. Geith quick hitches, auxiliary pipework and a fixed leg bracket complete the heavy duty demolition specification.
The third of the large Hyundais recently arrived on the fleet is a slightly smaller R480-9A machine. Powered by a 12 litre Cummins QSX diesel delivering 277kW, the 48.1t machine was being used to load the Terex Finlay jaw crusher with the concrete arisings from the demolition work. Fitted with a heavy duty, 2.5m3 bucket the Hyundai was steadily loading the jaw crusher with material. Despite the best work from the hammer equipped machine, the crusher was having to deal with pieces of rebar in the concrete. Similarly equipped to the larger machines, the R480 was supplied with a FOGs guard and full auxiliary pipework with the only difference being a Miller hitch in lieu of the Geith versions. Sitting on top of a pile of material, regular operator of the 480, Marshall Ford was able to use the machine to its full capabilities. With a 16m reach and 12m dig depth he was able to bring in the material from a wide radius around the machine and was still able to sit a safe distance from the crusher hopper when loading. All three machines have had a constant presence on the NS&I project and have been extremely reliable since their arrival.
Where Taylor & Braithwaite believe they excel above and beyond may dealers is their personal service and dedication to back up and service. “We have our fitters based in strategic locations to allow us to cover our area quickly and effectively.” Explains T&B’s Kevin Bell “We like our fitters to get to know our customers personally and vice-versa. It is better for the customers to be able to speak to the fitters directly should there be a problem with anything. This also goes up the management ladder and should it be needed; our directors will always answer their phones to sort a problem out.
As an environmentally conscientious contractor, Marquis has endeavoured to recycle as much material as possible from the project. Soft stripping the building prior to demolition has ensured the material removed has not been contaminated and can be recycled or reused where possible. The concrete and masonry from the project has been run through the two large mobile crushers on site will be used in the construction phase of the forthcoming project.
