McFaddens goes trenchless with a n18ACS GRUNDODRILL from TRACTO
Family run Civil Engineering company, McFadden (Civils) Ltd, has over 35 years of delivering successful engineering contractions nationally and internationally, including prestigious projects for main contractors working on HS2, New Wear Bridge in Sunderland, the A6 in Ireland and a new campus for the University of Stirling.
The latter involved delivering a complicated 6.5km of watermain using open cut methods, directional drilling and trenchless technology. The pipeline was successfully installed on campus roadways, grassed areas and landscaped areas, while ensuring the University of Stirling campus water supply remained live throughout the project.
To facilitate the delivery of trenchless and HDD projects going forwards the company has invested in a sophisticated drilling rig in the shape of the TRACTO GRUNDODRILL 18ACS. The compact, 18-tonne drilling rig is nicknamed the ‘King of Rocks’ for a very good reason – its ability to tackle the most challenging terrain. It is also the ideal tool for any and all soil conditions.
It uses high strength TD73 and TD82 rods for fluid-assisted drilling and Elicon 95 twin-tube rods for rock drilling with exceptionally quick conversion between the two. The Operator is well looked after with an ergonomic cab and seat, plus 2 multi-function joysticks for all functions in bore and driving mode.
The unit was bought from TRACTO’s newest dealer, T.A.Drilling (Sales) Limited as Used Equipment. TRACTO sent trainer, Pete Atkins, to Ireland to train McFaddens machine operatives on the functionality of the machine. The training took place on a live project, which demonstrated the productivity and efficiency of the 18ACS
Desmond McFadden is Director and Owner of the business, said: “We’re delighted with the TRACTO 18ACS GRUNDODRILL. This machine can handle all ground conditions, including the hardest rock and the loosest sand. It drills quickly, accurately and efficiently. Because of its compact size, if we are installing services under roads, we can position it to one side of the road; enabling the other to remain safely open to traffic. This avoids disruption to the locality, whilst trenchless drilling in itself avoids the disruption of open cut works. TRACTO machines have a very long working life and exceptional resale value, so it was also a sensible, long term business decision to buy the machine.”
Water main installation a breeze with TRACTO 18ACS
A water mains replacement on the border of Southern and Northern Ireland was achieved swiftly and efficiently using the TRACTO GRUNDODRILL 18ACS. The compact machine was put through its paces at the start of a mains installation during an operator training day for the company, who had just bought the second-hand unit.
TRACTO Service Manager and Engineer, Pete Atkins, along with T.A.Drilling (Sales) Limited’s Service Manager, Jim Styles spent a full day working with operator, Charlie McHugh, an experienced trenchless technology technician, on a live job to demonstrate the benefits of drilling with an 18ACS. Thanks to the compact overall dimensions of the rig; a huge benefit of this particular drill, one lane of the road in Drumlitten, Co Leitrim, was able to remain open during the works, ensuring minimal inconvenience to commuters. Larger drill rigs, with similar performance characteristics, often require a full road closure – with all of the associated disruption.
A distance of 110m of 250 MDPE out of the total job of 600m was completed on day one, although, under normal operating conditions, this figure would be significantly more. The full job was completed over the next couple of days thanks to rapid adoption of the new technology.
McFaddens, who took delivery of the machine earlier this year, is a renowned national operator with extensive experience in open cut, trenchless and HDD drilling. The company wanted a machine that was capable of drilling in all ground conditions and the 18ACS switches from hard rock to soft sand with ease. The beauty of using a GRUNDRORILL 18ACS is not only superior productivity but the comfort provided for the operator by way of a full cabin with ergonomic seat and controls.
