The use of Hydra-Slide system came about when we were in search of optimizing our technique of moving heavy loads along the ground, we had been using pulling rods and hydraulic jacks for these operation and we knew of the potential hazards and limitation of these techniques. We needed a safe and flexible method that we could deploy fast in confined environments.
The Heavy Track Skidding system from Hydra-Slide is one of the best on ground heavy load shifting system available, it is suitable for any heavy loads with a rigid boy. The system is also very cost effective, for a 300 tonne load, the setup requires only a couple of sliding tracks which are 7 inches high, no big modifications to the ground needed.
It is easy to control, accurate and safety driven. It’s deployment cut back the need for manual labour interventions during its traversing operation, further reducing risk.
The most important fact for using Hydra-Slide systems are the eliminated risk from the traditional techniques used in the past. We no longer need the use of winches and greased floor for maneuvering our heavy loads in-situ, so no risk of snapping wires and slipping hazards. We have more control over the maneuvers and are less reliant on crane lifting solutions, reducing suspended load risks.
A prime advantage for us using the Hydra-Slide Heavy Track Skidding system is the edge to do in-situ shifting of heavy loads within the confined tunneling shaft where cranes have no sufficient reach to our intended load. In our case, we are not just talking about 10 or 20 tonnes of loads, we moved a fully assembled Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) main body of weight up to 500 tonnes.
Another game changing edge from Hydra-Slide is the Heavy Load Turntable system, where loads up to 1000 tonnes can be rotated on site with minimum setup footprints. No need for tender lifting techniques or heavy laying of steel plated floor with grease and winches setups, the Heavy Load Turntable system gives us more control and less setup for our in-situ turning operations.
Our most successful deployment of the Hydra-Slide systems is the in-situ U-Turn of a fully assembled TBM main body in T220 Thomson-East Coast Line. The project’s aim is to re-use the TBM machine for a parallel set of tunnels when the TBM completes the first tunnel.
In view of the lifting capability if mobile cranes, the traditional method is to disassemble the whole TBM as it breaches at the destination site and do a relaunch of the TBM on the initial site.
With our use of the Heavy Skidding system and the Turntable system, we were able to eliminate the procedure of a full disassembly and instead do a partial disassembly of the TBM main body, traverse and do a U-turn of the TBM main body and do a direct relaunch within the breaching site!
For more information about the system, do contact us via our hotline or here, alternatively do visit hydra-slide official website, our professional team will provide the best advice and assistance for your ventures with the hydra-slide system.