Gulf Construction Online - Volvo loaders ease work at landfill site

Northern Emirates

The L220D ... at work on site.

Volvo loaders ease work at landfill site

01 November 2001

Ras Al Khaimah Municipality has taken delivery of two purpose-ordered Volvo L220D wheel loaders - the first in the UAE - for the construction of a significant state-of-the-art US EPA-specifications landfill site in the most northern of the seven UAE emirates.

The new Jazeira Al Hammra located 'fill' site is some 20 km from the city of Ras Al Khaimah in an open desert area.

The project will eventually comprise a total of 12 landfill 'cells'. Currently, the municipality is preparing cell No 1. The borrowed material for the fill is being excavated from cell No 12 over an area of 500 m by 150 m and to a depth of 3 m.

The RAK Municipality is relying on the two newly-delivered Volvo L220D wheel loaders to service a large fleet of rigid construction dumptrucks in the major earthmoving exercise.

Supplied in a package financed by the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry, the two loaders are the first in the UAE and were ordered through the local dealer Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company (Famco).

Both loaders are fitted with 5.2 cu m buckets - a size not generally associated with 10-tonne larger competitive units - to ensure a high productivity rate, according to a spokesman for Volvo Construction Equipment, the manufacturer of the loaders.

''Working with a fleet of 20 cu m trucks, the loaders are able to fill a truck with just two loads and are working seven days a week,'' the spokesman explains. ''With a heaped capacity of 22 cu m, the trucks move the sand the short haul distance to the adjacent cell No 1.

The excavated sand is being used to provide material for the 300,000 cu m side wall liner support structures to a height of 20 m, and a final side slope grade of 3:1.

''Another area in which the L220D comes into its own on the project has been final trimming of side slope at a grade of 3:1, 20 m high,'' says the spokesman. ''One of the operators, Wali Khan has been able to maintain line and grades on filled slope to 10 cm for which specialised gradial type of equipment would have been rented in normal circumstances.''

Using infill 'refuse' from across Ras Al Khaimah, the authorities anticipate that it will take up to three years to fill cell 1, by which time additional areas will have been prepared.

Equipment site supervisor for landfill excavation Mr Taysser, has been impressed with the Volvo L220D's performance.

"It is able to achieve and maintain very fast cycle times," he says.

The site engineer, Arif Ahsan has been particularly impressed with the precision finishing of the line and grades with this machine.

RAK Municipality (PWD) workshop foreman, Salim Bou Nicholas, whilst recognising that both units are new, has been very pleased with the units' reliability, performance and ease of maintenance. He adds: "The operators have also expressed favourable comments about comfort and especially the cab air-conditioning."

The order for the two loaders was partly placed as a result of the municipality's experience with the four L150 wheel loaders delivered four years ago, and today working in a variety of applications across the emirate.

Volvo Construction Equipment is a major international company developing, manufacturing and marketing equipment for construction and related industries. Its products, considered to be leaders in many world markets, include a comprehensive range of wheel loaders, hydraulic excavators, articulated haulers, motor graders and compact equipment. VCE is part of the Volvo Group, a world leading manufacturer of trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine and industrial engines, and aerospace systems and components.