JCB has developed a 21-tonne, remote-controlled excavator.
The British equipment manufacturer built the one-of-a-kind JS220LC for Birmingham-based contractor, Coleman & Company, integrating a four-tonne multiprocessor attachment, taking the unit’s gross weight to 25 tonnes.
The wireless unit is currently being used to perform risky excavation tasks at Birmingham New Street railway station.
“We asked JCB to design a bespoke machine that could carry out specific tasks in high-risk and technically challenging environments,” said Chris Holland, technical manager at Coleman & Company.
“Nothing was ever an issue or problem. It was more a challenge the company rose to. This was very encouraging as the stakes are very high at New Street, given we’ll be operating above 12 live train lines carrying thousands of passengers per day,” he added.
The JS220LC is working 20 hours per day, and has been purposely designed for projects at the station and at the city’s Grand Central shopping centre. The excavator is currently helping to remove reinforced concrete floors to create a void beneath the terminal’s new atrium roof.
The construction firm’s contract support manager, Malcolm Hurst, said: “The remote-control machine gives Coleman & Company the option to operate in restricted and confined areas, while the operator remains in a safe location. It can be used on demolition projects that are deemed too dangerous to risk an operator in the cab, or in contaminated structures where human access is unsafe.”
In addition to its remote-control functionality and four-tonne multiprocessor, the JS220LC boasts LED lighting for night vision, a non-biodegradable safe fuel system, and a triple-articulated boom.
The JCB machine is expected to work at its current location for nine months, whereupon it will be used by Coleman & Company for other complex demolition tasks.
