The AmphiMaster is specifically designed to maneuver in marshy and swampy areas, soft terrains, and is also able to float on water.

India has a very long coastline and is blessed with a large number of rivers and lakes. Development of these areas needs earthmovers. Excavators work on land, dredgers can work in water but there is the dearth of a machine suitable for use in marshland, poor soil, and slush and water. Hence the need for a solution to have a machine which will work on land, marsh and water as well became imperative. The concept was to have a machine which will be self-propelled in water and on land and in marshy conditions, use an existing standard hydraulic excavator or a new one to reduce capital cost, be easily serviceable and have a long reach to be really effective. This concept of an amphibious excavator led us on a search for equipment to fill this gap, for a solid and robust designed, engineered and easily serviceable machine for India, according to Rajiv Metha, ACE Infrastructure.

Simply put, it will work where no other excavator or dredger will go. This opens up a huge area of application. It is possible to achieve what earlier was not possible, bringing immense advantage, competitiveness and cost reduction. There is nothing like this that we know of in the Indian market, the segments where this product is ideally suited: reservoir capacity augmentation (increasing the water retention capacity by desilting and fresh excavation); inland dredging of lakes, canals and waterways; flood control (deepen water way to reduce impact of flooding); and deepening of the river delta.

?We have incorporated many safety features on the unit; individual isolated chambers which enhance structural stability even if a flotation cell is partially damaged. Buoyancy is calculated to lend full flotation as a safety feature; the structure is balanced to minimise tipping possibility. A specially designed long reach to provide least tipping; there is a synchronous quad drive system to provide balance to the system. The machine is welded using robotic welding for weld integrity. Provision of hydraulic spuds ensures stability, and there is the provision of life jackets in the event of an operator having to bail out. Optional walk-around railings with guard rails can be provided, and last but not the least, we provide operator training in the proper use of the AmphiMaster.?

Rajiv says, ?The cost of the AmphiMaster is approximately 50 per cent cheaper than a similar-sized dedicated dredger on the capital side and on the operation side, the productivity cost is very low as compared to standard operating practice where the AmphiMaster outshines itself by especially carrying out jobs in swampy areas unlike the standard excavator. For the latter to work in a swamp, you need to either lay steel plates or logs on the soft ground. It is both expensive and time-consuming and incurs plenty of extra resources. The AmphiMaster simply walks in, does the job and walks out.?