ElectroMech has developed a unique and cost effective bulk material handling system for the extraction and disposal of overburden generated during construction of tunnels.

Lifting solutions are an integral part of any tunnelling operation. The overburden generated during the excavation needs to be lifted securely and swiftly to the ground level so that it can be taken away to a dumping site. This is a very critical application, as any disruption in clearing the muck could cause the entire operation to shut down. Hence the equipment needs to be of utmost quality as it needs to work around the clock with extreme reliability.

ElectroMech has developed a unique and cost-effective bulk material handling system for extraction and disposal of overburden generated during construction of tunnels. This system can efficiently remove overburden generated during construction of deep shafts as well as the overburden generated during the tunneling operation itself.

Briefly the system consists of:

? A high speed, high lift winch located at ground level or on the crab of the crane
? A support structure complete with columns and gantry girder and rails
? A motorised trolley atop the gantry girder
? A lower block from which a self dumping bucket is suspended
? A heavy duty, side dumping rectangular or square cross section bucket
? A self-dumping station where the laden bucket is emptied of the overburden into dumpers for onward transportation to dump site
? All the associated electricals

These systems can be used where shafts and tunnels are constructed like water supply projects, surge shafts for dams, etc. Several such systems designed and manufactured by ElectroMech are operational at various construction sites of construction majors like HCC, Patel Engineering, Jaiprakash Industries, Unity IVRCL, Soma Enterprises, etc.

Such a system is extremely economical compared to the deployment of mobile cranes for mucking operations on account of higher throughput and cheaper running costs. Usually tunnels run to many kilometers and are located anywhere between 50 to 200 m below surface. Such tunnels are typically constructed by accessing the tunnelling zone at many locations simultaneously through vertical shafts. The topography of the surface above the tunnel normally is never at the same elevation for the entire length of the tunnel. As a result, the shaft depths vary from point to point.