Whale Tankers delivers demount gully cleaners to St Helens 23 August 2011

Greater fleet utilisation and capital cost savings are two reasons behind St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council's decision to specify two new DMC (demountable medium combination) units from Whale Tankers and Econ Engineering.

The swap body system sees Whale's medium volume combination (MVC) tanker equipped with Econ's QCB (Quick Change Body) system, with body changes taking only 20 minutes.
.

Commenting on the decision to specify the DMC units – supplied on DAF 18-tonne gvw 4x2 chassis – the council's Geoff Caine says: "With the swap body system, we will now have the ability to achieve greater utilisation of the vehicles on a 24-hour basis throughout the winter period, when maintaining 760km of highways and some 34,000 gullies."

And he adds: "From here on in, gully maintenance will be achieved during the day and gritting duties throughout the evening, with the option of attaching snow ploughs when necessary.

In specifying the new DMC units, in particular due to their high pressure jetting capability, Caine reckons St Helens Council will now be able to increase operating efficiencies, while reducing its reliance on external contractors to help deliver its gully cleaning programme.

The MVC units supplied to St Helens feature twin compartment tanks to provide an overall capacity of 7,000 litres. In addition to 3,000 litres being dedicated to jetting water, the MVC also has a 4,000-litre compartment for debris.

Meanwhile, high pressure jetting is supplied by an ORCA 240 pump that delivers 120l/min at 120bar. Complete with Whale's anti-vibration gully boom control unit, each DMC features a vacuum capability delivered by a Mistral 400 series exhauster/compressor.

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Econ Engineering Ltd
Whale Tankers Ltd

This material is protected by MA Business copyright
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.