Weighbridges meet exacting opencast mining demands

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 9, 2003

Two 15m, 80t Eurodeck weighbridges are helping leading opencast mining expert Crouch Mining maintain its position as one of the largest producers of surface coal in the UK.

Two 15m, 80t Eurodeck weighbridges supplied by weighing specialist Weightron Bilanciai are helping leading opencast mining expert Crouch Mining maintain its position as one of the largest producers of surface coal in the UK.

The name of Crouch Mining has been synonymous with surface mining for half a century and the company operates three sites under contract to UK Coal.

Crouch already had extensive experience with Weightron products and service backup at its Chalmerston and Pennyvenie sites, so when it needed to purchase two additional bridges for new sites at Burnfoot Moor in Ayrshire and Ferry Moor in Yorkshire, the company had no hesitation in turning to Weightron again.

As Crouch's Operations Director, Adrian Booth, explains: "The Weightron Eurodeck bridges met our requirements not only in terms of price, but also technical specifications and support.

There are several stages in the production cycle so accurate and reliable weighing is a vital part of the overall operation.

We needed weighbridges of sufficient size and strength to cater for both road vehicles and site coal haulage vehicles.

The raw coal is weighed as it is brought by 35t capacity Volvo ADTs from the coal face and then again after processing, before being transported off site by road-going HGVs.

The operating environment is extremely rugged and the mine operates five and a half days a week, 46 weeks a year.

Given the capacity of the sites, each bridge carries out around 400 weighings a week".

The solution offered by Weightron offers important design features for Crouch.

Unlike most conventional weighbridges, the Eurodeck does not use large longitudinal steel beams, which can restrict the width of vehicles being weighed.

Instead the design is made up of 7.5 or 9m sections which feature a larger number of smaller beams supporting a 10mm deck.

These beams run lengthways, consistent with traffic flow, and have sufficient depth that they do not need stiffening plates.

This gives a consistent, well-drained weighing surface, avoiding a build up of condensation.

The bridges supplied to Crouch are 3.5m wide and can therefore accommodate the large off-road vehicles.

With a capacity of 80t, there is significant overengineering of all the components ensuring long-term trouble-free operation.

The weighbridges use Weightron Bilanciai's own fully weld sealed stainless-steel rocker-pin load cells which provide excellent performance and reliability.

The baseplates have insulating discs which provide electrical isolation to minimise the effects of lightning strikes and sealing rings prevent any debris entering the bases.

The full glass to metal cable entry seal and stainless bellows ensure full sealing to IP68.

The rocker-pin concept provides an effective energy restoring system which ensures the weighbridge deck returns quickly to equilibrium after the vehicle has driven onto the weighbridge.

The Eurodeck is available in standard lengths of 9, 15 and 18m with capacities up to 80t.

Bespoke bridges with lengths up to 24m and 100t capacity are also available.

Special attention is paid to the paint finish and hot dip galvanised steel work can be supplied for applications in particularly harsh environments.

As Adrian Booth concludes, "We expect a lot from our equipment and any problems are expensive in terms of lost production.

The Weightron bridges are operating without problem and the comprehensive service backup gives us total peace of mind".