High energy maintenance: using truck mounted booms

German energy supplier, RWE Power AG has bought a Ruthmann Steiger T370 articulating truck mounted boom to inspect and maintain its huge brown-coal dredgers.

The eight aging dredgers extract between 160000 and 240000 tons of brown coal per day from an open pit coal mine in Hambach in Germany's Rhineland Region and they need continual monitoring and maintenance.

The dredgers are 220 m long and 92 m at the highest point, many of the areas that need to be inspected are difficult to reach. Ongoing control work is mostly performed on wiring, weld seams, screw connections and cable systems.

According to Mr Ehlers, who is responsible for the repair of production machinery at RWE in Hambach, the Steiger T 370 was chosen because of its extremely adjustable and versatile boom system and moveable cage. "Because of its special configuration and Mercedes Benz off-road chassis, the T 370 completely satisfies the needs of all our control, care and maintenance staff," says Mr Ehlers.The T 370 has a 37 m working height and a 30 m lateral outreach with a working cage load of 100 kg. The telescoping upper and lower boom and the moveable jib allows the operator to reach areas which, up until now, could only be reached using more cumbersome methods, such as scaffolding.

"Control work is mostly done on specific areas of concern, so in most cases it is not economically feasible to erect extensive scaffolding. The Ruthman Steiger T 370 provides exceptionally efficient service without compromising safety," says Mr Ehlers.

Additional benefits of the T 370 include the stabilising jacks which can be extended very quickly and can be equipped with an automatic set-up device with a high lifting capacity. The sizable jack lift enables the aerial platform to be safely operated even when positioned on a 1 degree slope.