Breaking out of the dock

R Thornton Demolition used an Atlas Copco HB5800 breaker, supplied via Sandhurst Equipment Rental, to break out concrete during a dock extension project at Able UK’s Seaton Port complex in Hartlepool. The breaker was teamed up with Thornton’s 60 tonne Cat 365C excavator to provide a powerful and capable combination. Thornton was engaged by Able to carry out the extension to the dock, normally used for ship dismantling operations, to allow the future decommissioning of four offshore drilling platforms.

The dock is being extended inland meaning that several thousand cubic metres of strong concrete had to be broken up and removed to a tight deadline. Using the HB5800/365C combo, Thornton was able to achieve an output of 800 cubic metres per day, allowing the company to remain precisely on schedule to complete the work.

“Matching our 60 Tonne Cat 365 with Sandhurst’s big Atlas Copco breaker turned out to be the perfect combination of two immensely powerful pieces of equipment” said R Thornton’s Nick Heads, “and exactly what we needed to complete the job in six weeks of hard breaking."