Scania and Safetech take to the skies

Servicing mining vehicles is a highly specialised, tedious and dangerous task as it usually involves technicians working around massive machinery that can weigh up to 450 tonnes.

To allow the task to be carried out safely and efficiently, materials handling solutions company, Safetech, has created a truck mounted elevated work platform (EWP) that is highly-manoeuvrable on rough surfaces, and is capable of remaining in place long enough to undertake significant onsite, in-situ maintenance.

For this project, Safetech has worked closely with Scania trucks to custom build a solution that involves mounting the EWP on a Scania XT truck, which has been designed specifically for off-road use.

Choosing Scania was a no-brainer for the mining company as it already runs a fleet of Scania vehicles for support and servicing purposes.

According to Safetech Business Development Manager, Chris White, the unit was the biggest EWP the company has built so far on the back of a vehicle.

“One of the benefits for the mining operators is that traditionally while working on the large mining excavators and haul trucks, the technicians have had to climb up the stairways several times each day to access the service areas, while carting all their gear and the service components,” he said.

“Now the platform will lift them directly to the correct height, so there will be less potential for slips, or strains.”

The EWP is capable of raising a service crew up to 11m into the air and is able to traverse the platform laterally as much as 3m. It has a payload of 1.5 tonnes, allowing multiple service technicians and their tools to be lifted safely to where they need to go to inspect machinery or even infrastructure.

The platform sits securely on stout outriggers that descend directly from the chassis, rather than extending outwards, giving the platform a more compact footprint. The front of the truck is elevated off its wheels, while at the very rear, a pair of hydraulic outriggers supports the truck as it sits on its rear wheels, or they can be deployed to lift the entire truck off the ground.

Electronic adjustment allows the truck to be levelled out before extending the platform upwards for greater stability.

“We have designed the safety gates to be wide enough opening that a forklift can load a pallet onto the platform,” White said.

“The platform can be left in an elevated position all day if necessary, allowing the maintenance crew to leave their tools and equipment in place if working on a particularly long job,” he said.

The build took around three months and was assisted by the Scania factory to ensure the chassis was ready to accept the Australian body, including for example, the correct power take off installation.

“This has been an intricate build,” White said.

“We had to engineer the ladder system, the vehicle self-levelling system as well as the platform traverse system, the on-board controls and the hydraulics, so it has required a broad set of skills.”

The Scania P 380 XT is fitted with a Day Cab and uses a 6x4 chassis configuration, powered by a Euro 5-compliant, 6-cylinder engine. The truck weighs around nine tonnes, with platform and associated systems adding another six tonnes, easily allowing for a payload on the platform of up to 1.5-tonnes.

In addition to tie-downs, control panels and safety gates, the platform also features compressed air lines on retractable spindles and work lights, as well as a non-slip extruded aluminium floor.

Scania’s Business Manager for Mining, Rene Van Oppen, said the Scania XT fits the application to a T.

“The New Truck Generation Scania XT is designed for hard work, and it comes with a number of features that make it perfect for mining operations,” he said.

“Aside from the protruding steel front bumper, the 40-tonne rated tow hitch and the high riding chassis, the cabin delivers excellent visibility for the driver.

“When you’re backing up or parking among big machines you need great all-round vision, and the XT really delivers here.”

Van Oppen said Scania puts a lot of effort into being easy to integrate with body control modules as well as securing a body to the chassis.

“And because there are many Scania trucks in operation on mine sites, it makes sense for mining operators to specify the Scania as the workhorse for this EWP concept,” he said.

“Since beginning this project with Safetech there has been a lot of industry interest in the concept, and we are confident that other mining operators around the county and potentially across the globe, will be able to see the benefits of this EWP design.

“This gives mining operators so much more flexibility, as well as the opportunity to reduce downtime on their big machines or infrastructure, so it could literally save them millions of dollars per year.”