Harsco receives orders totaling $6 million for Drone Tampers
Written by jrood
Harsco Corporation said that its Harsco Rail unit has received new orders totaling close to $6 million for the company's innovative Drone Tamper, a new and industry-unique configuration that enables railways to increase their track maintenance efficiency and reduce costs.
Ballast tamping is one of
the most widely used methods for restoring track roadbed, but until now has
required the use of multiple tamping machines and operators. Harsco’s Drone
Tamper incorporates two-way wireless Ethernet technology to work behind a
conventional lead tamper as an unmanned, fully automated chase vehicle that can
tamp track roadbed without an operator onboard. A radar-controlled warning
system mounted on the Drone alerts track crews when they enter the unit’s
safety zone. Harsco engineers also designed the unit so that parts are
interchangeable between the lead tamper and the Drone, resulting in sizable
life-cycle cost savings for the customer.
The new units will be
constructed at Harsco Rail’s U.S. production facilities and delivered in three
batches. The first units will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010, the
second shipments will follow in the first quarter of 2011 and the final units
will ship in the first quarter of 2012.
Harsco Rail is the largest
provider of railway track maintenance of way services and equipment in North
America and the second largest in the world. Its operations include
facilities in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
