Compact crusher RM60 in operation on Schneeberg mountain at Austria's highest railway station
On Hochschneeberg mountain – a popular destination for the Viennese – in Lower Austria, construction work at Austria's highest railway station has been in full swing since May 2008. This ambitious project at 1,800 metres above sea level is an enormous challenge for everyone involved. Planning permission procedures were followed by an operation carried out by the Austrian army at the end of 2007 in which 10,000 m³ of mountain rock was blasted away to make space for the new railway station. ALPINE Bau GmbH, under the group leadership of Gernot Steinberger, responsible for environmental technology and special projects, is carrying out the master builder work for this prestigious project. Site manager Florian Blaschek explained that the company decided in favour of processing and reusing this material on site in the interest of saving costs.
This called for a small, high-performance crusher that could be taken to the job site on Schneeberg mountain using the rack railway "Salamander". The decision fell in favour of an RM60 RUBBLE MASTER Compact Recycler – due to its compact design – with post-screen for classification. Weighing in at only 12 tonnes, the impact crusher arrived at the valley station early in the morning of 20 May 2008. With the assistance of service engineers from RUBBLE MASTER Marketing und Vertriebs GmbH, the RM60 was separated in three parts as one goods wagon of the "Salamander" can transport 9.5 tonnes and the other 8.6 tonnes. For this reason there were two journeys, together with a RUBBLE MASTER CS2500 final screen. One journey to the job site at the mountain railway station takes 50 minutes, with 1,218 metres of climb over a distance of 9.8 km. The two tunnels were not a problem. It was the unloading and reassembly that proved to be more difficult, as only compact equipment is in use on the job site.
Environmental protection as a principle
Environmental protection is a fundamental principle on the Schneeberg: nothing may be thrown away or contaminated in the water protection area which supplies the Viennese with their mountain spring water. RUBBLE MASTER Compact Recyclers, technology leaders for mobile recycling since 1991, fulfil exacting environmental requirements: this can be seen in the principle of mobile recycling for rock and rubble at their point of origin. Thanks to the high quality of the cubic final grain it can also be reused in a variety of applications on site. The efficient diesel-electric drive protects the environment through its smaller scaled drive unit and lower immissions. The small amount of hydraulic fluid in this machine is a further advantage
High performance from a compact size
With a performance just as impressive as that of the rack railway that carried it to the job site, the smallest RUBBLE MASTER began to process the 5,000 m³ of limestone. The compact design of the RM60 has once again demonstrated its benefits on the cramped site immediately next to the tracks. And instead of taking the natural rock down to the valley on the rack railway for it to be sent on to a recycling yard with the building material then being taken back up the mountain again (in what would have been a very laborious and time-consuming operation), the RM60 takes care of the recycling process on site. A hydraulic rock breaker is used to prepare the blasted rock so it has a feed size of up to 500 mm and a compact wheel loader tips it into the feed hopper of the RM60. The cubic value grain is then conveyed direct from the discharge belt of the crusher into the screen box of the CS2500 where it is separated into two sizes: fine 0/16 mm and coarse 10/50 mm. If the weather is good the RM60 crushes from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday, with many a hiker taking an interest in it. Rain and dense fog make the job more difficult due to the high clay content in the feed material and when screening off the fine grain. Nevertheless, around half of the limestone had been recycled by the middle of July.
Saving costs through a variety of applications
The new mountain railway station is due to be finished at the end of September. There is a wide range of possible uses for the high-quality cubic final grain: some of it is used as an antifreeze agent for the paving stones and some of it is used as backfill material for ditches, trenches and foundations. Additionally, the roof of the new railway station building will be covered with the crushed material. Due to its appropriate grain size the fine material will also be used as a concrete additive. If any gravel is left over it could then still be used in making the paths. The recycled mountain rock will also be used in making the paths from the station to the Dammböckhaus and then up to the Fischerhütte later on.
Completion by the end of September 2008
So far some 130,000 guests have visited the Hochschneeberg every year. The rack railway, which was approved for public use at the end of 1897, is regarded as a masterpiece of engineering. Diesel railcars have been in use since 1999. Their eye-catching paintwork is based on a fire salamander, which became the official emblem of the Schneeberg railway. Some of the steam locomotives feature on the timetable as nostalgia trains. The new mountain railway station - the highest in Austria - will offer guests a modern, passenger-friendly building with a panoramic view of the picturesque mountains, a museum, reception and souvenir shop plus a connection to the Hochschneeberg Berghaus. The station building has two platforms for the "Salamander" inside and there will be a platform outside for the nostalgia train.
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Published by: HMH / RUBBLE MASTER, Austria, July 2008