HGV with excavator tracks

HGV with excavator tracks

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AF1

Original Poster:

310 posts

209 months

Friday 7th May 2021
quotequote all
I was travelling on the motorway and noticed a hgv travelling in the opposite direction with a box body on and a set of excavator tracks between the wheels. I’ve seen the dual purpose vehicles whereby they can travel on road or rail but haven’t come across this set up before. Can anyone enlighten me as to what these are used for?
The vehicle in question was a red and yellow MAN TGM about an 18 tonner size. Thanks.


Parbold milkperson

276 posts

43 months

Friday 7th May 2021
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If you tell us which motorway that may give a clue as to what construction sites are nearby.

normalbloke

7,713 posts

226 months

Friday 7th May 2021
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Probably one of Fugro’s survey vehicles.

AF1

Original Poster:

310 posts

209 months

Friday 7th May 2021
quotequote all
It was the A1m Chester le street. No idea of any construction sites nearby unfortunately.

AF1

Original Poster:

310 posts

209 months

Friday 7th May 2021
quotequote all
normalbloke said:
Probably one of Fugro’s survey vehicles.
That looks like it could well be what I saw, thank you. I thought I had been seeing things when searching google did not bring anything up!

J__Wood

379 posts

68 months

Friday 7th May 2021
quotequote all
a box body - yep
set of excavator tracks between the wheels -yep
a red MAN - yep, well a shade of red
about an 18 tonner size -who knows
was it Captain Scarlet in his SPV?
https://mikepigottsdiecasttoysandmodels.wordpress....

Nickyboy

6,704 posts

241 months

Saturday 8th May 2021
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Fugro has an office near me, see them quite often

HelldogBE

285 posts

50 months

Saturday 15th May 2021
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Wikipedia can explain the technical side better than I can:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_penetration_tes...

Basically this is necessary when assessing a new build site to determine the load-bearing characteristics of the layers of soil underneath. Based on this they determine what kind of foundation will be necessary to support the building ontop: for example building on concrete poles which reach onto a deeper denser layer or needing a cellar underneath the structure to keep it from sinking away in unstable top layers. Smaller damage to a building could be cracks in the facade, floors, plaster...

The architect gives his building plan together with the results of the soil testing to a geotechnical engineer who determines the type, location en dimensions of the foundation. For a house this could be pretty straightforward, but when you want to build a plant at the edge of a waterway that utilises steel-forming presses with 100's tonnes of dynamic forces it needs proper engineering!