22 April 2019, 08:00
How does the most efficient cable and pipe laying system work?
Laying cables and pipes with the FOECK ploughing system is currently the most efficient way of laying cables and pipes safely in the ground. It is 20x faster than excavating and 5x faster than trenching. In addition, trenchless laying protects the environment and residents.
In principle, the FOECK laying system is very simple: a winch vehicle, with the strongest mobile cable winch in the world, supports itself on the terrain with a wide stabilizer plate and pulls the all-wheel drive laying plough with a constant force.
The laying unit (red) is attached to the plough blade of the laying plough so that it can adapt flexibly to any curve in the soil after penetrating the soil. The pulling machine, the FOECK Crawler or FOECK Truck, now pulls the plough with an equal force, the small Truck up to 100 tons (pulley) and the large Truck or Crawler with up to 180 tons (pulley) through any terrain and water. Since the all-wheel drive of the plough itself can generate up to 20 tons of tractive force and the large FOECK Plough, the FSP 280, can use two tractors with a double drawbar , a maximum breaking force of 380 tons is possible.
The pipes or cables can be carried on a cable reel directly on the FOECK Plough. In many cases this means that a support vehicle is not required.
Flexible and universal
The laying blade presses the ground apart with high force and lays the pipes or cables in a single work step at a depth of up to 2.500 mm in the resulting cavity, without any dangerous mechanical strain.
Here, the insertion element automatically adjusts, both horizontally and vertically to the structure of the terrain (accordion system).
The ripper shoe, which can be adjusted by remote control, regulates the installation depth. This allows an exact laying on the prescribed bottom slope. Thanks to the multi-unit installation unit, tight curve radii of up to 3 m can be achieved.
Environmentally-friendly and safe
After the laying process, the upper part of the laying slot is closed almost halfway as the ground surface is restored. The ground thereby forms a "bridge" over the cable/pipe that has been laid and protects it.
The laying material thus lies safely, without mechanical strain, after the laying process on the laying base smoothed by the FOECK Plough in the same work step.
As this laying technology does not involve any ground subsidence caused by excavating and then subsequently compacting the earth, the cable or pipe is protected against mechanical strain for many years to come, as evidenced by long-term studies. Over time, fine particles which are washed in by the rain enclose the laid pipe or cable and provide additional protection.
In the majority of cases, there is no need to remove trees and shrubs or topsoil when laying using a cable plough, which means that this method is also extremely environmentally friendly as well as providing significant economic advantages.
Source: Walter Foeckersperger GmbH