News –

Clay in rapid transit railway tunnel construction challenges drive technology

Special requirements for the conveyor belts and their drive technology: Special conveyor belt systems and geared motors are needed for the construction of the tunnels for the "London Crossrail".

Bargteheide, 2020-07-01

High resistance is not the problem, but the sticky nature of the typical "London Clay" causes special challenges for its removal: With a total length of 118 kilometres, the new "London Crossrail" rapid transit railway system includes bored underground tunnels which are several kilometres long, whose excavated material has to be removed. H+E Logistik GmbH, headquartered in Bochum, consequently uses tunnel conveyor belt systems with special plastic coatings. The conveyed material is mixed with surfactants and a special scraper system also prevents sticking.

For trouble-free operation a durable, low-maintenance conveyor drive technology and highly flexible design was also required. H+E used solutions from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS. "The geared motors on our conveyor belts must have only an extremely low failure rate. NORD meets this key requirement excellently", as Dirk Uphues, Project Manager for H+E confirms the decision for NORD. Bevel geared motors with a smooth drive shaft on both sides are used for the tunnel conveyor belts. The torque is transferred to the conveyor belts via an expansion coupling. This not only helps to keep the number of variants within limits, but also enables the conveyor belts to be used at other locations.