AMCO Rail Lands Hat Trick Of National Rail Awards
For the third year in succession AMCO Rail’s engineering excellence has been recognised at the prestigious National Rail Awards with victory in the Innovation of the Year category.
This year’s award, which recognises excellence in developing new technologies and methodologies within the railway industry, was given to AMCO Rail’s bespoke soot scabbling machine which is revolutionising the way in which the industry is tackling a legacy problem left over from the days of steam.
Many of the tunnels on the UK network still have a thick coating of soot clinging to their linings making structural examinations difficult and potentially hiding problems. Numerous solutions have been tried over the years to tackle the problem including air jetting, water jetting and any number of brush and scraper solutions. However these have largely proved inefficient as well as having environmentally unacceptable solutions.
Step up AMCO’s Contracts Manager Dave Thomas who, working alongside AMCO’s long term engineering partner Foulstone Forge, spearheaded the design and manufacture of a new scabbling machine which is transforming the process of soot removal. Dave can be seen in the photo above, alongside Chris Scott (Foulstone Forge) accepting the award.
Simply put, this RRV based innovation consists of a high powered vacuum unit linked to a scabbling head. But as with many apparently simple innovations there is a mass of clever engineering going on behind the scenes.
The 850kg scabbling head houses 15 wire brushes made out of 450mm lengths of haulage rope which are carefully arrange to minimise both vibration and unnecessary loading to the brickwork. The head runs on four small wheels mounted on sliders which allows it to be positioned precisely to maximise soot removal while minimising any contact with the actual brickwork. The scabbling head has full 360 degree rotation allowing it to operate at any angle and clean between the OHLE brackets.
The pulverised soot is sucked away from the head by a high powered vacuum via a 300mm hose directly into 600 gauge visqueen bags meaning our operatives never have to come into contact with the waste material.
On presenting AMCO with the award the judges commented:
We were seriously impressed with this invention. It was the most innovative entry this year, with significant benefits already achieved and more to come in the future
AMCO Rail’s Managing Director, Andries Liebenberg, commented:
I am absolutely delighted that once again AMCO Rail’s dedication to delivering engineering excellence to the UK rail industry has been recognised by the National Rail Awards. Following on from our wins in 2014 and 2015 in the Civil Engineering Achievement of the Year and Maintenance Team of the Year categories this year’s win further demonstrates the breadth of AMCO Rail’s engineering expertise and our ongoing commitment to working with Network Rail to renew and maintain the UK’s vital railway network
