100-f t. Ladders for Lancashire
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FOUR Merryweather 100-ft. hydraulicturntable ladder appliances have been ordered by Lancashire County Fire Brigade. The first has already been delivered.
Each is mounted on a Bedford chassis adapted to provide a wheelbase of 16 ft. 3 in. The cab provides good visibility , and seats a crew of three in addition to the driver. Jack-knife doors on both sides give easy access to the cab.'
The appliances are finished in red enamel and stucco aluminium. The ladders are extremely simple to operate. There are only three controls (one for each of the three main moVements), and a "loading pedal ", which brings the hydraulic system into a state of operational readiness.
Speed control is infinitely variable, and engine speed is automatically and cone tinuously controlled to give the power output required for the equipment at any given moment.
The operator is seated facing the head of the ladder, a position which gives him a good view of the field of operation and enables him to manceuvre accurately and speedily. He is in constant communication with his ladderman through the transistor-type telephone system, and is carried round with the ladders as they rotate with the control console always before him.
The console carries not only the operational levers but also includes controls, dials and indicators to provide all the information the operator requires as to ladder loading, warning tif any overload and the extent of elevation and extension.
AIR TRAFFIC BENEFITS ROAD
ROAD transport in Britain is benefiting as a result of a decision by an Icelandic fishing company to send all its fish to England by air. The fish, previously taken to Grimsby by boat—a five-day journey—will now be carried by an aircraft. it will carry at least 20 tons each week to Manchester in five hours. From Manchester it will be taken to Grimsby by road for processing and distribution.
The company, Gisli Jonsson and Co., Ltd., flew its first consignment into Manchester last week. Although it was six hours late a spokesman said that the delay would cause no trouble. On an experimental flight 10 days earlier the fish got to Grimsby so quickly that the processors complained that it was too fresh. They had to leave it for some time before they could start filleting.
SIIAP FELL DIVERSIONS nRIVERS using the A6 trunk road over
Shap Fell in the next few weeks will at times be diverted at Shap Tollbar and Kendal via Orton and Tebay because of road widening operations on Hock's Brow. A 100-yard outcrop of rock is being blasted away to permit the road to be widened to a minimum of 25 ft. The operation is part of a £60,000 improvement scheme.