Recoverable Trackway Demonstrated
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A NEW recoverable trackway developed by the War Office and, manufactured by Saro (Anglesey) Ltd., of Beaumaris, Anglesey, has now been released for commercial use.
The trackway was designed by the War Office to permit the movement over soft ground of vehicles up to a gross weight of 30 tons with a maximum axle load of 12 tons. With other equipment, it was shown to contractors for the first time on Wednesday on the boggy foothills of Snowdonia, near Llanddeiniolen, Caernarvonshire. The demonstration was arranged by the Central Electricity Generating Board to show bow contractors can meet schedules, particularly in the construction of grid pylons, with the minimum damage to fields and crops.
The Saro trackway is available with spool equipment for loading on a platform vehicle which would enable it to lay 165 ft. in five minutes and rewind in little more than that time. But for the small user the same track is available in 11-ft. wide by 9-in. units. By adding further 9-in. units a trackway can be completed at a cost of approximately £13 per foot run. The weight of the trackway, which is in extruded aluminium alloy, is 45 lb. per foot run and in army use has been found to have.a life of approximately 10,000 passes. Initial cost is offset by a 20 per cent scrap value.
A staff member of The Commercial Motor saw the trackway laid in minutes and driven over immediately at speed by a Bedford with a 4-ton load. Yet when walking, a man sank 6 in. into the bog, and a standard vehicle with 2-ton load became bogged down almost immediately.