New Equipment for New Building Methods
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THE days of the traditional methods of building are surely numbered, and prefabrication and industrialized housing are becoming the order of the day. Road transport is keeping pace with these developments, as illustrated by the two examples on this page. Operated by Vic Hallam Ltd., Nottingham, for the erection of timber industrialized buildings, is a new 12-ton gross Kew Dodge normal-control chassis with third-axle conversion, fitted with a highlift crane, believed to be the first of its type in Europe. • The crane is an American-built Side-o-Matic, and speed of operation is the keynote. The 50-ft. boom can be extended fully in only 59 secOnds, whilst hydraulic side stabilizers and mechanical rear props enable the unit to be .suPported firmly .within Minutes of arrival on a site, allowing the crane to work through a continuous 360°.
A capacity of 1,000 lb. is provided by the five-section boom When extended fully at the horizontal;and.-a clearance Of 54 ft. is available beneath the hook when at an angle of 65. Maximum capacity with the boom retracted is 6,000 lb. Alt movements are controlled by a remote panel on a .50-ft. -cable, simplifying the precise 'placing of building components. The chassis was supplied by Kays (Derby) Ltd., and the crane was fitted in the engineering department of Vic Hallam Ltd.
The second example is a new semitrailer, developed by the Pointer Group, of Norwich. for transporting industrialized housing sections to building sites. It is 33 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, and has a skeleton frame of angle iron and rolled steel channel.. The bracing of the 10-ft.-high frame—like a roof truss— provides the greatest strength with the smallest weigh). Net weight of the trailer is 3 tons 5 cwt., and it is designed to carry loads of 16 tons. The loaded sections rest on ledges at the base of the inclined frame and are held in place with specially adapted loader hinder chains. Possible damage to the frame or the .sections is eliminated by rubber fender strips mounted on the frame.
Air brakes are fitted to the semi-trailer, which has 4-in-line 10-50 x 13 tyres of a type recently developed for heavy loads, and suspension is of the leaf-spring type. It is now in service in London transporting Taylor Woodrow-Anglian industrialized housing sections from Charlton station to the L.C.C. Woolwich housing site, where they are being used in the construction of 1.0and three-storey fiats. A further • model, capable of handling loads of 20 tons, is planned..