Carrying
Page 45
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Hot Tarmac in Portable Containers AN interesting type of vehicle specially constructed to the design of the Surrey County engineer, Mr. W. P. Robinson, has recently been supplied to the highways and bridges department for use in connection with the surfacing of roads with tarmac, which is applied hot.
The chassis used is a Leyland Hippo six-wheeler with a capacity of 10 tons, and having a sixcylindered engine developing 72.7 b.h.p. at 1,000 r.p.m., the drive being taken through the two worms of the bogie axles, which have a final ratio of 9.33 to 1. The Dunlop-tyre equipment consists of 387in. by 8-in, highpressure pneumatics.
The body, containers and equipment were constructed and mounted by Bromilow and Edwards, Ltd., Foundry Street, Bolton, and their general shape and appearance can easily be judged from one of the illustrations on this page.
Each container, which is built of sheet steel with steel angles
and a stout channel-section underframe, is mounted on four smalldiameter double-flange wheels, so that it can be hauled along the road after leaving the rails. It can be run on to or off, the body proper by the use of extension rails and the employment of a winch, the drum of which is mounted on ball bearings and has a combined worm-drive gearbox connected by a duplex roller chain to the power take-off on the chassis gearbox. The drive is taken through the special gearbox to the worm and worm wheel, whilst a 1-in. pitch Brampton chain drives from the worm-wheel shaft to the
winch. T110 take-off on the lorry gearbox is also used for driving the tipping gear.
The Method of Operation.
Each container can hold four tons of the tarmac, and when loaded with two containers the vehicle is driven to the point where road work is in progress and the skips are run down on to the road where required. Spare containers are provided, so that these can be filled while the others are being emptied. In addition, the vehicle has detachable sides, and these can be replaced and the vehicle used as an ordinary three-way tipping wagon when road. surfacing operations are not on hand. This, of course, enables the operators to make more economical use of the chassis.
The gear ratio from the power take-off to the winch drum is approximately 180 to 1, and the winch will, with ease, haul 5 tons up the ramp at an angle of approximately 30 degrees. Special locking devices operate on the axles of the containers, and the ramp can be dismantled and stored away underneath the skips.
To assist in running off the containers, the body can be tipped te a small angle, whilst the special tync of driving winch is suitable fox many other classes of workâin particular, the loading of heavy cable drums, lengths of timber, etc