Q Vehicles on site work sometimes get bogged down on soft ground
Page 64
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
when the site contractors or quarry owners have not reinforced lipping and manoeuvring areas. In many overseas countries, where flooding can happen at any time with tropical rain, lorries run obvious risks of getting stranded unless tractor towing assistance is available.
Do you know of any devices which could be carried by a lorry for use by the driver to get himself out of trouble in such circumstances?
A The difficulties described certainly occur even in this country. Wheel spin, occasioning the rapid sinking in of wheels in soft ground, can be counteracted by improvised aids such as stones or timber beneath the affected wheel or wheels — or perhaps by sacking, in some circumstances.
A new material to beat "bogging" has recently been demonstrated in Australia by McPherson's Ltd, in Melbourne. This is called Terra Firma Cloth, described as a "road stabilization fabric" likely to find favour where drivers have to overcome flooding emergencies or excessively soft site conditions.
It is claimed that Terra Firma fabric — which is supplied in rolls 3.9m wide and 100m long — retains its strength and dimensional stability when wet and because of its energy absorption and toughness it can accommodate itself over ground irregularities over which it is laid.
In effect, Terra Firma forms a raft which spreads the load of the vehicle, thereby reducing rutting.
At the demonstration a Euclid truck laden with more than 30 tons of material drove on the cloth roadway, stopped, reversed and drove on again.