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Research and Development
(671 total words in this text)
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The ROCSAW was designed and developed to trench the 148 miles of 8” and 10”
gas pipelines on the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPS). It successfully
completed 115 miles of the gas pipeline and 75 miles of the 48”
oil pipeline, including trenching for pump stations, utility
lines in camps and slots along the 48” oil pipeline for the weld
repair program. Following the Alyeska Project, ROCSAW began
trenching permafrost in Point Barrow, Alaska on a yearly basis
to install utility and gas pipelines. The native corporations in
the area now have four ROCSAW trenchers working every winter for
the installation of the pipelines. ROCSAW, drawing on its
ditching experience on the TAPS, continued to implement and
improve its technology on projects worldwide. ROCSAW was
assisted in the development of this technology by the following:
COLORADA SCHOOL OF MINES, Earth Mechanics
Institute.
Exhaustive tests were performed to determine the energy forces
and dynamic requirements for cutter bits to penetrate hard rock,
limestone, sandstone and granite, and for an application in
underwater trenching across the strait of Belle Island, Canada.
JOHN RYMES ENGINEERING. Consulting Mechanical Engineers.
A ditchability evaluation and testing program on ROCSAW
trenchers for the Norman Wells Permafrost Pipeline project the
Northwest Territories (June, 1983)m set the methodology for
ditchability estimates used by ROCSAW today.
GENERAL ELECTRIC Carballoy Division
Using the knowledge gained in the Colorado School of mines, we
began a comprehensive chemical analysis on grades of tungsten
carbide and the use of high alloy steel shanks for cutting
various types of rock materials. As a result of this development
program, we have increased the tooth life nearly one third in
the last five years. We have also added a test program using a
newly designed disc cutter interspersed with our conical bits
which substantially reduced the problems incurred in trenching
abrasive permafrost materials.
JOY MANUFACTURING
In conjunction with the General Electric tests on the teeth, Joy
Manufacturing engineers worked with ROCSAW to improve chain life
by improving metallurgy and heat treat applications. As a
result, ROCSAW cutter chains are larger, stronger, and more
durable with an average life of more than double the original
Alaska cutter chains. In the last three years, we have changed
the manufacturing process from the use of forged chain links to
castings which increased the tensile strength and abrasive
resistance of the cutter chain. Because of the extreme
abrasiveness of permafrost, the development of this patented
technology is a key factor in the successful trenching of
permafrost, rock, and other hard materials.
CATERPILLAR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND
CATERPILLAR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS ENGINEERING DIVISIONS
Both assisted in the development of a full line of trenchers
based on Caterpillar tractors sizes D-9 through D11 with
Caterpillar engines which are available on a worldwide basis
with caterpillar warranty, parts, and backup service.
The Mass Miner is an exciting new design developed as an
off-shoot of the ROCSAW Trencher. The Mass Miner unit was
developed to convert a Caterpillar D-9 through D-11 power module
for the continuous excavation of rock and specific ore bodies in
open pit operations. The standard machines are capable of
cutting trenches 42” deep and anywhere from ten feet to thirteen
feet wide. The spacing of the cutter teeth can be adapted to
produce the size of aggregate required. This could be beneficial
in mining gravel that is in the permafrost state eliminating
blasting. This machine along with a portable, gas-fired
processing drum would produce dry gravel backfill from the
trenched materials at a lower cost.
FROM THE PRESIDENT… The development of the
ROCSAW trenching technology did not come easy. The challenge was
not only to develop a new technology but to prove it by
trenching more than 200 miles of the Trans Alaska Pipeline ahead
of pipe-laying operations. Since that first trencher that
challenged the permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska, ROCSAW’s
continued program of research and development has provided the
most environmentally responsible and economically sound machine
n the business. It is the World’s Leader because it is The Best! |
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