Walking Excavator Passes Screen Test - Alaska Limited
Dorset-based Alaska Limited is using a combination of a Batemag walking excavator and an R600 Dig A Screener rotating screening bucket to tackle a tricky remediation contract on a Derbyshire brook that ultimately feeds into the River Derwent.
At the end of 2007, a land slippage caused the failure of a dam sealing the clean water lagoon at a local mine, raising the water level in Stoney Brook by over a metre. To make matters worse, the lagoon contained a high level of tailings from the mine workings that contaminated the stream bed with silt.
The relatively remote location of the brook, coupled with the need to safeguard the integrity of the banks of the brook forced Alaska to take a somewhat unusual approach to its equipment selection process. “Environmentally, this is an extremely sensitive project. We are restoring the breeding grounds for fish whilst also protecting the banks of the brook which is home to a large population of water voles,” says Alaska’s Mike Worth. “The screen is used as a normal bucket on selected areas. The loaded bucket is then rotated over the waste skip to remove the heavier silt before being immersed in the water filled-skip to remove the finer silt. The cleaned gravel is then replaced in the river bed. The reclaimed material is returned to the mine where over 90 percent of the material to date has been processed and reclaimed. And it must be working because the whole area is now awash with kingfishers.”
20th Oct 2008
