HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

The performance of a large Hitachi Zaxis excavator is adding value to Hanson Israel’s Migdal Zedek limestone quarry, situated 40km outside Tel Aviv. The ZX870LCR-3 was delivered in February 2011 and has continued to offer increased levels of productivity and reliability.

Hanson Israel is a subsidiary of the HeidelbergCement Group, the global market leader in aggregates and a prominent player in the fields of cement and concrete. It was established in 1963 and is the second largest building materials producer in Israel. Its facilities include: 26 concrete plants with an annual capacity of three million cubic metres; three quarries with an annual yield exceeding eight million tonnes of aggregates; and two asphalt plants, capable of supplying one million tonnes of materials annually.

Having previously used wheel loaders to load its fleet of dump trucks at Migdal Zedek, Hanson had already been impressed with the benefits of a Hitachi ZX850H excavator at another one of its sites (the Nachal Raba quarry). When combined with the high service levels it had experienced from authorised Hitachi dealer, CMD, it decided to invest in the new ZX870LCR-3.

Hanson’s Central Quarries Manager, Nissim Gibri, says, “We decided that the Hitachi ZX870LCR-3 was an ideal solution following the positive experience of operating the ZX850H model, which we have owned since 2005 and has over 30,000 working hours. After running wheel loaders, we had to change our working model to suit the large excavator. As a result, we are now enjoying reduced running costs and increased volumes of production.

“Hanson already had a good working relationship with CMD – we know that we can count on them. The main reasons for buying Hitachi machines are the limited downtime that comes from their reliability and the impressive after-sales service offered by CMD. These benefits mean it is highly unlikely that our quarry will ever come to standstill.”

The large Zaxis excavator loads 14-15 trucks per hour with three to four passes per truck. This helps to produce over three million tonnes of limestone-based materials per annum for the concrete and road construction industries. Hanson’s 54-strong team works over two ten-hour shifts per day to reach this milestone.

The Quarry Manager, Hagai Segev, says, “The ZX870LCR-3 is the only excavator currently operating in the quarry and it loads between 500 and 550 tonnes of materials per hour. This is a new way of working for us and the Zaxis excavator is providing some added value. Not only can we load more materials on to the trucks, but we can also build a more uniform heap, so that we lose fewer materials during the haul to the primary crusher.”