The winner of the innovation section of the 2009 Ground Engineering Awards is the P60 Rotary Slope Climbing Rig developed by Loglogic for Geotechnical Engineering – both UK-based firms.
Loglogic’s sales director, Graham Mitchell, who received the award in London says, “We are extremely proud that a product designed and built by us has won such a prestigious award. It has given a boost to both Loglogic and its partner in this project, Geotechnical Engineering.”
The P60 rotary slope-climbing rig is a track-mounted drilling rig capable of undertaking dynamic sampling and rotary drilling on slopes. It allows teams to core to depths of up to 165 feet. The machine consists of two self-propelled, steel-tracked, diesel-engine vehicles that can operate and travel independently, and come together at the borehole to provide a large drilling deck. Both units have a unique tilting-deck mechanism, allowing them to maneuver on slopes of up to 52 degrees. They also can self-level, using sensors to automatically adjust the hydraulic tilt rams.
Loglogic design engineer Rob Biggs says, “We worked with Geotechnical Engineering closely to determine exactly what was required, and I think this was the key to our success.”
The judges for the awards explain, “We liked this enormously because investigating slopes is at the heart of difficult ground engineering. Getting rigs on slopes can be complicated and expensive. This machinery has lots of well developed ideas and addresses many health and safety issues.”
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