Screening bucket proves its mettle in C&D

Simex is set to introduce the VSE 40, a new screening bucket for excavator mounting, as an ideal complement to its range of CBE crusher buckets.

Thanks to the innovative solutions studied and patented by Simex, the VSE 40 can adjust drum distance hydraulically, allowing the output size to be varied (with bucket empty) from 0-15mm to 0-45mm without interrupting screening operations.

For example, the operator can select a very fine material to screen, then immediately distance the drums and select a larger material up to a maximum of 45mm. Adjustments can be performed on the same job site, in rapid succession and without having to disassemble, assemble or replace mechanical parts.

To further improve productivity, the attachment is fitted with rhomboidal-shaped elements with varying diameter discs.

Rotating at different tangential velocities, these elements create a movement of material that enables larger volumes to be screened, resulting in higher output.

For ease of use, the new VSE 40 is shaped as a standard bucket, so loading operations are simplified, since the screening bucket requires no boom movements or work cycles other than those carried out normally. 

Italian contractor AeC has successfully employed the Simex VSE 40 screening bucket to manage debris and waste from the demolition of buildings damaged by an earthquake in northern Italy. 

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The May 2012 earthquake struck a large area of the Emilia-Romagna region and hit 33 towns in the provinces of Bologna, Modena, Ferrara and Reggio Emilia. It caused heavy damage to historical buildings in 19 municipalities. The reconstruction works have involved the demolition of numerous structures judged irreparable, generating an enormous quantity of debris.

The C&D material is subsequently separated, designated and treated for volume reduction to be reutilised in a range of applications, including construction of services areas and embankments, as well as filling operations. 

The C&D material has been piled at 11 sites specified by the regional government in the provinces of Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara.

The large-scale debris management (more than 400,000m3 of debris immediately resulting from the earthquake?s destruction and an additional two million cubic metres upon completion of the reconstruction works) was contracted to six multi-utility companies, which engaged the services of specialised contractors assigned with treating the debris.

The job was extremely demanding, considering that at peak collection some sites were receiving more than 1000 tonnes of rubble a day.

Before treatment the C&D material was subject to scrupulous checks by the local health authorities, which performed a series of chemical/physical tests on material to verify its suitability for uses provided by law. 

Among the companies involved in the debris management was AeC Costruzioni, based in San Possidonio near the city of Modena, and a long-time user of Simex products.

Operating at the storage facility in Mirandola, AeC was the first company in the world to use a pre-production model of the VSE 40 in a working situation.

During the long field evaluation period the bucket proved its reliability and production capacity, and even received additional improvements to be incorporated into models to be marketed in the first half of 2014. 

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Data collected during production indicated that the VSE 40 reduced the material at a speed of 1-2m3 per minute, arriving at an average amount of 600m3 per day.

In the 60 days in which data was gathered, 43 days of which were actual work, the VSE 40 produced material of various output sizes amounting to about 24,000m3.

?This screening bucket is destined to change the way screening is performed,? AeC owner Roberto Zaccarelli said of the VSE 40. ?Buckets that allow output size to be varied by substituting the screening shafts take hours to carry out the replacement. This means the majority of contractors often avoid performing the replacement, with the effect that they fail to exploit the potential of the attachment and essentially renounce higher productivity and profitability. From this standpoint, too, the VSE truly represents an innovation.?

The only attachment of its kind to offer a variable hydraulic system, the screening bucket is intended for different types of application.

Thanks to innovative solutions designed and patented by Simex, the VSE 40, for mounting on 24- to 35-tonne excavators, can distance and close the drums hydraulically, allowing the operator to vary the output size of the material in continuous mode in any size between 5mm and 45mm without interrupting screening operations between one bucket filling and another. 

Production of the new screening bucket began in early 2014. The distributor of Simex attachments in Australia is Perth-based BA Equipment Group.