French-Australian JV in New Zealand micro-trenching trial
02 Feb 2011
Micro-trenching methods developed by French-Australian joint venture Marais Lucas are being tested for the first time in New Zealand this month.
A specialist truck-mounted cutting system - dubbed Cleanfast - has been shipped here from Australia as part of a trial designed to better understand the benefits and disadvantages of new micro-trenching and mini-trenching technologies.
I attended a demonstration of Marais Lucas's Cleanfast system this morning in the Lower Hutt suburb of Kelson, and was greatly impressed by its speed and sophistication.
Cleanfast is light years ahead of traditional trenching methods in terms of speed and ease of deployment. It is able to trench at a rate of 100 metres an hour and makes use of a gigantic 'vacuum cleaner' to remove spoil and debris as it goes.
This morning's trial saw it micro-trench 500mm deep and 80mm wide. Later this week it will test a 500mm deep and 130mm wide trench.
Marais Lucas's Sidecut RT80 system is also being trialed. This is a smaller remote controlled unit, designed to cut narrow trenches on footpaths.
The micro-trenching trial is the brainchild of the Ministry of Economic Development, Crown Fibre Holdings and the Digital Auckland Working Party. Chorus is conducting the trial, with the assistance of project manager Downer New Zealand.
The trenching activity will go past nearly 100 Kelson homes. Fibre optic duct is being laid in each trench, filled with specially formulated concrete then resealed. Fibre will then be blown through the ducting.
The trial is scheduled to be completed by 18 February.
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I have been to two trials in
I have been to two trials in Kelson, with the cleanfast truck, and though the cleanfast system does grind, a reasonable trench easily, the re-instatment of the trench leaves a lot to be desired. They fill with concrete, which means concrete trucks up and down your road, waiting time for concrete trucks to arrive, then crews have to return a few days later, more traffic management, just when neighbours thought we were finished and gone, we are back again, to mill over the concrete strip about 300mm wide with a milling machine, then reinstate again with bitumen. This doesn't sound like minimal disruption. Costs must be higher if returning to same area twice. Not to mention the traditional trenching into the homes with a digger from the road trench. More cost, guys standing around watching diggers. Piles of dirt on sidewalks,
With the side cut machine which operated in the footpath, didn't seem to cut a straight line, and only cut in 300mm from edge of path. This will probably result in breakages of paths long term. The trenches in both applications I feel are too wide, method of delivery too messy, and the cost once revealed will probably be too expensive. In fact when I looked back down the road at the trial it actually looked like a disaster zone.