Repair of one of the most important freight lines in Europe

Location: Kestert, Germany

Construction measure:
Rock and slope stabilization after rockfall on the right bank of the Rhine railroad line

  • approx. 7,000m anchor drilling (system: Gewi / Ischebeck)
  • approx. 350m blast hole drillings
  • approx. 4.500qm installed rock netting

Morath equipment technology in use:

  • Supporting immediate operations with various mobile drilling units, including HA800 and HA1600 diesel hydraulic power units.
  • Acceleration of drilling operations by an additional BW100-4
  • slope drilling rig, incl. HA1610 diesel hydraulic power pack
  • SA1233 walking excavator drill carriage for anchor and blast hole drilling
  • Continuous use of the rigs in shift operation and a 7-day week

General:
On March 15, 2021, a rock slide in Kestert caused slates weighing several tons to break loose from the steep slope, blocking the freight railroad tracks. To enable freight traffic to resume on the right bank of the Rhine, our drilling rigs have been in continuous use since mid-March. Numerous Morath rigs were used in parallel for the rock support and cross-linking to carry out the anchor and blast hole drilling. On the steep slopes, several portable drilling units, as well as the BW100-4 drill rig, including HA800, HA1600 and HA1610 power stations were used. Some of these had to be flown to the site by helicopter and roped down to the drilling positions. The drill rig in particular is ideal for use on slopes, as its three-point undercarriage means that it always offers the highest possible level of stability, and thanks to its integrated winches it can be maneuvered safely and quickly on slopes without any problems, which also significantly improved the day's drilling performance. In the impassable slope scree, a walking excavator with a Morath SA1233 drill mount was also in action for various blasting and anchor work.
Once again, our equipment was able to prove its worth in this demanding project, something we are very proud of!

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