A Simex TFC 400 cutter head in a construction site in Ascoli Piceno, Italy

Simex TFC 400 provided very high performance and after 50 hours of work the teeth still showed no relevant signs of wear.

Costruzioni Alfredo La Posta company, based in Sora, Italy, has tested Simex TFC 400 cutter head with continuous cutting in a construction site located in Venarotta, in the province of Ascoli Piceno.

The Latium company, which has been operating for more than 30 years in the construction and renovation sector, was commissioned to consolidate a rock face and create a new sewer line below it. The rock face was mainly composed of tuff, a compact and abrasive rock, with silica veins inside it.

Simex TFC 400 provided very high performance and, for the great satisfaction of the operator, after 50 hours of work the teeth still showed no relevant signs of wear.

The operation was twofold: on one hand the excavation of a trench approximately 1.60 m (62 inch) wide by 1.20 m (47 inch) of depth, for the subsequent laying of sewers; on the other hand, milling on the vertical rock wall for consolidation purposes (micro support poles had already been positioned).

The drum cutter thus showed all its versatility and the operator said he was more than enthusiastic about the result: "With this cutter head we have solved many problems", told Daniele Frate, an employee of Alfredo La Posta company. "It was impossible to work with the hydraulic hammer as the tip got stuck in the rock. We also tried with a small drum cutter but the work was irrelevant, too much time was lost. The Simex TFC 400, actually, works really well. In one day, we extracted two and a half trucks of material". 

In conclusion, the hourly daily production has been between 6 and 10 m³/h (7.8-13 yd³/h), depending on the milling point, achieving the goals the operator and the company was expecting to get.