The Street trencher from Street Industries improves productivity by saw cutting both sides of a trench and crushing and grinding all roadway materials in between with one pass. The concrete/asphalt material is ground up into .5-in. (1.2 cm) particles making it suitable for backfill. It is especially effective for hard roadway surfaces. The Street trencher allows a company to avoid the expense of multiple saw cuts, the use of a breaker unit and haul-off cost.
The Street trencher is a rubber-tired articulated carrier that hydraulically pumps more than 330 hp (246 kW) to the cutting drum. The cutting drum has more than 100 quick-change carbide teeth and knockout holders to reduce the amount of welding usually required for such an application.
Scafar Contracting Inc. of Newark, NJ, recently used the Street trencher with a 30-in. (76 cm) wide cutting drum to help complete an 18,000-ft. (5,486 m) water transmission job for New Jersey American Water. The job required Scafar to open cut a heavily-traveled two-lane road. The road material varied in thickness from 15 to 20 in. (38 to 51 cm) of reinforced hard concrete.
Work restrictions were from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Within this time frame, Scafar needed to open the roadway, excavate, install 400- to 500-ft. (122 to 152 m) ductile iron pipe and restore the roadway for afternoon traffic. The Street trencher opened approximately 500 to 600 linear ft. (152 to 183 m) of roadway within hours allowing Scafar’s crew to start digging and laying pipe immediately.
Not only did the Street trencher save Scafar Contracting time and money, it was less intrusive to the community as well by reducing the amount of equipment necessary to complete the job.
