Husqvarna 310 Robotic Demolition Debut

Husqvarna robot makes UK debut

The compact yet powerful Husqvarna DXR310, the latest robotic demolition machine to hit the UK market, has already won its spurs breaking out concrete in a confined space to help enlarge a major County Durham clothes store.

“It performed superbly by excavating, through solid concrete, a narrow 3m deep trench at rates significantly higher than any other comparable machine” says Nick Turnbull, managing director for specialist demolition contractor Gnat UK. “Its extendable boom allowed us to open up the full depth of the trench in just two passes and it boasts a hammer punch 20% more powerful than our similar sized Brokk 180.”

Long reach, high power and manoeuvrability are the main assets claimed by leading Swedish-based diamond drill and sawing manufacturer Husqvarna when it asked Gnat to trial its newest robot on a UK job. “And all three of these benefits are proving their worth during expansion of the Next clothes shop in Darlington” Mr. Turnbull asserts.

Gnat was brought in by Tyne Tees Demolition to form narrow deep trenches either side of the structural wall dividing two adjacent shops that Next plans to convert into one. Minipiles will be sunk in the trenches to support columns, allowing the dividing wall to be demolished.

On completion, the bottom of both trenches must be at the same level. With the concrete floor slab of one shop 1.5m higher than the other, the versatile 1m wide Husqvarna DXR310 was needed to form one of the trenches twice as deep as the equivalent excavation the other side of the wall.

To excavate this second shallower trench, Gnat used two Brokk robots, a 150 and 180.