Constructionshows
A wide range of new Holland machines from large excavators to small compact machines, have been hard at works in towns in cities across Europe as they repair and clean-up towns and cities affected by the recent storms and floods.
It’s not only the UK which has been affected by the extreme weather, other countries including Spain and Italy have had their coastlines battered by high winds, and many cities have been flooded due to exceptional rainfall.
In the UK, the south coast has experienced some of the most ferocious storms, with high waves causing serious damage to many sea fronts.
As part of the clean-up and repair of the sea defenses in Weymouth, Dorchester based G Crook, plant sales and hire, has supplied a New Holland E385 excavator to the Environment Agency, which has been working for the past two weeks to reinstate the shingle sea defenses at Preston beach.
In the last few weeks Spain’s northern coast has also suffered several storms from the North Atlantic with many Spanish provinces on high alert. With wind gusts reaching 140 kilometers per hour, combined with heavy and constant rain, several rivers have caused flooding in cities along the north coast. Waves of more than ten meters have caused damage to sea walls and seafront promenades.
In the City of Gijon on the Northern coast of Spain in the region Asturias, New Holland machines have been providing support. RUVICAM, subcontractor to the City Hall of Gijon for Road Conservation and maintenance, sent several of its New Holland machines to repair initial damage of the seafront promenade, before another incoming storm was set to make made the situation worse.
José Luis Vigil Sánchez, Manager of RUVICAM explains the situation “After several days of working to repair the damage, we parked one of our mini excavators (the New Holland E35.2) in the promenade, ready to continue. The storm got worse and spectacular waves managed to breakdown the wave breaker wall. These wave breakers are used to protect the sea promenade, this was then flooded and the machine soaked. We picked it up, washed it with fresh water and lubricated it. Despite the dip, it is continuing to working as well as on the first day. This reliability is one of the reasons why we have been operating New Holland Machines for over 25 years.”
“We have a total of 3 New Holland machines working; the New Holland E35.2 mini excavator is equipped with a small hammer to chip the pavement off the promenade. A top wall beam will be placed here in order to re-attach the wave breakers to the seawall. The New Holland E80 midi excavator has been equipped with a special implement, which allows us to remove and place the wave breakers again. Each of these pieces weighs 700 kilos, which was a difficult task. Last but not least, the mini excavator New Holland E50.2 is working on the rest of the ruined wall, where it is being used to extract stones of between 200 and 400 kg buried in the sand.”
During February RUVICAM has continued with their repair work in the area.
At the end of January Italy was struck by violent rains that led to serious floods and emergency situations in Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Liguria. A total of 2000 emergency operations were carried out by Italy’s firefighters to help during the emergency. New Holland machines, in Italy’s firefighter’s fleet, were active in these three regions.
Some of the worst flooding happened in the area close to Modena were the river Secchia broke its banks, flooding the surrounding areas. A total of 1039 people were rescued from flooded homes, 80 of which with helicopters. Thanks to the G.O.S. (the firefighters group of specialized earthmoving equipment operators) and their machines the river banks were reinstated quickly which managed to prevent further flooding.
In Tuscany and Liguria, which was also severely hit by floods and following landslides, the G.O.S. carried out over 600 operations to help remove water from homes, clean rivers and repair damaged roads.
New Holland Construction machines in use, included several skid steer loaders, mini-excavators and some larger crawler excavators were also there to help bring the situation under control
In Italy, the cooperation between firefighters and New Holland Construction is a long-standing one. Italy’s firefighters have chosen New Holland Construction for the reliability, efficiency and ease of use of their machines. The manufacturer has long been one of the official suppliers of equipment and attachments of the National Firefighters.
New Holland Construction has also manufactured machines specially fitted for the needs of the firefighters. The machines are supplied with the typical red livery of the Firefighters’ equipment and are fitted with the special attachments for emergency applications. They are also used for natural disasters, to secure the area and demolish and to remove ruins. During Emilia Romagna earthquake in 2013, New Holland Construction machines demolished over 400 damaged buildings.
