Dyer & Butler has added Vac-Ex Air-Vac II excavators to its equipment fleet, procured by sister company M Group Services Plant & Fleet Solutions.
Training on the excavators has been delivered to crews across the company’s highways, aviation and rail divisions.
Dyer & Butler piloted the Air-Vac II excavators on the remodelling of a road junction, heavily congested with underground services, as part of works to form the Eastern Access route into the Green Quarter regeneration project in Ealing, West London.
Vacuum excavators simply suck the ground up instead of plunging metal teeth into it and digging.
Managing director Richard Walker said: “These compact and manoeuvrable excavators, along with enhanced excavation safety procedures and our further investment in flame arc clothing, is delivering significant benefits across our organisation. Our adoption of this technology ensures that services are safely exposed and reduces the potential risk of utility strikes, as well as minimising the potential for significant disruption, environmental damage and expensive delays to projects.”
Steve Broom, director in charge of safety, sustainability and training, added: “The risk of injury, incidents and disruption caused by damage to underground services is an ever present threat in our sector and we continually invest to enhance our working processes, training and equipment to ensure that our approach to working in these complex environments is both safe and innovative.
“The introduction of the AIR-VAC II excavators has been a game changer in the delivery of safe excavation, enabling our teams to work carefully, considerately and effectively in and around underground services. We believe that these machines, coupled with our experience and knowledge of safe excavation procedures around underground services, provides Dyer & Butler with a unique advantage in the delivery of schemes such as this.”
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