Mechanising vegetation operations Jonathan Callis & Dr Neil Strong UAG Conference 12.07.2011

Presentation outline • Safety and regulation • Mechanisation of operations - Inspection - Clearance - Processing - Maintenance • Questions 2

Safety 3

Regulator funding, required efficiencies CP5 4

Benchmarking, watching, learning • We have been busy! • Other railways • Other linear asset owners • Other allied land based industries 5

What we are trying to achieve http://www.bafu.admin.ch/publikationen/publikation/00612/index.html?lang=en 6

Strategy Summary - Intensive Zone Baled / Compacted Biomass Mechanical Whole Tree Clearance Processing Manual Timber Stump Treatment Motor Manual Manual Feed Clearance Processing Chipped Biomass Asset Database 7

Strategy Summary - Extensive Zone Baled / Compacted Biomass Mechanical Whole Tree Clearance Processing Manual Timber Stump Treatment Motor Manual Manual Feed Clearance Processing Chipped Biomass Mechanised Remote Control Herbicide Application Heavy Maintenance LiDAR Inspection Data Manual Driven Machinery Herbicide Application Heavy Maintenance Visual Asset Database Inspection Data Video Inspection Data 8

Inspections - Aerial 9

Inspections - LiDAR Asset Surveying Diagram depicts classification of ‘woody vegetation’ encroaching within an infinite vertical space 5m from the outer ‘running rail’ 5m Classified points of encroachment Outer running rail Ground returns 10

LiDAR outputs 11

Mechanising / Modularising Tree Work 12

Tree Clearance - Road Rail Mounted C16a • Forest industry moved to mechanisation over two decades ago • Worldwide search comparing felling / harvesting shear, bar, and disc heads • Bracke C16a feller buncher selected as optimum combination of safety, speed, cost, weight and noise • Clearance of trees and bushes from the outer running rail to a horizontal distance of 6.0 metres. That is a big enough task alone! • This activity is key to NR safety / performance KPIs and NR/L2/TRK/5201 compliance 13

Standard C16a Risk Zone 70m Exclusion Zone Boundary Boundary Fence 14

Revised C16a Risk Zone: With safety kit 15

Tree Clearance - Traditional Harvester 16

What about…. Walking Excavators? 17

Tree Processing - Hand Fed Chippers 18

Tree Processing - Mechanical Feed 19

Tree Extraction - Traditional Systems 20

Tree Extraction - Rail Systems 21

What about… Extracting Biomass as Chip? 22

What about… Seasoned Biomass Bales? 23

What about… A Tree Clearance Train? Direction Tree cutter Processor Auxiliary Auxiliary of travel hydraulic arm exit conveyor conveyor conveyor Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 4a Station 4b Locomotive Tree Cutter Processor Collection Collection Collection Running rail Maximum to 5m reach 24

Heavy Mechanical Maintenance 25

Road Rail Vehicle with Mulching Head 26

Issues with Arm Mounted Mulching Heads 27

Machine Mounted Mulching Heads Kyoeisha HMB1560 GreenMech Multi-Task 120 Posi-Track PT-100 LUF BushFighter 28

LUF BushFighter • 100hp diesel engine • Remote control • 2.8 tonnes • Multi tool carrier • D Bahn operate a fleet of 14 units • 4th generation model 29

BushFighter Performance • Woody stems to ~ 10cm ↔ / 3m ↕ • Stump removal to ~ 60cm ↔ • Approved to operate to 45° - all planes / directions • Oil pan tested to 60° 30

BushFighter Operational Controls 31

‘Light’ Mechanical Maintenance 32

Mechanical Maintenance - ‘Light’ RC • Light scrub and non-woody vegetation - Niko Robo Flail - Irus Deltrak - EnerGreen RoboGreen 33

Initial Trial: RoboGreen - Wessex Route 34

Chemical Maintenance - Trains / RRVs 3

What about… Infrared Spray Control? 36

Chemical Maintenance - Slopes & Walls 37

Chemical Maintenance - Slopes & Walls 38

BUT… Mechanisation has it limits! • NR are trialling a number of ideas • But… - no one tool or piece of kit suits every job - manual teams are very versatile - nothing has to date ‘replaced’ chainsaws • Selection of what to use is site and task specific • Some ideas may not become NR approved • Mechanisation fits into a wider strategy 39

Thank you for your kind attention! jonathan.callis@networkrail.co.uk neil.strong@networkrail.co.uk 40