Compressed Air
Rampart Hydro Services provides Hydro-Cleaning and Hydrodemolition services throughout the country. Services include rubber and paint removal from airport runways, and concrete demolition and membrane removal services for garages, bridge decks, tunnels, dams and other concrete structures. UHP Hydrodemolition, at 36,000 psi and 32 gpm, uses less water, is environmentally friendly, provides a superior bond, and is fast and cost effective. Still, Rampart Hydro Services “lowered” its standards by investing in 22 Cat engines – as in, lower costs for parts, lower emissions and lower fuel consumption.
Rampart, based in Coraopolis, PA, uses its ultra high-pressure water systems to demolish concrete.
The problem, though, was that parts for the engine brand that Rampart was using – the units powering the pumps that pressurize and deliver the water – had to be shipped from overseas. Parts were expensive and shipping took too long.
Rampart officials looked around and decided to make an $800,000 investment in 22 Caterpillar C13 ACERT™ industrial engines. Jeff Parks, Vice President of operations, said that Caterpillar’s sophisticated parts-stocking system won Cat the job.
“The main reason we went with Caterpillar was the availability of parts and the locations across the United States,” Parks said. “We work all over the U.S. It helps keep inventory down. I don’t have to carry so much inventory around, knowing I can get it off the shelf from the local Cat dealer.”
The new engines, which are being installed in phases through the end of the year, meet strict emissions standards, so they also allowed Rampart to win a project with the U.S. Navy that required Tier IV certified engines.
“We’d have not been able to work that job without the Cat engines,” Parks said.
The new engines are efficient – 415 horsepower at 2,100 RPMs – and fuel-efficient. Parks reports that the diesel Cat engines use 18 gallons per hour, compared to 20 gallons in the old engines.
“We are definitely saving on the fuel power,” he said. The C13’s six-cylinder engines do the work of the old, eight-cylinder engines, he added.
Operators run the computerized C13s remotely and haven’t had any trouble adjusting from the old mechanical engines, Parks said.
“I got a couple guys who would marry them if they could,” he joked.
Cleveland Brothers sold and installed the machines from its New Stanton branch. They helped make the transition “easy and painless,” Parks said.
“The guys came out and set the engines up, and we know the program,” he said. “Cleveland Brothers helped us. There was no major issue. We needed to make a move into the 21st century.”
For videos of hydrodemolition in action, visit www.rampart-hydro.com.
