Industry-leading equipment procurement, health and safety professionals from leading companies in construction and rail sectors were invited to the Launch and Live Demonstration of The Articulator 5000 on October 19th 2018 at the Rail Alliance headquarters in Stratford-upon-Avon and were impressed with what they saw.
They noted not only the capabilities of the new British attachment with is unique and powerful central ram to lift and precisely position complex structures with apparent ease, but also the health and safety benefits of the fail-safe mechanism.
Network Rail’s Wayne Burnett had this to say – ‘Well impressed. Everything it was doing and all the types of materials it was picking up was superb. Our outside parties will introduce this piece of equipment hopefully. I’m very pleased. This is going to eliminate the situation of people being in harm’s way. The way it was gripping all of the materials as far as I’m concerned it’s a brilliant idea. Brilliant concept.’
The Articulator is a game-changer for steel and OLE, according to James Ward from Colas Rail – ‘We’re really pleased with the central ram. It’s a unique product in terms of attachments. We’re looking to use if for installation of our OLE steelworks.’
Pipework installation could be a piece of cake, said Alan King from JN Bentley, ‘The main reason for us to look at The Articulator was for pipework and how it could improve the safety of the installation of pipes into the ground and obviously take men away from the trench. Big health and safety aspects which for everything it’s ticking the boxes on so far.’
The British design-engineered innovation will have a global impact on many sectors of the construction industry including rail, power and utilities, mining, pipework and telecoms.
The Articulator 5000 is capable of handling round, box, square, oblong, H, tapered or straight sections up to an impressive 5000 kg of payload and an astonishing 20 metres in length. For the first time ever, on site and on track, operators will be able to move and place with precision masts, poles, tubes of steel or concrete which are tapered or of various diameters.
This innovation is set to revolutionise performance on site or on track providing significant savings in time and cost in precision handling of long, heavy, cumbersome beams, posts, poles, pipes and h-sections from the cab of an excavator or RRV of carrier class 14 tonnes and above. The equipment will be modified also for installation on truck mounted cranes.
Responsive, strong and capable by design, The Articulator 5000 features combination of responsive elements – telescopic legs, four individually adjustable feet, a central stabiliser pad, and a compact tilt rotator. This ingenious combination means The Articulator can be adjusted to handle to various widths/diameters and sizes and remain sturdy and safe. The Health & Safety benefits are considerable and the industry is taking note. Network Rail’s Wayne Burnett noted that the use of exclusion zones could prevent accidents and provide his industry with long-overdue reassurance. You can hear what those attending had to say about The Articulator in the video above.
The Articulator 5000 was conceived and developed by Sandhurst with over 45 years in plant and construction equipment worldwide.
