TERRATEC to debut TRC3000C Raise Boring Machine in India

TERRATEC has successfully completed the factory acceptance testing of a custom TR3000C Raise Boring Machine (RBM) at its workshop in Tasmania, Australia, with the machine destined for a customer in India.

After extensive research and analysis, TERRATEC was chosen to supply this first large raiseborer to India, the company said.

“This is an important milestone that the Indian mining industry has been looking forward to for many years,” Managing Director of TERRATEC India, Gulshan Gill, said. “To see simultaneous increases in safety and productivity through the use of raiseboring machines for the excavation of vertical ventilation shafts is for many a dream come true.”

TERRATEC says it is already the leading tunnel boring machine manufacturer in India, with the expansion into raiseboring an obvious next step.

Manufactured at TERRATEC’s workshop in Tasmania, the TR3000C Raise Boring Machine is a highly robust piece of equipment, designed for ease of operation and maintenance, providing a high level of reliability, according to the company. The unit has a nominal boring size of 3 m in diameter and 400 m in depth and has a standard pilot hole diameter of 311 mm.

The machine has been designed in a modular form that makes disassembly of the major components for inspection, transport, or repair easy to achieve, the company claimed.

The “Derrick Configuration” includes a powerful near-ground loading pipe loader that results in a very low profile in relation to drill string length, TERRATEC said. Rotation is powered by a hollow shaft hydraulic motor, affording protection to the drill string when operating at near maximum capacity, as well as unrestricted flow of flushing water through the drive train into the drill pipe.

Custom features incorporated on this machine include an upgraded proprietary gearbox design, which allows for some flexibility in alignment when raiseboring and adding drill pipe.

Dip angle adjustment (0-30° from vertical) is powered from the hydraulic power pack and can be achieved using the layback cylinders on the diesel-powered crawler/erector assembly, according to the company.

TERRATEC has numerous Raise Boring Machines around the world in Australia, China, India and many countries in both North and South America. These include the company’s range of Raise Boring Machines, Down-Reaming Drills and Box Holing Rigs, as well as combination of those in the form of Universal Boring Machines.