Weighing – for the sake of the environment
 
User Report "Lippesee"
How can I move material masses totalling 800000 t for building purposes and at the same time retain an overview of the type and quantity of the material transported and the suppliers without a sophisticated organisational system and loss of time?

The construction company Karl Immig und Heiga Transporte in Paderborn solved the above problem in the „Restoration of the Lippe river course around the Sander Lippe lake“ project by using a Pfister Waagen truck scale.

The restoration of the Lippe river's ecological system is a Lippstadt environmental department project. The aim is to separate the course of the Lippe from the Sander Lippe lake and to restructure it naturally. To do so, an approx. 60 m wide strip on the south bank of the lake will be built up as a new river bed. Within this substitute water meadow it is intended that the waters of the Lippe should flow again and thus close the gap in the river's ecological system.

The construction company Karl Immig, commissioned to do the job, together with Heiga Transporte as the company responsible for transportation, will carry out the first construction stage between September 2000 and September 2002: a colossal 45000 t of rock to form a securing wedge and 350000 t of bonding material such as clay to build up the new river bed must be correctly procured, transported, tested, weighed and filled in. Daily, this amounts to least 2200 t of material, divided up into 120 lorry loads to be used to form the new river course.

A modular steel truck scale from Pfister Waagen Bilanciai GmbH, Augsburg is being used to assure the efficient allocation and recording of the incoming material masses. According to Heinrich Immig, managing director of Heiga Transporte, there were a number of reasons for selecting a Pfister Waagen scale for the job:

 „In the invitation to tender an electronic truck scale only was specified but first of all I had the quickest response from the Pfister Waagen salesman in answer to my Internet search. The short lead time and commissioning deadline could also be achieved. Moreover, due to its modular design, the steel Pfister Waagen scale is easy to transport and move, which simplified the use of the scale on the completion of building work at another site, e.g. in our factory. That is why we also opted for a flush-mounted version as the latter is built-in level with the ground and as such may be driven across.“

  
The logistic cycle of the „New river bed“ project will be completed as follows:
 
The major part of the banked up bed will be removed from the additional site of the Stute jams company just a few kilometres from the lake. There, a level area will be created as the foundation for new warehouses.
 
Binding soil or rocks will be conveyed to the lake by lorry.
 
Once there, the supplier site or appropriate vehicle registration number will be recorded in the weighing program as material will be delivered from building sites other than the Stute company site.
The lorries will then be weighed on the truck scale. As the corresponding tare values of the lorries are already established and assigned to the vehicle registration number, only the load weight will be automatically recorded (the tare weights of the vehicles are checked regularly). In the case of new, as yet unknown vehicles, a tare weigh-in is performed once the lorry is unloaded and then assigned to the vehicle tare.
 
On completion of successful weighing, the scale operator indicates by a light signal that the lorry may proceed. The suitable material is unloaded at a predestined place and levelled out by caterpillar vehicles.
 
To avoid the surroundings being polluted by dust and dirt, each lorry first drives through a tyre wash before leaving the lake site and returning to the building site.
 
All that remains at the end of the day is the daily balancing and printout of the daybook and delivery note overview via the “WISA” weighing program. Managing clerks at the Heiga Transporte office check the overviews and compare these with the vehicle log details. This also serves as the basis for invoicing external companies should material have been delivered from additional sites.

A perfect combination of logistics and environmental protection using today's advanced technology.


Photo and copy:
WVM-gd / Marketing / August 2001
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