Press Release

BAUER Maschinen GmbH - In-House Exhibition 2011

Schrobenhausen – What’s new in the specialist foundation equipment sector? The answer was once again provided by the four-day long In-House Exhibition of BAUER Maschinen GmbH in early summer 2011. More than 1,700 industry specialists and professionals from around the world came to Schrobenhausen.

At the opening ceremony, Thomas Bauer, Chairman of the Management Board of BAUER AG, extended a warm welcome to all visitors, which in addition to the industry specialists included numerous regional representatives and guests. He outlined briefly the current position of the Bauer Group which had generated total Group revenues of € 1.3 billion at the end of the financial year 2010. He noted that after two difficult years during the world financial crisis a recovery was now clearly visible.

Dieter Stetter, Managing Director of BAUER Maschinen GmbH, summarized the latest innovations and developments in equipment manufacturing. The Bauer machines are now in full compliance with TIER 4 exhaust emission standards. Another innovation applicable to all drilling rigs includes stackable counterweight elements that are much easier to mount and de-mount than conventional counterweights.

The rotary drilling rigs, the core area of Bauer’s equipment manufacturing activities, have undergone organizational restructuring. The extensive range of drilling rigs which, in addition to being characterized by their size also feature a wide range of capabilities for specialist activities, have been subdivided into two product lines: the “Value Line“ will in future include all standard drilling rigs which have the capacity of dealing only with a single drilling technique – primarily kelly drilling. The specialist rigs, which can be converted into multifunctional rigs for the most difficult operations, will in future be classified as the “Premium Line“. 

The presentation of machines at the open-air grounds were complemented by the presentation of individual operating departments in the Exhibition Hall of the “Old Welding Shop“. Here, Eurodrill showcased its rotary drives, the newly established “Parts & Service“ Department featured its first spare parts catalogue and the Bauer Training Center showcased its range of training opportunities, which now include operating licences for rig operators. Visitors were also able to test their skills on several authentic control stands by performing different specialist foundation processes. 

The numerous visitors from over seventy countries were also offered an entertaining fringe programme to accompany the exhibition, which ensured that the exhibition grounds were not entirely characterized by technology and business. There was plenty of attractive music being played by a jazz band from St. Petersburg, a blues band and a traditional Bavarian brass band from the Allgäu region. Thomas Bauer particularly appreciated the friendly atmosphere: „What is happening here in such a small space and how visitors from all over the world - including once again more new countries - feel immediately at home with us is simply fantastic!“


New Machines for Specialist Foundation Engineering

In the presentation of all types of equipment for specialist foundation engineering, Bauer once again showcased all the innovations designed and manufactured not only by Bauer Maschinen GmbH in Schrobenhausen, but also by the various Bauer Maschinen subsidiaries. At the exhibition grounds the logos of all Bauer Maschinen Group companies were on show: RTG Rammtechnik, MAT Mischanlagentechnik, well boring rigs by Prakla Bohrtechnik, blasthole drilling rigs by Hausherr System Bohrtechnik, ABS Trenchless, as well as diesel hammers by Pileco and hydraulic hammers by Fambo. Klemm Bohrtechnik exhibited a wide range of equipment and also showcased for the very first time its new concept of manufacturing mast extensions from high-strength carbon. 

 
Base Machine MC 96 Specialist Foundation Crane

The most striking machine of the Bauer In-House Exhibition was undoubtedly the new specialist foundation crane MC 96. With this mid-range machine Bauer Maschinen is now optimally represented in all size classifications. The MC 96 is equipped with a 570 kW engine, features two 350 kN freefall winches and has a lifting capacity of 130 tonnes. For the In-House Exhibition the foundation crane was equipped with a Bauer BC 40 trench cutter capable of rotating a full 90 degrees.


Bauer BG 30 Rotary Drilling Rig

The new Bauer BG 30 rotary drilling rig represents a completely new design concept and a relaunch of the previous BG 28. Depending on market requirements, this BG 30 can be fitted with either TIER 4 or TIER 3 engines. The newly designed stackable counterweight elements – a kind of modular system replacing the conventional type of solid counterweights – offer much greater flexibility for the many different operations. One of the BG 30s showcased at the In-House Exhibition was equipped with a CSM (Cutter-Soil-Mixing) unit, whilst the second BG 30 featured a casing oscillator attachment.


BG 24 H with a short mast

Showcased amongst the rotary drilling rigs was a Bauer BG 24 H with a short mast. As a low-headroom version, this machine can operate in limited headroom conditions, such as under overhead power lines. The exhibited version with an overall height of just 8.5 m is also capable of extending its drill axis by 400 mm to a total of 1,400 mm.


Live Machine Demonstrations at Aresing Works

The live demonstrations of machines in action at the open-air grounds of the Aresing Works enjoyed huge popularity. A number of different processes were showcased, first a piling rig RG 25 by RTG Rammtechnik equipped with a double rotary head as part of a VDW drilling system.

A Bauer BG 40 was used to simulate drilling in rock by way of a block of concrete with a com-pressive strength in excess of 50 MPa. For this demonstration the full-face drill head was deployed, which acts on the entire surface area of the rock during drilling. In contrast, the well-known rock-roller core barrel only cuts out an annulus, enabling the free-standing rock core to be subsequently broken out of the borehole. This is also the area of application for the active core catcher used, for example, for the recovery of cores when drilling through boulders.

A depth vibrator TR 17 attached to a BF 12 base carrier was deployed to demonstrate the process of setting up the vibrator over individual pile positions using a GPS positioning system. During this demonstration, the front window of the operator’s cab was covered up and the pile positions were approached solely with the help of the GPS-aided system. An HR 7000 hydraulic hammer by Fambo suspended from an MC 32 foundation crane was also showcased simulating driving a tubular steel pile.