Rail-mounted transport solutions for sustainable construction site logistics
Track works often present huge logistical challenges, and to achieve a sustainable working method, a solution is needed that is as efficient and therefore as sustainable as possible. Sersa Maschinenller Gleisbau in Switzerland has found a winning formula for itself to tackle this challenge in the best possible way: a rail-bound transport solution.
To ensure that every route travelled is used as efficiently as possible, the track-laying machines of Sersa Maschinenller Gleisbau are therefore equipped with a material trolley. In addition to spare parts, supplies and construction site elements, this trolley also contains one or two additional diesel tanks with a capacity of 3000 to 6000 litters. The advantage of this is that the truck journeys previously required to bring fuel to the track-laying machines can be significantly reduced - by as much as 50%. CO2 emissions can thus be drastically reduced, since the entire rail network in Switzerland is powered by electricity.
Another challenge is moving the track-laying machines between the different rail networks, as these do not form a coherent network.
For this reason, SMG has already been transporting its meter-gauge vehicles by rail since 2011 using rolling clamps - making road transport necessary only in exceptions. In 2019, the number of transport kilometres using the rolling clamps, which replace the consumption of fossil fuel by trucking with the electrical energy of the rail network, was 17.400 km - roughly equivalent to the distance from Dublin to Sydney.
Two efficient solutions that save significant amounts of CO2 emissions every year.
