INNOVATIVE ATTACHMENT HIRE

Paul Argent discovers that an unusual attachment hire arrangement is playing its

In Extracting A Nationally

resource, while supporting the work of the charity Prevent Breast Cancer

Nestling into the side of a hill just outside Glossop in the High Peaks, Shire Hill Quarry primarily produces high-quality dimensional stone from the deposit of Buff Derbyshire Millstone Grit. The material is blessed with excellent physical and mechanical properties and is used in prestigious builds, including the steps of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. In addition, the robust stone produced at Shire Hill is often specified by leading manufacturers of paving, walling and architectural products.

Large boulders have been used by the Canal & River Trust, Environment Agency and the Peak District National Park as rip rap. This rock armour is used for scour protection, bank stabilisation and as a pitching stone for moorland footpath remediation. Crushing what is left over produces a gabion filling stone, together with a range of construction materials and landscaping products.

The operation is a specialist part of the family-owned Marchington Stone business (see panel), of which quarry manager Paul Boam said, “We are a small part of the company here at Shire Hill. We’re not a volume production site, as we concentrate on extracting blocks as big as possible for use in architectural works. Any smaller material is stockpiled to be used as rip rap or crushed down for aggregates, so we waste very little of material at this site.”

The dimensional stone blocks weigh anything up to 20 tonnes, which is the site’s limit for the team to safely move and load it on to a truck. The blocks are extracted with a recently-acquired Doosan DX530 excavator using a heavy-duty ripper tooth, while a Cat 980M wheel loader transports them to the lay-down area for sizing.

Until recently, the team manually drilled each block to split them out, a long and tedious job. The arrival of a used Liebherr R922 excavator configured as a drilling rig has not only made the job quicker, but it has also massively improved site safety.

Breaking For Charity

For occasional tasks, such as to open up new ground or to size material for rip rap, the operator of the 53-tonne Doosan excavator has access to a five-tonne Indeco HP9000FS hydraulic hammer, which is on long-term hire from Manchester-based MTK Breakers.

Paul continued, “We use the breaker on an as and when needed basis. The deal with MTK allows us to keep the attachment here, but only pay for the days we use it. As it is a hire attachment, when it is off-hired, MTK is able to pick it up and send it to another customer. We take it back when it’s finished. The flexibility works well for both parties.”