Italian deployments for COVID-19.

IVECO .

At this time most of us across the globe cannot escape the serious requirement to stay indoors because of this virulent virus that is spreading and worsening as it has in both China and now Italy?

It is noted with the deployment of the army to maintain a lockdown some vehicles deployed came from the Iveco range, Trakker At190T, LMV (2) Light, the MUV utility M40.is Torpedo and the WNS Ambulance version.

These type are the basis of a paramilitary support to the Police and are the versatile end of a successful range of good quality military hardware!

We tend to only know Iveco for limited number of heavy goods vehicles in which they are employed in the building industry, but Italy has its own manufacturing base for many important types and their own equivalents the Jeep?

Tractors. Part-Two.

Construction, Engineering and Mining.

This is perhaps not the place one would think to find the need for the tractor, but some of the machines we use today came first from these uses. Caterpillar is one of several companies that developed tracked machines for working in heavy soils, this was the same in Soviet Russian Steppes where land was not intersected by ditches as in the west.

Today many giant machines working in all of the titled areas are tractors, limited by speed and used to move loads about in tight spots even underground. These machines do not look like our idea of the farm machines but they are mechanically the same, the Bulldozer is in fact a converted tractor for the road and building construction industry.

The future for the tractor of all types will be there Robotising into unmanned piloted vehicles, from vast area farming to construction, tunnelling and mining. May be the only human contact in the near future will be for repairing and cleaning?

Construction. One.

Building Cross Rail-Elizabeth Line.

One must say that the use of the crane with telescopic or static has come to its fore, working in the tight spaces of bustling London! Most of the work being done in the capital was underground rather than later structures being build over tube stations to prove the value of land and property.

The crane has been around since man discovered we needed it to build, wither it was structures such as stone Henge to the ancient cities of the Middle-east and the great wall of China. The crane is the best was to lift heavy items, were as the pulley is more for the moving of local smaller weights.

Cross Rail and many other new underground ventures will be dominated by the crane, while the mobile telescopic has taken advantage of those 8x8 ICBM carriers for the odd and quick jobs?

Happy New Year?

New Technology!

2017 Promises the demise of the faithful and cheaper Diesel engine in automobiles, because it seems to be the cause of Global Warming and carbon monoxide poising in our urban environments? NASA claims that the new electro engine will replace the jet engine in all aspects when it is introduces (No dates given)?

There is much debate about the digital age entering every aspect of our lives from the Amazon Echo Dot to automated driving and the first robots for domestic service? But Amazon has been caught out by its Echo Dot, after it recorded a murder in the U.S. This has put off sales of the device, because of its eves dropping ability and that instead of storing information within its self, the data goes to a central computer the United States for analysis and processing!

It will be design that will again shape visually what we see in the machine world, from vehicles to trains, aircraft and shipping. It is unclear at this time why China has dropped its mass transit 300 seat mover, perhaps the need to turn a corner may be one of many factors as well as the cost and limited sales potential?

Construction and farming machinery are being revolutionised by cutting the need for less human activity. One man operation covering a whole host of tasks, instead of having several different machines for each one?

Speed remains the target market in the luxury car and motor-bike world, but it is China who have developed the fold-away electric bike as seen in the recent Guy Martin in China programme!

The new U.S. Administration is promising not only a new arms industry race, but new exploration and development in Space? Reaching for the stars to mine the Asteroid belt is also now back on the cards?

Much of what we take for granted in our homes today from gadgets to medicine, were developed in space over the last twenty years or so!

Engineering, Maintenance and Building. Part-one.

Railways need cared For!

Every railroad or way around the world has a dedicated fleet of rolling stock to cater for all engineering types work, from general maintenance to rebuilding sections that are outdated. 

Millions is spent each year on the upgrading of rail track, signals and preventing flooding? Every country has many different situations in realtion to climate from ice and snow to desert!

Much humour is made about wet leaves on the lines in the fall, but to some systems this is serious in relation to wheel slippage. Older trains are more prone to this problem, but it is hoped that the newer types of rail alignment and layout of the track sleepers willin the future not happen again.

Engineering trains were once the speciality of each company or country meeting the local needs or costs, but now that a standard fleet is available such as Bombardiers and Plieser's track machines and they can be exported around the world.

Telescopic Cranes.

Construction to Recovery.

The building industry and the recovery business needs these monster cranes to fit into awkward places to work. In all the big cities around the world you will find these telescopic cranes at work, from loading or unloading construction materials to lifting segments of other cranes, wall section, glass and so it goes on.

Meanwhile in recovery they can deal with de-railed trains, tankers and other stock and there are various other uses for them too. The crane is one thing and it is quite simple in its development and use, but it has to be the trucks used to carry the equipment that are an awesome sight.

It was the design of military heavy transporters that has lead to the 8X8 and even bigger vehicles being used. For now we will just touch upon an few models, but in the future i hope to have a more lengthy or detailed look.

The Czech Tatra T816-6, American HEMTT, German Faun Fs 42.75/42, Mercedes-Benz 4850A, Russian MAZ-537.

Construction Vehicles.

Something we can never do without.

Every part of the building industry today relies on some form of vehicles to help. From roads to rails, from housing to skyscrapers. The Bulldozer and the JCB are probaly the most well known types, then (steam) rollers and various digger types, as well as tippers.

There is a longer history to construction of any thing, that meets the eye. Even in ancient history wheeled waggons, towers and carts, as well as cranes and pullys were employed in building. The Egyptian and Aztec Pyramids and many Celtic monuments such as Stone Henge and New Grange were constructed using slave labour and hundreds of animals to pull and heave blocks.

The future seems to be going down the road of Robotic automation and the use of more computer technologies. 

I think the idea here is perhaps saftey, but in the long term it will mean less and less human involvement and the loss of employment sadly.