No Tunnel of Love for Develon

Just last month Develon’s first specialist tunnelling excavator was delivered to a customer in Athens, Greece, where it is working on the city’s new metro line project.

The DX235RTF-7 is based on the manufacturers popular DX235LCR-7 compact radius crawler excavator and has been specially designed for the arduous and challenging tunnelling sector. In line with other machines of this nature the new Develon features a heavy-duty tunnelling boom and dipper combination with special kinematics and tilt functions.

Powered by a DL06V Stage V emissions compliant diesel engine production a power output of 141kw (189hp), the DX235RTF-7 has a total operating weight of 25,689kgs. The well-balanced machine has an impressive reach of 9260mm, but is surprisingly compact in the tunnelling application.

The boom tilting function enables the operator to tilt to a maximum of 45^o in each direction which is operated by a pedal on the floor of the cabin. Crucial components on the boom and arm are well protected by strong guarding and covers to prevent damage from the inevitable impacts of falling debris or contact with the ceiling or sidewalls in such environments.

I have witnessed other manufacturers machines that have come out of tunnels in the past, and they often look like they have been in a war zone! It’s a tough life down there for machinery and there is very little love going on!

We didn't feature this new unit at the time because it got gobbled up in the Earthmovers news pages, but a recently released video from Develon features the machine in action, which I'm delighted to share with you. One has to say, this would make for a very interesting site visit for the magazine!