Tarmac’s new big Cat completes its line-up of UK’s largest excavators at Mountsorrel quarry

Tarmac, the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solution’s company, has bolstered its fleet of plant machinery with the acquisition of a new excavator at its Mountsorrel quarry in Leicestershire.

Capable of moving over three million tonnes of material per year, the company’s Caterpillar 6030 hydraulic mining shovel weighs approximately 300 tonnes, generates over 1,500 horsepower and completes the firm’s line-up of new equipment at Mountsorrel.  Ian Brown, manufacturing manager at Tarmac, said: “Our objective is to continue to provide high quality construction materials to our customers and it’s important we have the right plant and equipment to deliver maximum site productivity. 

“The 6030 excavator is our second here at Mountsorrel and the two are the largest of their kind in operation at a UK quarry.  This new user-friendly machinery will undoubtedly enable us to run the quarry to its optimum output, safely and professionally.” The machine was delivered in sections on 12 separate trucks and took a team of dedicated engineers from UK Caterpillar distributor Finning four weeks to assemble on site. Now fully operational, the excavator is playing a fundamental role in sustaining ongoing output at one of the most productive and large-scale quarrying operations in the country. To ensure the 6030 operates to its optimum capacity, Caterpillar has also introduced a number of technical management systems, with on-board computers providing real-time performance data to monitor its health and minimise breakdowns.

Safer, quieter and fitted with the latest modern emissions controls, the new model is also more efficient than its predecessor, reducing fuel consumption by around 20 per cent. John Vardy, Strategic Account General Manager at Finning, commented: “The Cat 6030 FS is our hydraulic shovel that leads the class in productivity, reliability and safety. It is the perfect production match for the Cat 777 size class trucks working in Mountsorrel quarry.

“With the machine remotely monitored by our Finsight engineering team in our Cannock Head Office, using the latest MineStar and Cat Product Link technology, we are able to ensure the Tarmac team has performance and productivity data at its fingertips. Monitoring this information also allows us to help Tarmac maintain high levels of uptime, by spotting trends and alerts that can be used to schedule preventative maintenance.” Mountsorrel is one of the largest granite quarries in Europe and a major producer of high quality aggregates for asphalt and concrete.