17 years, 240 tunnels, 2 million metres of forepoling: the shared history of Robit and Hard & Wear Technologies in a nutshell.

Spain is a mineral-rich country with a vibrant mining industry. It is also a country crisscrossed with several mountain ranges, which means road and rail construction often involves the excavation of tunnels. Ever since 2001, these industries have been served by the dynamic duo of Robit and Hard & Wear Technologies. During that time they have been involved in more than 80 % of all tunnels executed in Spain.

Geologically, the Iberian Peninsula is very diverse, and in tunneling work you need to deal with many kinds of complicated terrains: volcanic ash, sand, clay, gypsum, and granite, to name just a few. Advancing a tunnel in a soft ground or broken rock requires forepoling, also known as the tube umbrella method.

Hard & Wear Technologies SA, a leading supplier of forepoling tools, is the distributor of Robit casing systems in Spain. The Robit umbrella casing system allows easy driving of the casing tubes into the ground.

2018 was another busy year for the dynamic duo in Spain. It included the completion of two tunnels along the Madrid–A Coruña high-speed rail line: one in Padornelo in the Zamora province, and one in Cerdedelo in the Ourense province, adding up to a total of 40,000 metres of forepoling.

Late in the year, contracts were signed for two joint ventures concerning work on two metro stations in the city of San Sebastián, in the Basque Country in northern Spain. Initially the contracts cover a total of 3,000 metres, but this figure is expected to increase greatly.

The outlook for 2019 shows no sign of slowing down. Robit and Hard & Wear Technologies have signed Letters of Commitment for the supply of materials for six more tunnels in the Basque Country, serving a new high-speed rail line between Madrid and the French border.

“4G”, or Fourth Generation, typically refers to a mobile network. In Colombia, it’s also an abbreviation for the largest and most ambitious road infrastructure program in Latin America.

Colossal investment

Colombia’s 4G program involves 7,000 kilometres of roadway – a more than $ 50 billion investment divided into more than 40 projects. Part of a master plan to place Colombia at the forefront of Latin American economies, its aim is to step up regional development and promote foreign trade by reducing transport times across the country.

4G has marked a massive boost for the construction industry in Colombia, a country traversed by no less than three branches of the Andes. In addition to 1,400 km of four-lane highways, 4G includes 141 tunnels (125 km in length) and as many as 1,300 viaducts (146 km in length).

One of the 4G projects, called “Autopista Conexión Pacífico 1”, is the construction of a highway between Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city, and Bolombolo, in central northwestern Colombia. It includes two tunnels, Sinifaná and Amagá.

Partnering in a competitive market

Sinifaná, consisting of two parallel tunnels, 1,6 km each with a cross-section of 100 m², is contracted by the Spanish-owned OSSA. They are drilling with Robit tools, supplied by SESCO, Robit’s exclusive dealer of tunneling tools in Colombia. Through SESCO, Robit entered the Colombian market three years ago.

“Entering Colombia was a real challenge since the prices were very depressed. We are by no means the cheapest in the market, but thanks to the durability and fast performance of our tools, we have been able to demonstrate that Robit is the most economical cost-per-meter choice”, says José Cisneros, Sales Director for Robit SAC.

In addition to providing tools, Robit consults the main designers in the projects, and provides training to drillers to ensure optimal use of the various tools. In forepoling, the Robit system can offer key advantages for the driller. It’s easy to install, couplings between sections are very fast to make, and the durability helps minimize downtime.

Impressive performance

“We have seen performance that has not been reached in this country before: 13,000 m for rods, 25,000 m for couplings, 24,000 m for shanks, to name a few. Add to that the superior penetration rate of our drill bits, and our client has been able to reduce execution times up to 40%”, says a pleased José.

The Sinifaná tunnel is expected to be completed in September 2019, and the Amagá tunnel two years later. Once finished, the Pacífico 1 highway will cut the travel time from Medellin to Bolombolo in half.

Picture: The Cauca river crosses numerous towns in the Department of Antioquia, including Bolombolo.

In Macedonia, the verdant heart of the Balkans, narrow and winding roads hug the mountainsides making journeys by car excruciatingly slow. The situation is about to change, though, through massive investments in infrastructure.

The single largest road building project underway in Macedonia is the 57-kilometre stretch of motorway between Kicevo and Ohrid, a popular lake-side city in the southwest corner of the country. The project employs 1,200 people and 550 machines. The EUR 375 million investment project is financed by Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned company and the main contractor of the project.

A twin-tube tunnel with two lanes in each tube will be built through the Preseka mountain, totalling four kilometres in length. Traffic will travel in one direction in each of the tubes.

To an extent, the tunnelling work will be carried out the traditional, manual way by around two to three hundred employees, while the rest of the excavation work will be handled by tunnelling jumbos. The local subcontractor for the project is Avtotehna d.o.o. Skopje, which is in charge of procurement and the maintenance of the equipment and machinery. For forepoling, Avtotehna chose Robit’s tools. The criteria for the decision were clear.

– Robit clearly outperformed its competitors in the tests. With Robit’s products, the drilling of one cross section equalling 39 holes took 30 hours in contrast with 48 hours achieved by the best competitor. There are several reasons for this: Robit’s casings are thicker, the casings’ threading is superior, and as a whole, the products are stronger and more reliable, says Vladimir Ovcarov, Manager at Avtotehna.

Robit has guaranteed a constant supply of wear parts.
– It is all about customer service. By listening to the customer and making plans together with them onsite, we are able to estimate what products and how much of them will be needed at the site over the next couple of months, and most importantly, we are also able to deliver on those needs. We dispatch a truckload of products every week, Robit’s Sales Engineer Rasmus Sokura says.

– Competition in this field is stiff. You have to be prepared for surprises and risks and be able to react quickly. We have proven from the get-go that you can always rely on Robit. We have since also managed to gain a foothold in the Balkan mining sector, Rasmus adds.

Avtotehna is also very happy with Robit.
– Our co-operation with Robit has run smoothly. They listen to our wishes and offer flexible, quick service 24/7. This is something that large, rigid organisations have not been able to provide, Vladimir says.

Deep inside the Preseka mountain, tunnelling work will continue for over a year. If the project stays on schedule, the motorway will be completed in 2018, cutting – to the delight of Macedonian motorists – the travel time between Kicevo and Ohrid in half.

ROBIT’S ROX+ 114,3/10 SYSTEM FOREPOLING PRODUCTS IN MACEDONIA:
• Pilot bits
• Ring bits (welded to casing)
• Extension casings and end casings
• Grouting plugs/end caps with ball valves
• Drifter shank adaptors and rods

Picture: Planning and scheduling everyday operations at the jobsite: Avtotehna d.o.o., Sinohydro and Robit.