ATP Hydraulik AG designs and manufactures hydraulic and mechatronic systems with integrated automation. As part of the London Crossrail project, the company was awarded a contract to design and supply the cylinders, hydraulic power units, piping, electrical and hydraulic components and the software for two bespoke drilling rigs. In addition to all piping and cabling, ATP supplied the lubrication circuits, as well as the fire detection and extinguishing systems. For the mechatronic system, which integrates both electrical and hydraulic components, ATP chose to work exclusively with Eaton—and by sourcing all components from a single supplier, the company was able to keep the development time to a minimum. At the moment, ATP is the only Eaton Solution Partner with a global presence that integrates technologies from both our electrical and hydraulics businesses.

Background

Crossrail, Europe's largest construction project, will transform rail transport in London and South East England, inter alia by increasing the rail capacity in central London by 10%, supporting network upgrades and reducing journey times across the city. Almost 20 km of new tracks have been laid on the so-called Elizabeth Line. The total budget for the Crossrail project amounts to £14.8 billion (approximately €18 billion). The objectives behind the project are to bring an additional 1.5 million people within 45 minutes of central London, and to link the city’s 

main business and leisure hubs—Heathrow Airport, the West End, the City and the Docklands—to enable further economic development. The first Crossrail services through central London will start in late 2018, with an estimated 200 million passengers annually. 

Challenge

Reduce the time required to drill 250,000 holes whilst improving the health and safety of workers

Multiple hole patterns need to be drilled every 6.4 meters into the concrete lining of the tunnel to reinforce the rail infrastructure. This includes brackets for the emergency escape routes, cable management systems, fire mains and the 25 kV overhead line that will power the Crossrail trains. 

In previous tunnel projects, this was done manually, with surveyors marking each position individually before the holes were drilled using hand-held hammer drills. For the 42 km of tunnels involved in this project, this type of work would have taken two to three years to complete, depending on the number of construction workers. 

In addition, the vibration and noise from drilling 250,000 holes would also have raised health & safety concerns. Even with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE), this type of work may result in severe and harmful hand-arm vibration (HAV) if carried out over a prolonged period of time. In addition to being a known factor in carpal tunnel syndrome and other ergonomic injuries, HAV may cause direct injury to the fingers and hands, including numbness and loss of dexterity and grip. For this reasons, a solution was needed that would speed up the drilling process whilst improving the welfare of workers. 

Solution 

Providing an innovative solution for meeting the Crossrail project schedule 

ATC (a joint venture of Alstom, TSO and Costain) was tasked with deploying two brand new, state-of-the-art precision drilling machines. The Crossrail drilling rigs were manufactured by Rowa Tunnelling Logistics in Switzerland and were ready for operation by November 2015. 

For the mechatronic system, which integrates both electrical and hydraulic components, ATP chose to work exclusively with Eaton—and by sourcing all components from a single supplier, the company was able to keep the development time to a minimum. 

The Eaton components used for the project include SmartWire-DT contactors, fuses for the drilling machines and pumps for the dust suppression system, which is controlled via a Profinet/SmartWire-DT gateway. The SmartWire-DT intelligent wiring and communication technology consolidates complex circuit wiring into a single, durable cable that can be connected to any standard network. 

Axial piston pumps from Eaton’s Heavy Duty line supply the fluid for the hydraulic systems that control the arms and the 36 drills, as well as the drill rig’s Eaton-manufactured proportional valves, cartridge valves, directional control valves and tube fittings. 

The first task was to perform a 3D scan of the tunnel in order to take exact measurements in small increments. The data were then fed into a computer program in a coordinated manner and overlaid with segment templates for the drilling positions. A laser automatically positions the drilling rigs every 6.4 metres, based on the calculated drilling data, which are stored on a USB stick. All holes are drilled automatically and simultaneously, with an accuracy of ± 2 mm. 

Results

An elegant solution to a complex problem 

“This mechatronic approach, which includes Eaton's hydraulic and electrical components, resulted in an amazing technical achievement in record time—the drilling machine, which can be thought of as a kind of robot, is the first of its kind,” says Michael Fabianek, CTO at ATP Hydraulik AG. “By integrating Eaton’s intelligent wiring and communication technology, we achieved time savings of up to 80 working hours during the construction of the control cabinets for the two drilling rigs.” SmartWire-DT not only reduces the wiring time, but also the time required for I/O testing and commissioning. 

ATP took four months to develop the system until it was ready for a factory acceptance test (FAT). After extensive regulatory and safety tests and an FAT conducted in Switzerland, the system was put into operation on site based on real, modified data. 

The drilling of the actual tunnel walls started in April 2016. ATP expects to use this new type of drilling rig also in future tunnelling projects.

Background

Crossrail, Europe’s largest construction project, will transform rail transport in London and the south east of England, increasing central London rail capacity by 10%, supporting regeneration and cutting journey times across the city. Currently nearly 20 km of track has been laid on what will be known as the Elizabeth line. The total funding envelope available to deliver Crossrail is £14.8 bn (approx. €18 bn). The objective for Crossrail is to bring an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London and link London’s key employment, leisure and business districts – Heathrow Airport, West End, the City, Docklands – to enable further economic development. The first Crossrail services through central London will start in late 2018 with an estimated 200 million annual passengers.