Mining Bridges
UNIBRIDGE® Mining Solution Advantages:
• Savings on transport costs, downtime, vehicle wear and tear
• Increase the efficiency of bulk transport
• Very quick installation on pre-built abutments and piers
• Easily dismantled for use in other locations
Unibridge® Mining Solutions have been developed to maximise delivery of minerals from
satellite mines via road to the crusher, utilising road trains.
Moving loads from satellite mines to the main deposit is expensive and time consuming.
Once large crushers are installed at the main deposit of a mine, the ore from satellite
mines needs to be hauled to the crushers at the main deposit. The distance can be up to
80km and is usually done using dump trucks.
Dump trucks of up to 360 tones capacity or more require wide roads able to support very
heavy loads, notwithstanding the speed and poor efficiency of such a solution. Another
method for this operation is now available based on road trains, commonly used in
northern Australia, and the Unibridge® mining solution.
Road trains (eg the "Hydrapede" from J. Smith and Sons*) can transport a pay load of up
to 400 tonnes at a maximum speed of up to about 65km/h. To optimise the efficiency of a
road train it is paramount to reduce the variation of gradients on the track and therefore
reduce the wear and tear on drive tyres, power trains, brakes and connectors.
Unibridge® Mining Solutions can
easily integrate into the road design to minimise the variation of gradients
decrease the width of the roads
increase the efficiency of the system
allow heavier pay loads and faster transit times
decrease road construction costs
This solution is able to carry the weight of the vehicles described at a speed of ± 65km/h.
The basic design for the abutments and the piers can be easily pre-engineered and
adapted to the specific geotechnical details of the site.
Once the capacity of the satellite mine has been exhausted, the Unibridge® Mining
Solution can be easily dismantled and used again in another location, giving long term
return on investment.