Sound of breaking glass

Swiss contractor Toggenburg AG Winterthur has recently completed a challenging project that required the processing and recycling of as much of 77,000 cubic metres (2,272,000 cubic feet) of material in an enclosed space, a task it completed in just 10 weeks. In 2012, Swiss safety glass producer Temperit ceased manufacturing at its Hinwil plant in the country and the site was scheduled for demolition.

Toggenburg brought in a newly delivered Demlone DEM100 excavator, based on the Cat 385C tracked machine, with a 34 m (112 ft) high reach boom fitted with an OilQuick coupler and configured specifically to Toggenburg’s specification.

To process the 3 x 3 x 1.5 m (10 x 10 x 5 ft) thick machine foundations, another newly acquired piece of equipment, a 7 tonne Rammer 7013 hydraulic hammer was used by the Dem100 mounted on its standard dig boom to break the concrete up. During the course of the work,

Toggenburg processed 10,000 cubic metres (350,000 cubic feet) of concrete and 1,000 tonnes of steel. Key to this hammer’s use, according to Toggenburg, was the constant blow energy provided by the hammer’s FBE system, as well as its noise and vibration damping to maximise carrier protection and minimise noise levels. According to Toggenburg’s Marcel Stadler: “This is the tenth Rammer hammer to join our fleet and based on what we have seen so far, it will not be the last.”