Renaturalisation of former uranium mining sites with 25 Arocs
Vehicle & Technology
DFA in Ronneburg is a specialist for site logistics for major building projects. Their toughest assignment so far? the renaturalisation of former uranium mining sites carried out by Wismut GmbH. No less than 25 new Arocs Grounder dump trucks provide for more mobility.
Narrow gravel roads criss-cross the high grass on the huge, treeless plain. Mounds of red earth pile up before an ashen sky. At the head of a dust cloud emerging in the distance, a red Arocs 8x6 cuts its way through the terrain. Effortlessly, it climbs the ramp, then brakes and stops. The door flies open and Michael Riedel, a giant of a man, gets out of the cabin and climbs down the steps. Heavy equipment like the Arocs is an absolute must for the staff of DFA Transport and Logistics GmbH at the Wismut location at Culmitzsch.
Since 1991 they have been working tirelessly at a task of epic proportions: 1 500 kilometres of open mines, 311 million cubic metres of piled-up dump material - uranium mining in the GDR left deep scars on the landscape of Thuringia and Saxony. However, with every day that passes, those scars become a little bit smaller. Thanks to Riedel and his colleagues at DFA Logistik and 25 new Arocs 4142 three-way dump trucks – 22 of which have the wheel formula 8x6. Since 1991, huge areas have been rehabilitated and renaturalised under the direction of the government-owned Wismut GmbH. DFA, formally the transport company of the Soviet/German Corporation Wismut, was privatised in 1990 and is now the main logistics partner tasked with refilling the opencast mine craters.The DFA fleet is correspondingly large and tough: about 70 per cent of the dump trucks are equipped with four-wheel drive.
How well the new Arocs 4142 fares on the Wismut site, will be tested by Riedel for the first time, today. He began in the 90s as a driver at DFA and now oversees the fleet while working as a driver trainer. "The Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmission is really good. And the rocking mode is something we often use here," says Riedel.
A great deal of renaturalisation has now been completed: at the company's headquarters in Ronneburg near Gera, all the old pits have been sealed again. "The underground shafts have been flooded," Riedel explains. Ten kilometres further north in Ronneburg, DFA Managing Director Michael Hulm is happily gazing out over a wide, empty stretch of concrete. It's where his vehicles are parked when not in use. But they are all in operation – not only on the Wismut sites, but right across Germany: "When we realised that even the Wismut project will be over one day, we decided to diversify." The red DFA dump trucks can now be seen on motorway construction sites or at the major construction project known as "Stuttgart 21".
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To be able to fully utilise the advantages of a large fleet, the technology in the vehicles is crucial: "Because our vehicles are one, two or at most, three years old, we are always reliable. That puts us one step ahead," says Hulm. The large number of all-wheel drive trucks increases availability: "With the off-road Arocs, we can carry on working when others have long since come to a standstill."
DFA vehicles taken out of service are sold in the autumn and the new ones are ordered for the following spring: "It is absolutely crucial that the manufacturer keeps their promise to deliver on time – as Mercedes-Benz does. Otherwise, when the customer wants to start work, we could be left standing there without a truck."
Photos: Kristian Barthen
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