DISAB

DISAB has delivered £1.5 million of savings for the London Underground, helping to re-ballast points and crossings, repair wet spots and improve drainage.

It was necessary to mount the vacuum plant onto two separate rail wagons. One wagon carries the hydraulic manipulator (suction hose), storage hopper and filter units and the second wagon carries the seven diesel engines necessary to drive the vacuum pumps and power the hydraulics and electrics.

Material is excavated through the hose manipulator and deposited into the storage hopper. The manipulator is operated by a single operator via a remote control joystick. Almost surgical excavation can be achieved.

SES are contracted to provide labour to carry out the operation of the DISAB machine together with the on-going Maintenance schedule to keep the DISAB in full operational order at all times.  The gang includes Engineers, Fitters, Operators and Handback Staff. This is completed each night within 4hrs. All spoil is taken to Waste disposal points locally. 

A recent innovation has been to increase the hopper capacity by 100% with the provision of an extended unit. This has increased the potential output of the machine from 7 to 14 wetbeds per deployment.