Shaft/Tunnel Mucking Systems From Electromech

ElectroMech has developed a unique and cost effective bulk material handling system for extraction and disposal of overburden generated during construction of tunnels. This system can very efficiently remove overburden generated during construction of deep shafts as well as the overburden generated during the tunneling operation itself.

Briefly the system consists of:

• A high speed, high lift winch located at ground level
• A support structure complete with columns and gantry girder and rails
• A motorized trolley atop the gantry girder
• A lower block from which a self- dumping bucket is suspended
• A heavy duty, side dumping rectangular or square cross section bucket
• A self-dumping station where the laden bucket is emptied of the overburden into dumpers for onw- ard transportation to dump site.
• All the associated electricals

These systems can be used where shafts and tunnels are constructed like water supply projects, surge shafts for dams, etc. Several such systems designed and manufactured by ElectroMech are operational at various construction sites of construction majors like HCC, Patel Engineering, Jaiprakash Industries, Unity, IVRCL, Soma Enterprises, etc.

Such a system is extremely economical compared to the deployment of mobile cranes for mucking operations on account of higher throughput and cheaper running costs.

Usually tunnels run to many kilometers and are located anywhere between 50 to 200 meters below surface. Such tunnels are typically constructed by accessing the tunneling zone at many locations simultaneously through vertical shafts. The topography of the surface above the tunnel normally is never at the same elevation for the entire length of the tunnel. As a result the shaft depths vary from point to point.

The entire shaft/tunnel mucking system operates as under:

• After every blast/drilling operation carried out to extend the shaft/tunnel, the overburden generated needs to be removed immediately in order to proceed further.
• Once the affected area is approachable, the empty bucket is lowered to the appropriate elevation.
• The bucket is then filled with the generated overburden, either by payloaders or manually depending on the space available below for movement of men and machines.
• The laden bucket is then automatically hoisted to a pre-determined height above the surface using the winch and the hoisting arrangement.
• The laden bucket is then automatically traversed longitudinally to a pre-determined distance using the trolley.
• The laden bucket is then lowered at the dumping station.
• The door locks are now released and the bucket further lowered using the winch, emptying the overburden into dump trucks standing below.
• After the bucket is empty, the bucket is hoisted, the doors locked and are then automatically traversed to the centreline of the shaft and the whole cycle is repeated once more.
• The whole system is custom built.

After sales service is taken care of by Cranedge, a dedicated service organization exclusively for providing post sales services. It's a wholly-owned subsidiary of ElectroMech that offers services ranging from spare sales; repairs, services and overhauling; annual maintenance; crane health checks; modifications and retrofits; relocation of cranes; etc.

The life cycle of these cranes depends on the usage and environmental conditions in which they operate. Some of their cranes have been operational for decades with regular maintenance keeping them healthy and reliable.


Operator training is conducted by their team of experts at the time of installation or as per the clients' needs.

After market, any other support or offering like buy back, AMC etc: Electromech service subsidiary, Cranedge offers after sales support such as spares, AMC's and health check ups for all types of EOT & Goliath cranes.