GIANTS ARE BORN IN ZHODINO

BelAZ has got the possibility to create a mine truck with carrier power 560 tons. The General Director of the Belarusian automobile plant Alexander Egorov announced this during the talk with our correspondent
BelAZ has got the possibility to create a mine truck with carrier power 560 tons. The General Director of the Belarusian automobile plant Alexander Egorov announced this during the talk with our correspondent.

Such a vehicle can be manufactured on the basis of a dump truck “BelAZ-75600” with carrier power 320 tons. At the present moment in BelAZ model range this is the vehicle with the highest carrier power.

Alexander Egorov told that the work at the mine truck with carrier power 560 tons started in 2003. At that time BelAZ took part in the international contest for project development of the mine truck of ultra-high carrier power — more than 500 tons. It was announced by the Chilian state Codelco company extracting copper. “We included this project in our plan and in 2004 we worked it out. There was a backlog of “BelAZ-75600” vehicle with carrier power 320 tons. As a matter of fact, a new project was based on constituent parts of our mine truck with carrier power 320 tons,” the General Director said.

For the vehicle with carrier power 560 tons the product engineers added two tyres of a forward axle and at the expense of this they increased its carrier power. It was supposed to install two powerful diesel engines. We had to change the systems of load carrier, machine control and video visibility. It should have also been equipped with a difficult electric propulsion system, which is combined with the existing production elements. It was supposed to install the systems of fire fighting, central lubrication and conditioning. According to estimation of BelAZ specialists, the cost of mine truck constituent parts at that time amounted approximately to 5.5 million US Dollars.

“This was a nonordinary work. We understood that there are necessary constituent parts in the world for creation of such a vehicle. BelAZ is also able to produce the elements necessary for its manufacture. The work at this project showed that BelAZ can make this vehicle”, — Alexander Egorov underlined.

The project was represented to Chilian Codelco company, which specialists estimated that it was designed on a high technical level. They explained to the Belarusian enterprise and all contest participants, that it is risky to invest money in such a project. This is why the extractive company suspended all the actions on creation of a mine truck with carrier power more than 500 tons.

BelAZ development of the unique vehicle was left on the stage of a technical project. “We have a space arrangement, we know all the constituent parts, which are necessary for manufacture of this mine truck. However, a detail design hasn’t yet been worked out, according to which it is possible to make a vehicle”, the interlocutor specified.

In May 2008 BelAZ was visited by the representatives of Chilian company. In the museum of the plant they were shown the model of this mine truck and worked materials on its manufacture. And Chilian specialists became interested in this project again. According to them, its topicality remains. “As for now, there are no certain offers from the company, but if they come, BelAz is ready to consider them”, the general product engineer noted. It is supposed that the model of a super dump truck will be produced during two years.

At the Belarusian automobile plant the production of practically all giant vehicles is limited. Nevertheless, there are two assembly lines at the enterprise, so serial production is smoothly running. Today you can’t practically see equal vehicles on the assembly line simultaneously. “We can produce almost 80 modifications and versions in one class of vehicles,” Alexander Egorov noted. “The range of BelAZ possibilities is so high that everything can be done and we can perform practically all orders of the consumers”.

At the present moment the demand for metallurgic raw material and coal grows on the world market rapidly, and extractive companies are the main consumers of BelAZ production. “Demand for our vehicles will grow during 4–5 years”, the general product engineer of BelAZ said.

Note: the Belarusian automobile plant was founded in September of 1948 in Zhodino. The main products of the Production Association “BelAZ” are mine trucks, front wheel loaders and bulldozers, tractors-evacuators, special vehicles for underground works, heavy-duty trailers for metallurgical production and other specialized production machines.

Specific weight of new production types by results of 2007 amounted to 55.7 per cent. Belarusian automobile plant occupies one third of the market of mine trucks and is included into Top-seven of the leading world concerns producing open-pit equipment — Komatsu-Dresser, Euclid-Hitachi, Caterpillar, Liebherr, Terex, Kress.

For the whole history of the enterprise more than 500 modifications of mine trucks from 27 to 320 tons were developed. More than 130 thousand of mine trucks were produced, working in 70 world countries.

Lilia Krapivina
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