the PeoPle - OPERC - Off-highway Plant and Equipment Research ...

IN ACTION
hewDen assists
exercise watermark
Hewden, the national multiproduct
hire specialist, has
supplied equipment to the
Environment Agency to
assist with its involvement
in Exercise Watermark -
the national multi-agency
flooding exercise.
A new JCB tracked
excavator and wheel loader
were supplied by Hewden
to assist with the repair of
a shingle bank that acts as
a flood defence at Selsey
beach, West Sussex, an
area that was badly affected
by flooding in 2008.
Exercise Watermark is a
week-long exercise involving
10,000 people from the
police to prison officers and
equipment from helicopters
to hospitals. During the
week, mock flooding
scenarios are carried out
by the Environment Agency
32
April 2011
on behalf of Defra and
the Welsh Assembly
Government to test the
systems and processes
that are used when
responding to floods.
Mike O’Neill, Area
Incidents Manager
for the Environment
Agency, said: “Exercise
Watermark is the largest
national flooding exercise
that has ever taken place.
Across the country,
emergency responders
will be testing their
response to flooding on a
widespread scale.
“With the support of
Hewden, one of our
framework suppliers, we
have been able to bring
in the required machines
and expertise to enable
us to respond to this
massive flood event.”
Remote controlled
Bobcat loaders have
been sent to help in the
disaster recovery work
following the earthquake
and tsunami in Japan.
Bobcat is working with
QinetiQ North America,
a technology, responsive
services and innovative
solutions company, to
provide unmanned Bobcat
loaders and associated
training to aid in Japan’s
recovery efforts.
Two Bobcat T300
compact tracked loaders
equipped with 2m
wide industrial grapple
attachments have been
shipped to Japan to aid in
disaster relief work. The
Bobcat loaders have been
supplied with Robotic
Appliqué Kits from
QinetiQ, which turn the
loaders into unmanned
machines in just 15
minutes, increasing
safety in recovery tasks
as the machines can
access less stable
environments without
an operator in the cab.
Remote Controlled
Bobcat Loaders
to aid Japan
To be stationed in
Japan for rapid, on-call
deployment, the unmanned
Bobcat loaders include
seven cameras, night
vision, thermal imagers,
microphones, two-way
radio systems and
radiation sensors and can
be operated from more
than a mile away to safely
remove rubble and debris,
dig up buried objects
and carry around smaller
equipment. They will help
Japan’s response teams
to accomplish critical and
complex recovery tasks
at a safer distance from
hazardous debris and other
dangerous conditions.
As well as converting
Bobcat loaders into
unmanned machines
in just 15 minutes, the
Robotic Appliqué Kits from
QinetiQ kits permit remote
operation of all 70 Bobcat
loader attachments, such
as buckets, tree cutters
and hydraulic hammers
and other tools that can
be used to break through
walls and doors.