Project machines
At the top of the amphibious range the machine stops behaving like plant and starts behaving like infrastructure. It is shipped in pieces, assembled on site, and left there for the duration of the project. Moving it is an operation in itself, so it does not move.
Where it fits
Large-scale land reclamation, harbour and channel approach maintenance, and multi-season dredging where the volume to be moved justifies committing a machine to a single site for years.
What buying at this scale involves
- Assembly planning. Crane capacity, hardstanding for the crane, component sequencing and a commissioning period before the machine earns anything.
- Route survey to the water. The assembled machine has to travel from the assembly point to its working area over ground that may not carry it. This has to be surveyed and, sometimes, prepared.
- Parts strategy. On a multi-year deployment, an on-site stock of undercarriage wear items is a requirement rather than a precaution.
- Exit plan. Established at the start, because the site conditions at the end will be different and the machine still has to come out.
When something smaller is the better answer
If the work is spread across several sites, two mid-size machines will frequently outperform one large one — not on paper, but in practice, because the large machine spends too much of the programme being moved. Machines this size earn their cost through uninterrupted duty in one place.
