Unique Volvo Hydroblaster 8 x 4 hits the road (and runway)

W J Roadmarkings Ltd. of Stoke-on-Trent has taken delivery of a Volvo FM-420 eight-wheeler equipped with the UK’s first Hydroblaster high-pressure, water jetting body, which will be used to remove white lines from roads and aircraft tyre deposits from airport runways.

The Hydroblaster uses a 40,000 psi jet stream high pressure pump which is used to remove thermoplastic road markings and surface deposits on runways using water is more environmentally-friendly than previous ‘line burning’ methods. This new method can remove a 750mm strip of rubber in one pass from a runway (this equates to 1,200 sq. metres per hour) or re-texture a road to improve or bring back the original skid resistance properties of the tarmac.

“We can’t afford any downtime with an expensive machine like this and 80% of the work is done at night,” explained Martin Webb, W J Roadmarking’s Operations Director. “We continue to buy Volvo because of their inherent reliability. We’ve been operating them for over 10 years and we’ve found them to be the best truck for the job. Hartshornes’ are just around the corner and always give good service, which makes for a smooth operation.”

Martin continued, “We went for the Volvo 8x4 configuration as it can carry more water on-board and the engine-driven PTO can operate both the jet-stream pump and the vacuum recovery system.”

Supplied by Hartshorne (Potteries) in Newcastle-under-Lyme and on a two-year Repair and Maintenance contract, the truck has recently been used in airside trials at London Heathrow, Gatwick, RAF Kinloss and Kent International Airport at Manston.

WJ Roadmarkings Ltd. core business is the setting up of contra-flows on motorways, as well as the application of permanent road markings, the removal of road markings, the removal of rubber from runway surfaces and the re-texturing of road surfaces.