Twin weighbridges bring efficiency gains

Significant efficiency gains are being achieved at a new recycling centre in Leeds following the installation of a pair of dynamic weighbridges – one for inbound vehicles and one for outbound.

Axle Weight Technology Limited (Axtec) of Runcorn installed the weighbridges at the centre in Hunslet on behalf of H W Martin Recycling. The company is one half of a public/private sector alliance that each year will process over 60,000 tonnes of dry recyclable materials collected by the council from the City’s 715,000 residents.

Six days a week material is delivered to the three acre site, where a team of 40 people sort it into its various categories using a highly mechanised system, with over 95% going for re-use. The constant flow of vehicles required a system for the fast and accurate weighing of both inbound and outbound vehicles to trade standards.

Limited space ruled out a conventional plate weighbridge but a better option was found in Axtec’s ‘drive over’ dynamic weighbridge. This occupies a floor space of only 3 by 1 metres and vehicles are weighed in motion as they pass over at about walking pace.

Further efficiencies come from the integration of the data coming from the two weighbridges with ISYS software. Vehicle weights are automatically entered into the system and reconciled between inbound and outbound weights for each individual vehicle. Data can be consolidated and stored for reporting and accounting purposes and weighbridge tickets can be instantly printed out. The use of a CCTV system to read number plates provides additional back-up.

Phil Jones, Project Manager for H W Martin Recycling, says that Axtec’s approach to the project was exemplary, both in relation to the installation of the dynamic weighbridges and to the integration of their data recording system with the ISYS system.

“Axtec’s own in-house construction team undertook the work, which involved preparing the pits into which the weighbridges are placed and ensuring an absolutely level approach to them. The work was done so well that we asked them to construct the pits for the loading conveyors, which also needed to be carried out to a very high standard of accuracy. The entire job took just five weeks and we are very pleased with the end result.

“Whilst the construction work was taking place we worked closely with Axtec’s technical team to achieve the systems integration. Their understanding of our needs and their ability to translate that into the highly effective system we now have was outstanding.”

Axtec came to the task with an impressive pedigree. Their dynamic weighbridge is the most accurate in the world, with official certification that verifies its accuracy to within 0.25%.

It’s also the choice of the government body VOSA (Vehicle & Operator Services Agency) for its national network of vehicle weight enforcement weighbridges. The majority are Axtec dynamic weighbridges and the company currently has a three year contract to maintain them and ensure their constant availability.

Keith Gresham, Managing Director at Axtec, said that the installation had been an unusual and a challenging one. “Installation of dynamic weighbridges requires absolute precision in the construction of the pit and approaches, which is why we employ our own civil engineering teams. In this case, linking the data feed from our two weighbridges into a highly integrated proprietary data collection system added a further challenge to our technical team.”

H W Martin Recycling and Axtec are looking forward to working together on what looks like a promising portfolio of future projects.