Dyer & Butler has trialled a remote-control breaker to navigate around an unidentified cable discovered during excavation work at Heathrow Airport.
A section of the uncharted pot-ended cable joint was discovered by maintenance teams investigating the cause of a potable water leak in the Central Terminal Area.
However, breaking up the surrounding layers of asphalt and concrete to further expose and identify the potentially live cable presented a “significant” safety risk.
As such, after considering all possible means of safely exposing and identifying the cable, the decision was made to use Dyer & Butler’s Demobot, having been deemed the safest and most efficient solution.
Using line-of-sight and a remote control, the team was able to navigate the Demobot – designed for unstable, confined or hazardous areas – at a safe distance from any potential hazards posed by exposure or potential damage to the cable.
Commenting on the development, Geoff Fox, Dyer & Butler SHEQ manager, said: “The health, safety, and wellbeing of our people is our core value, and we continually challenge ourselves to find new and safer ways of working.
“The Demobot placed safety innovation at the forefront of this task, enabling the project team to uncover the uncharted cable from a safe distance.
“Once the cable was further exposed, it was traced back to the service pit and confirmed as redundant and, consequently, safe for removal.
“This enabled the site team to safely investigate and repair the potable main leak, before backfilling and reinstating the area back to operational status.”
Dyer & Butler is part of M Group Services.
Image: Dyer & Butler’s Demobot. Credit: Dyer & Butler
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