Providing the solution no matter what the environment, application or delivery date is what Richmond Wheel and Castors provided, for the Christies Beach Desalination Plant Outfall in South Australia.
The Outfall (as pictured) required that rollers were used to launch the pipe from an elevated position on land and then finish a considerable distance out to sea. The pipe had an outside diameter of 1200mm and weighed 1742.6kg per metre and the requirement was for a set of rollers every 8 metres. The lead time for the rollers to be on site was 5 weeks. The duration of the pipe rollout was to be 1-2 weeks in total.
Utilising Richmond Wheel and Castors new Polyurethane plant plain bore cast iron wheels with 75 Shore D polyurethane tyres running on a plain steel axle were designed and manufactured. The axle was to be held in place with a keeper plate. Adequate clearance was allowed for between the shaft and the bore of the wheel to allow easy rotation even when corrosion of the wheel and axle had set in. Liberal quantities of grease were applied to these axle/wheel assemblies before they left the factory, as re-greasing of these rollers on site was not an option. Frames were being made using a bogey arrangement to distribute the load over the rollers and to allow the pipe to curve down into the sea.
Richmond Wheel and Castors are at the forefront of polyurethane moulding and pipe roller design and construction.