Swedish connection at Fujairah quarry
Major Volvo fleet operating at Gulf Rock quarry
Al Khaleej Rock Engineering has a significant fleet of Volvo equipment operating at its quarry
One of the UAE’s major producers of high quality limestone Al Khaleej Rock Engineering (Fujairah) L.L.C., has a significant fleet of Volvo equipment operating at its quarry in Fujairah.
The quarry, which has an annual production capacity of three million tonnes of crushed rock, is part of the Gulf Rock Engineering Group (Golf Rock), which is part Swedish owned.
The quarry has installed a large capacity crusher and processing plant on site, and produces a limestone low in silica, suitable for steel and chemical industry applications. Every ye half a million tonnes of the crushed rock is exported to India and the remainder sold to local markets, with ready-mix producers major consumers as the limestone is ideal for cement production.
Gulf Rock owns a large fleet of Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) for its quarrying operations, with over 70 Volvo heavy duty machines consisting of excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, compactors as well as specialized drill and blast machinery. It owns 210 units in total. The company has recently acquired three Volvo A35E articulated haulers and three Volvo FMX 400 8×4 trucks, featuring Hardox steel rock-bodies.
“We have been buying Volvo machinery, especially articulated haulers and wheel loaders for more than 25 years,” says Jonathan Mark Cottam, managing director of Gulf Rock. “We still have 12 Volvo A25C and A25B haulers in operation that were purchased in the early nineties and one Volvo A20 articulated hauler, that’s still in good working order. That has given us more than 20 years of service – even after we bought it second hand!”
Many of Gulf Rock’s older articulated haulers have been modified for specialized jobs. One hauler has a fully hydraulic ‘robojet’ boom mounted on the back for shotcrete applications in tunnels and slope stabilisation works.
Due to their efficient slope climbing ability, some haulers have been converted to water tankers and modified to fit 500 kVA generators to get power and water to anywhere on site. “These machines act as work horses for us,” says Cottam. “As they age beyond 15 years, we try and reduce the number of hours they do yearly and covert them to service vehicles. However, they are still good strong trucks after all that time.”
Volvo CE’s regional dealer, Famco, is supported by the Swedish Export Council, part of the Swedish Government, which has in the past provided Gulf Rock with financing options for the procurement of its Volvo fleet.
“Sweden has a long standing and excellent reputation for hard rock excavation,” says Lars Liden, owner of Gulf Rock. “The Volvo equipment range is naturally designed for the job. Famco has taken care of all maintenance needs for Gulf Rock’s recent machine acquisitions from 2007 onwards, and currently provides service support for over 22 machines.”
Recently Volvo’s Swedish factory built several Volvo FMX 400 8×4 on highway trucks to Gulf Rock’s own specifications. These were then shipped to Spain where Hardox scow-end rock bodies were fitted.
“The hard but thin abrasion resistant steel shell provides increased fuel efficiency and lowers operating costs during the life span of the vehicle,” explained Cottam. “Volvo is one of the best manufacturers regarding fuel efficiency. Although fuel is cheaper here than other places in the world, it’s certainly not something to ignore. All our new units are also fitted with CareTrack which is great for monitoring control on our remote sites. We can still collect performance information and maintenance criteria wherever the machine has mobile phone coverage; all this helps to increase our efficiency.”
The quarry concession area spans 1.5 km by 0.5 km and contains at least 50 more years of reserves at current output levels. About 75 employees work at the quarry but Gulf Rock employs 275 in total.
