Full speed ahead, in the most sustainable way possible

'Full throttle ahead' is a dying concept; we prefer to speak of 'At full speed ahead'. Infrastructure project Rotterdam A16 is being carried out emission-free wherever possible by construction consortium De Groene Boog. To do that, De Groene Boog needs partners who stick their necks out for clean work. Ploegam is one of those companies. Their trucks run on HVO fuel and the company is at the forefront of electrifying construction equipment in the Netherlands. An interview with director and owner Chris Ploegmakers and innovation manager Martin Egas.

Biofuel

"Ploegam was called in to drive sand on the project. A logistical challenge, with as many as 85 trucks driving around at peak times. All equipped with Euro 5 and Euro 6 engines, running on HVO-100 biofuel. A complex job on several levels, in terms of capacity, equipment, planning and organization," Ploegmakers opens the interview. Egas adds: "We chose smart routes to avoid traffic jams and avoided rush hours. However, corona allowed us to drive during rush hour, because the measures made it quiet on the road." Ploegam kept close records of every vehicle movement. "We had a foreman continuously monitor the loading and unloading locations to keep track of who drove where and how often," Ploegmakers explains. Together with Van Schaijk of Nistelrode, Ploegmakers filled in the trips with 15 to 20 of his own trucks each. "The rest of the capacity was provided by transport companies we selected ourselves based on the environmental requirements on the project."

Electrification process in your own hands

What is special is how Ploegmakers is committed to electrifying equipment. Egas explains, "In December 2019, we started electrifying in-house. Our first electrified Doosan DX300 was able to head for De Groene Boog after the 2020 construction period. "We have since invested heavily in electrification and can also make the heavy equipment fully electric. When you are one of the frontrunners, you soon encounter a main problem: how do you charge heavy equipment? We found the solution in interchangeable battery packs. You bring a full battery pack to the crane instead of the crane to a charging station."

Martin adds: "We are putting our knowledge in the field of electrification together with our supplier Staad broadly, from Staad B.V. an independent company, ECE (Electric Construction Equipment) has been specially founded which focuses entirely on the emission-free construction site. ECE's goal is to make it accessible for everyone to make the transition to emission-free. With the interchangeable battery pack as the beating heart of the operation, that should work.'' In conclusion, Egas says: "Our first 100% zero-emission project will go into execution next year, the dyke reinforcement of the Stenendijk in Hasselt, with Dura Vermeer. Emission-free work is no longer a utopia, but a reality."