Rescue Operations and Demolition Works: Automating the Pneumatic Removal of Small Pieces of Rubble and Combination of Suction Plants with Demolition Machines

Abstract

The main problem in the rescue of people buried alive in damaged buildings are pieces of rubble with a diameter less than 150 mm. Since they cover the whole site, it is neither possible to scrutinize the structure of the rubble nor to estimate the dimensions of beams, columns, and parts of ceilings. The central idea of a project at the University of Karlsruhe, Institute for Technology and Management in Construction, is the automatic removal of small pieces of rubble by a suction unit. The computer-controlled pipe which is fastened to the boom of an excavator automatically follows the structure of the heap of rubble. Therefore, it can also work in areas which are out of the driver's visible range. The suction plant replaces the dangerous manual removal which is current standard. Furthermore, a pneumatic extraction system has been designed and constructed in combination with demolition machinery, e.g. crushers and dry wire-saw technologies, to immediately suck off the crushed material (reinforced concrete, masonry).

Equipment Distribution for Structural Stabilization and Civilian Rescue

“…Critical decisions need to be made to mitigate the damage resulting from the disaster. As mentioned before, access to heavy equipment is critical to disaster response operations (Gentes, 2006;SBC, 2006;Kevany, 2005;Bissell et al, 2004). Heavy equipment is a necessity during operations such as (1) rapid debris clearance of the transportation network so that first response teams can reach blocked hazard zones, (2) careful lifting of damaged structural elements in conditions when human power is not sufficient, and (3) selected debris removal to clear structural materials which facilitates void space searches and tunneling under collapsed buildings (ELANSO, 2009).…”