Valk Welding: 2000

VERREBROEK (B) - Did robots play a part in acquiring the following order? "I think so", says director Luc Van Den Berghe of the metal construction company Lumet in Verrebroek near Antwerp. It is a fact that his company is able to react in a more flexible way thanks to the welding robots.

That was proven for example with the works for the embankments of the Verrebroek dock. The public authorities stopped the work for 8 months, because the buildings near the Vrasener dock were subsiding. Finally, the situation was solved by using return drainage. Lumet had no problem to catch up the time lost in production. "Fifty percent faster with a welding robot is not that difficult", Van Den Berghe comments. It is easier to programme a robot and have it work, even for twenty four hours a day, than to employ new personnel and to learn them the tricks of the job. Van Den Berghe: "I'm able to calculate the robots' work more precisely".

Steel frames
Lumet (the name is short for Luc Metaal) has been incorporated in 1993. The company is mainly active in metal constructions for hydraulic applications. When the company received the order to make steel frames for reinforcement steel and profiles, to support the shuttering for the concrete embankments of the Verrebroek dock, Luc Van Den Berghe decided to buy three welding robots.

"We have selected them ourselves. The suppliers all offer more or less the same, however the robots from Valk Welding are specifically suitable for welding. The are capable of measuring the inaccuracy of the reinforcement steel and of adjusting the welding programme accordingly. First, the robot searches the seam, then he starts welding". Van Den Berghe is of the opinion that robots should be used more often for welding. "What a robot can do, must not be done by a man", he thinks. "A robot delivers more accurate work, less downtime and better custom-made work, hence a more constant concrete covering. A robot is also faster than a man. Welding takes as much time, but with less movements. Furthermore, there is less downtime with a robot".

Next order
The delivery of steel frames to support the reinforcement and shuttering of the embankments for the Verrebroek dock has almost come to an end. In the meantime, the next harbour, the Deurgancks dock, has got started. Van Den Berghe: "It is almost the same construction, but all dimensions are somewhat larger. Parties have agreed on the prices, the steel and the concrete. In short it will be revealed how to make the steel frames." The welding robots will again be a great help in this. Van Den Berghe tells that the construction company for the Verrebroek dock has suffered losses. Probably because the last part is not completed. In stead, the money goes to the Deurganck dock, a tidal harbour with direct access to the Scheldt. It will not be the last work. The plans for the Saeftinge dock, the next tidal harbour, near the nuclear power station of Doel, are ready.

Metal construction company Lumet is fairly certain of the work, because it is close to Verrebroek, and the steel frames can be transported at night in groups of ten.

Embankments
The construction of the embankments of harbours consists of four phases. After digging, two steel sheet pilings are made, with a foot in between. The concrete is then poured with dumpers, containers and grippers. The body is poured from a gantry crane, delivered by Van Haagen Kraanbouw BV from Breda. This is done in a shuttering supplied by Maco Hendriks from Veenendaal. Finally, a top is poured onto the body. Here too, the welded steel frames are supplied by Lumet. Each part of the embankment is twenty meters long and contains ten support frames from Lumet. Reinforcement and shuttering are mounted onto the frames. The parts are poured in turns. "That is faster and it increases safety. The concrete workers and steel benders do not run in each others way", Van Den Berghe says. His robots are always ready for the next job.

(Source: Cobouw 144th volume, no. 83 - 1st May 2000)