HYDRAULIC BREAKERS CHALLENGE THE PNEUMATIC MONOPOLY.

Gas gangs have traditionally used pneumatic tools to break up road surfaces. Hydraulic breakers, introduced about 10 years ago, proved unreliable, but many of the early problems have been recently solved. The author reports on a six-week field trial which compared the performance of hydraulic and pneumatic road-breaking equipment. Hydraulic and pneumatic breakers of equivalent weight were chosen and tried out, side by side, on three different locations - a major carriageway and two minor roads. The field trials showed that in terms of performance the hydraulic breakers are at least as efficient as pneumatics when breaking asphalt or bituminous surfaces up to 110 mm thick. But when it comes to thicker surfaces and those that have a concrete ingredient the hydraulic gun has better penetration and breaks the material more efficiently.