Darda ROCK SPLITTERS

The Job:

Marble cutting in Eichstätt, Germany. Eichstätt marble possesses a compressive strength of 1400 kp/cm2. The dimensions of the blocks produced range from
0.6 m to 1.5 m in height,
4 m - 12 m in length and
1 m - 2.5 m in width.

The Requirements:

Material wastage was to be minimal when the raw blocks underwent further processing. This was possible thanks to the particularly small-diameter wedge set of the splitters. The marble cutter could examine the structure of the rock in advance to determine the course of the split which the splitters would produce. The multiple splitting cylinders were lined up in a row to produce a long straight split with no hairline cracks. Hairline cracks often become a problem when blasting methods are used to split marble.

The Solution:

First, holes are drilled at intervals of 24 - 40 cm. For the production of blocks, it is advisable to drill right through the rock stratum, thereby benefiting the vertical course of the split and preventing it from spreading laterally further down. The intervals between drill-holes and the number of splitting cylinders used depend on the length of the blocks and the hardness and homogeneity of the rock. After the blocks have been split by several C 4 splitting cylinders, a C 10 S cylinder was used to overcome the natural integrity of the blocks. They can then easily be lifted out with a large wheelloader. By using hydraulic rock and concrete splitters, the Eichstätt marble quarries have more than tripled their production of blocks while costs could be reduced. The wellbeing of the workers has also improved markedly.