Britain‘s largest road building company orders safer Mercedes-Benz concrete mixers and tippers

3 MinutesBy NZ Trucking magazineAugust 31, 2018

Leading British road building specialist Tarmac is using new concrete mixers and tippers based on the four-axle Mercedes-Benz Econic 3235 L chassis on London construction sites.

Tarmac, Britain‘s largest road building company, has ordered 25 new Mercedes-Benz Econic 3235 L concrete mixers and tippers for use on London construction sites.

As part of its commitment to increased safety in road traffic, Tarmac is requesting all its contractors who work on London construction sites to change over to concrete mixer and tipper trucks based on the 4-axle, 32-tonne Mercedes-Benz Econic chassis.

The Mercedes-Benz Econic is well known for its safety in road traffic. Its design with the low position of the ‘DirectVision cab‘ ensures that the driver is at eye level with pedestrians and cyclists, and can make eye contact at any time. Generously sized windows – including a glazed folding door on the passenger side – ensure a good view of other road users.

As well as ensuring good visibility, the low-floor cab has good ease of entry. The low entry height reduces the risk of the driver being injured by slipping during frequent entry and exit in construction site operations. The low-floor cab also includes a high, wide-opening driver’s door, and large glazed areas of the windscreen and side windows.

The safety package includes ‘Active Brake Assist 3‘ and a sophisticated mirror and camera-based system to reduce blind spots. The Econic also meets the high CLOCS standards in London (CLOCS = Construction Logistics und Community Safety).

The 32-tonne trucks are powered by a 6-cylinder 7.7-litre Euro 5 diesel engine with an output of 260 kW (354 hp). Its power is transferred to the road by an Allison 6-speed automatic transmission. The Econic concrete mixer and tipper chassis ordered by Tarmac have a single-tyre steered axle. There are two driven axles at the rear as well as a steered, single-tyre trailing axle. This configuration gives the vehicle an impressively small turning circle and makes it much more manoeuvrable than a conventional 32-tonne, 6-axle truck – an advantage when operating on narrow roads and inner-city construction sites.

Tarmac played a major role in the development and testing of construction vehicles with concrete mixer bodies based on the Mercedes-Benz Econic. As recently as June 2018, Tarmac received the ‘Tipper Safety Trophy‘ in the Tip-ex and Tank-ex Awards for the high standard of its tipper safety features.

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