Spectacular jobs
LGV Recovery - A27
We were called out to recover an LGV involved in an accident east bound on the A27, just by Eastern Road Portsmouth, and to help rescue a suspected trapped person.
On arrival we found the casualty vehicle had gone straight through the crash barrier, down the embankment and dropped over a 4ft wall onto a footpath. Fortunately the driver had managed to get out of the vehicle.
We arranged with the Highways Agency to close two lanes of the A27 to facilitate recovery and while waiting for the lane closure and the Highways Agency to inspect the damaged cabling, we removed the remaining load of tiles from in between the cab and trailer, and secured the crane unit on the rear of the trailer.
Once the lanes were closed, we set up the Volvo eight wheel heavy recovery unit to winch the unit back and upwards and set up the Foden 6x6 heavy recovery unit to lift the front of the crashed LGV.
When it was off the footpath and all wheels were on the embankment, we removed the crash barrier and with the Highways Agency's assistance, closed the remaining lane, placing the Foden across the outside lane and winching the stricken LGV on the rear of the unit.
The Volvo was reattached to the LGV just behind the cab in order to lift the near side away from the communication cables that run along side of the motorway.
Once the whole vehicle was back on the road, we towed it away, under Police escort.
Wolseley Recovery
We were requested to attend this incident by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service; a person trapped in an LGV vehicle.
On arrival we found the tractor and trailer combination had left the M27/A27 eastbound carriageway after swerving, when trying to avoid another vehicle. The vehicle had collided with a bridge barrier then travelled along the top of the embankment between the east and westbound carriageways before careering down the embankment and becoming wedged under the bridge of the westbound M27.
Once the driver had been removed from the vehicle we set up our Volvo and winched the casualty backwards from under the bridge. The police then closed one lane of the westbound M27 so we could recover the unit and trailer. We set up the Foden and using the crane, first removed the load by lifting it onto one of our slide back vehicles.
Next we separated the trailer from the unit and lifted the trailer from below the bridge and onto our low loader. Once this was secured, we re-rigged and lifted the unit back onto the roadway, where we rear ended the unit back to base.
Thankfully the driver was not trapped and had only sustained a dislocated elbow.
18 Tonne machine stuck in!
We were called out to this machine after the bank to the lake gave way, tipping the machine into the soft mud/clay.
The closest we could get our Foden was in the field next to the lake. We set up the winch on a 2 to 1 pull and winched the machine backwards onto firmer ground.
18 Tonne Tracked Machine Upside Down!
We were requested by a local shipping company to assist in righting an 18 tonne machine that tipped upside down while they were attempting to load it onto a ship.
Using the onsite crane to lift and support the machine, we set up the Volvo at one end and the Daf at the other. Using both winches on each recovery vehicle we winched the machine back up the correct way end over end.
Loaded Container Vehicle Rolled Over!
We were called out to Hedge End to attend a roll over of a unit and fully loaded container trailer.
We removed the unit first as the fifth wheel had broken away. The Volvo was then set up at the front of the trailer and the Foden at the rear. Using the crane boom and winches on the Volvo we lifted the front of the trailer. We then righted the trailer.
22 Tonne Tracked Machine Stuck In!
One evening in December 2006 we received a phone call from the manager of a sand pit in Sussex requesting if we could assist in removing a 22 tonne Volvo machine that was stuck in silt at the bottom of the sand pit. We travelled to the scene with the Foden and the Volvo. Once on site we used a smaller 360 to dig away the front of the casualty to allow the winch cable to be attached to the tow eyes. We set up the Foden at a 2 to 1
winch and winched the machine out.
Peugeot takes flight!
We were requested by the insurance company to recover this vehicle from Purbrook near Portsmouth. The vehicle had come up a motorway slip road, over the roundabout, through the crash barrier and landed approx 50 ft down the embankment taking with it several trees.
First we had to cut down the trees to make a pathway to the casualty, then using the winch from the Daf, we winched the vehicle up toward the top of the embankment still on its roof. When it was near the top we placed a second winch cable to the rear of the casualty to allow it to be uprighted.
Amazingly the driver walk away from the accident to signal for help, although he did sustain a broken neck.
