Experienced machine operator learns new skills in major climate project

Machine operator Torben Lund Hansen, at the construction group Per Aarsleff A/S, has been operating Caterpillar excavators for just over three years now. Since 2020, he has been a permanent pilot in excavators, after a dozen years driving machines of all types for contractors. Now it's time for Aarsleff and specifically the major climate adaptation project Kagsåparkens Regnvandsprojekt on the border between Herlev Municipality and Gladsaxe Municipality.

Here, climate change has created major challenges, and now the project is being remodelled to protect homeowners and businesses from the increasingly violent weather. Kagsåparken will be transformed into a rainwater park, where depressions and rainwater basins will create space for up to 100,000 cubic metres of rainwater.

From DC2 to DC3

‘I started the project in September 2024 in an older Cat 325F, which I had also driven on Fehmarn. It was equipped with an engcon tiltrotator with DC2 control. Now I've got a new Cat 325 to drive, also with an engcon tiltrotator, but with the new DC3 control system,’ says machine operator Torben Lund Hansen.

His new 28 tonne Cat 325 is one of three machines that Per Aarsleff A/S bought and equipped with engcon DC3 machine control.

‘We have tiltrotators on 140-150 machines, and around 70 per cent of them are engcon. Aarsleff has a longstanding, good co-operation with engcon, who are good at developing durable and compact products. Access to service has always been good, and our own repairers find it easy to deal with engcon,’ says Bo Mikkelsen, Machine Manager at Per Aarsleff A/S.

A lot to gain

‘We're going to use EC-Oil more and more because there's really something to be gained from the system. The operator saves a lot of time by being able to change the hydraulic tools without leaving the cabin. At the same time, the work is both faster and better because he always chooses the right attachments, precisely because they are easy to change,’ says Bo Mikkelsen.

‘Environmentally, there's also a benefit from, for example, adding a grab to sort waste from usable materials, instead of driving everything away as waste,’ the chief engineer points out. The man in the cabin, machine operator Torben Lund Hansen, agrees with the chief engineer that everything has become both easier and better with the new technology.

‘I'm pleasantly surprised by both the machine and the tiltrotator. Previously, I've used an engcon tiltrotator with DC2 control and without EC-Oil. It's completely different with the new DC3 with EC-Oil, where I no longer have to go out and fit and remove hydraulic hoses. I used to have screw couplings for the hydraulic hoses, and then you can quickly spend 10 minutes at each end connecting and disconnecting. Now I can sit inside the cabin and do it all in 10 seconds,’ explains Torben Lund Hansen enthusiastically.

The more standard, the better

All functions for both the machine and the tiltrotator are located in the joysticks, which with the DC3 control can be customised exactly as the operator wants and finds most appropriate.

‘There are no changes to the standard setup in the system. The factory setup works fine - and the more standard the better - it also makes it easy if a colleague has to replace me in the machine,’ says the operator. The DC2 and DC3 are both of the largest controllers supplied by engcon and come with engcon's QSC locking system as standard. The system is designed to make quick changes easier to understand and operate and is therefore fitted with a separate control panel where it can be easily and visibly seen. You are guided by lights in the buttons, which switch on in the order they are operated, ensuring easier understanding and fewer calls to support to ask how to operate the bucket shift. The QSC system is, by default, prepared for any requirements now, and in the future, on construction sites to be fulfilled when needed.

Fewer floods

The major construction work in Kagsåparken started in August 2024 and will be completed in 2028. The plan is that the new rainwater park will improve water quality in Kagsåen and Harrestrup Å and reduce flooding in the local area. There will also be room for more recreational areas.

The project is a collaboration between Herlev Municipality, Gladsaxe Municipality and the municipal water and wastewater companies, Novafos and HOFOR. Rambøll and Gottlieb Paludan Architects have developed and designed the project, with Per Aarsleff A/S carrying out the practical construction work.