Volvo: Crossing the Texas Desert

In Amarillo, Texas (USA), three Volvo excavators are working to rebuild the underground drinking water system of the great American desert, where the average annual rainfall is less than 60 cm and the heat often exceeds 43 ° C.

With a high number of droughts in recent years, water is scarce in this area of Texas. Meredith Lake, one of the city’s main water sources, is declining and creates a growing tension on the Ogallala aquifer, the vast underground reservoir that supplies the 190,000 inhabitants of Amarillo. The city recycles effluent and sells over 18 billion liters per year to regional power utilities to cool the generators. Recently, the Potter County Wellfield - the first major catchment area since 1956 - has been drilled, bringing water to Amarillo to help support residential and commercial growth.

In this context, Amarillo Utility Contractors, a company specializing in public water and sanitation services, has recently been given the task of replacing 5,181 m of 760 mm pipes, including the main sewer at 11 m. To better serve the new developing neighborhoods west of Amarillo. The work was carried out by 3 Volvo EC350E excavators supplied by the local ASCO Equipment dealer.

This model is particularly popular within the company. It is a good tile for 95% of the projects and has been specially modified to receive a bucket allowing an excavation at a greater depth. Teams can now dig at 7 m without compromising trench stability. On average, the EC350E can dig and backfill 550 m of trench every day.