Newcastle-based Waratah was awarded the contract for the three shuttle cars during October 2006 and plans to deliver the Waracars during June and July this year.

The 16-tonne Waracars will have several features including a hopper designed to maximise coal capacity and flow; two 37kW dc motors controlled by digital SCRs; heavy-duty wheel units and steering; and a dual conveyor chain for increased chain life.

Ergonomics have also been focused on with the cabin designed for operator comfort and visibility; the minimisation of hydraulic hoses in the operator’s cabin; as well as a single hydraulic manifold to reduce the number of hoses.

The cars will also feature a Waratah RK2005 cable reel incorporating the “Cable Minder” which has been specifically designed by Waratah to reduce trailing cable damage.

The feature of greatest note, however, is the suspension that has been incorporated on each of the four-wheel units.

Suspension on shuttle cars is a recent innovation in Australia and Illawarra Coal has done much to encourage the use of this technology.

According to Waratah sales and marketing manager Terry Coggles, as the benefits of suspension are demonstrated to the industry, he expects the use of suspension technology to become more widespread.

Each wheel unit is supported by a pair of heavy-duty suspension struts comprising a hydraulic damper and spring, similar to those used on large off-road haulage vehicles – which Waratah designed in conjunction with locally based suspension specialist Powerdown Australia.

“The suspension, wheel unit mounts and car body have been carefully designed to ensure that the suspension unit does not encroach into the car hopper, which would otherwise restrict coal capacity and impede the operator’s visibility due to the ‘hang up’ of coal around suspension mounts,” Coggles said.

Under the contract a suspension strut and test car body will be dynamically tested to ensure that the theoretical design life is achieved. Waratah said it believed that it would be the first shuttle car manufacturer in the world to conduct such a rigorous test on a shuttle car. The chassis will be subject to 50,000 cycles at full load and the strut 100,000 cycles.

Illawarra Coal opted for the suspension to improve the quality of the operators’ comfort due to the damping of the shock loads imposed by the uneven roads commonly found in coal mines. It is expected that these benefits will also lead to improved mechanical reliability and equipment life.

The new Waracars will replace some of the older shuttle cars being used within the BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal group.