Bunding is a constructed retaining wall around an area where potentially polluting substances are handled, processed and stored for the purposes of containing any unintended escape of material from that area until such time as a remedial action can be taken.
AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS FOR BUNDING WERE DEVELOPED FOR STATIC TANKS
While service vehicles will carry large volumes of potentially polluting substances such as oils and diesel fuel, Australian standards for bunding were developed for static tanks and do not formally extend to mobile equipment such as mining service vehicles.
Despite the lack of applicable standards, minimising unintended escape of potentially polluting substances and environmental responsibility are top-of-mind for Shermac engineers.
110% BUNDING INCREASES VEHICLE WEIGHT
In all Shermac small service vehicles and trailers, the individual storage tanks sit in a chassis-mounted collective bund with a capacity of 110% of the largest single tank. Larger mining service vehicles may have 15,000L to 20,000L of diesel fuel on board, and a 110% bund would significantly increase empty weight and would result in a 50% reduction in the amount of fuel that the vehicle could carry with a commensurate reduction in operational effectiveness.
The risk of storage tank leakage is remote, and any spillage is more likely to occur at the delivery system – pumps, hoses and filters. Shermac optimise plumbing configurations so that pump and reel compartments have bunds of approximately 1,000L to catch potential leaks in the event of component failure. In addition to bunds, all Shermac’s service vehicles and trailers have a dedicated filter bin and all replaced filters are placed in the filter bin to drain oil into the waste oil tank.
PURPOSE-BUILT SERVICE EQUIPMENT MINIMISES SPILL RISK.jpg?width=400&name=D_I_MS1000_202109_15438_16-scaled%20(1).jpg)
This is of particular significance to businesses that service equipment on construction sites where operators might be tempted to service equipment using oil drums, funnels and collection trays, and the risk of oil spills are much higher. The use of purpose-built service equipment with specialised delivery and collection systems affords a massive reduction in the risk of spills and the likelihood of public scrutiny.
These examples illustrate Shermac’s commitment to environmental responsibility and engineering safety in and hazards out and to maximise operator wellbeing, vehicle uptime and productivity with predictable lifetime cost.
