An IRP 850 devours a hat factory in Putignano

An Indeco IRP 850 pulveriser, mounted first on a Komatsu PC 240 and then on a PC 340, has been working since the beginning of March, demolishing an old industrial building in Putignano, a town in Bari province best-known for its Carnival and for its wedding dresses.

The old 1950s hat factory has a surface area of around 1800 sq. m. It is 9 metres high, divided into three floors, the first two for manufacturing and the third set aside for offices, meeting rooms, and an atelier and exhibition room, with two separate lift shafts, one for goods and one for people.

At first the factory was located on the outskirts of the town, but over the years it gradually became incorporated into the fabric of the town, and is now completely surrounded by other buildings. It will come as no surprise that the site will be used for new housing. In 25-30 working days, around 16,200 m3 of materials will be demolished at an average daily rate of 600 m3 on 8-hour shifts.

Anything that can be recycled will first be dismantled, and then the demolition will take place, using only an IRP 850 and an Indeco boom mounted on a Komatsu 340. The boom is needed to reach the highest parts of the building. When demolishing the lower parts, the IRP will be mounted straight onto the PC 240, without the need for the boom. The Indeco boom was made to order specifically for this job. In the last few years, Indeco have been manufacturing arm assemblies and other special tools for particular customers with specific needs.

“In such cases, the pulveriser is the best tool to use, even as an alternative to a breaker. It is quiet, it doesn’t create dust, and causes very little vibration both to the boom and to the ground it stands on; it also enables us to separate materials and is generally more efficient when we need to be both quick and delicate”. This is the testimony of Gianfranco Pugliese, one of the partners in Fratelli Pugliese snc who are based in Putignano.

Founded back in 1974, the firm specialises in excavation and demolition work, and has been anIndeco customer for over 15 years. They have 7 breakers, all of them Indeco: from the latest HP 5000, HP 3000, HP 600, to the ever efficient UP 900 and UP 2500 and even two golden oldies, which are still outstandingly efficient, a MES 3500 and a 121. And of course not forgetting the IRP 850 you have been reading about. Their carrier fleet is made up of several Komatsu’s (a PC 240, a PC 340, a PC 80, a PC 50, a PC 27, and a PC 15) as well as two Fiat Hitachi’s (a 255 and a 215).