The best part of World of Concrete is seeing said concrete getting drilled through. Minnich Manufacturing, a manufacturer of concrete dowel pin drills, concrete paving vibrators and vibrator monitoring systems, introduced a concrete barrier wall drill at the show this year. The powerful new drill helps contractors maximize the efficiency and safety of drilling vertical holes for the pins used to secure temporary concrete traffic barriers.
Air-driven and self-propelled, the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill straddles and rides along the top of the temporary wall. A tethered controller enables the operator to simultaneously drill three accurate, consistent pin holes — through pre-molded holes in the wall, through the road, into the sub-base — while positioned on the non-traffic side of the barrier.
“We’re excited to introduce the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill — especially with U.S. states moving toward requiring temporary barriers to be pinned,” said Todd Jurjevic, director of sales at Minnich Manufacturing. “The new drill saves contractors significant time and cost and promotes safety by eliminating the need to hand-drill pin holes on the traffic side of the barrier.”
Proven time, cost savings
Now a standard Minnich product offering, the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill previously proved its speed, power, accuracy and consistency as a special-application drill.
On one Illinois highway construction project, McCarthy Improvement of Davenport, Iowa, realized a 35 percent time savings, nearly 20 percent labor and equipment cost savings and approximately 30 percent bit cost savings with a custom Minnich concrete barrier wall drill compared to a three-person crew using high-powered rotary hand drills.
McCarthy Improvement also reported that the accuracy and consistency of the holes drilled by the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill made pin removal significantly easier. Hand drilling can result in inconsistent holes with varying angles, making pin removal a challenge.
Designed for operator safety
Minnich engineers designed the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill not only to provide contractors with significant efficiency benefits, but also to maximize operator safety.
The drill keeps workers from the rigors of manual drilling and allows them to drill pin holes on the non-traffic side of the barrier wall, away from live traffic. Additionally, the tethered controller removes the operator from excess debris and dust.
Minnich can customize the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill to fit F-shape barriers, Jersey barriers or any other barrier wall profile. The drill spacing and hole depth of the Minnich concrete barrier wall drill are fully adjustable. The unit can be easily moved with a forklift and loaded onto the wall with a backhoe or service crane.
“At Minnich, our people are passionate about developing high-quality products that are cost-effective and maximize safety,” Jurjevic said. “Our new Minnich concrete barrier wall drill meets a growing industry need for a better alternative to hand- drilling holes used to pin temporary barriers.”
