Engelberg, Switzerland: Perpetual ice, craggy rock faces and a magnificent panorama—yet Mother Nature needs gentle treatment when she shows her harsher side. This approach is at the heart of the TITLIS full-scale refurbishment project. One of the ways in which Marti AG's Lucerne branch is implementing it is by using ECOSYNT HEPR 46 readily biodegradable hydraulic oil. A visit to a mountain-top construction site.
“Outstanding engineering and logistics are essential when you're building in a high-altitude environment”, says Michael Wangeler, workshop manager at the Lucerne branch of Swiss construction company Marti AG, talking about the work that is taking place at an altitude of 3,020 meters. The refurbishment project on Mount Titlis comprises the summit station, tower and snowcat depot and a second cableway that will be used primarily to transport materials and for evacuations. Between now and 2029, the breathtaking architecture, inspired by clear quartz and designed by Herzog & de Meuron, will take tangible form under strict environmental protection precautions.
The construction team from Marti AG, who are part of the ARGE TITLIS 3020 consortium, is currently transforming the 50-meter measurement and transmission tower constructed by the Swiss mail service in 1986. Once repurposed as a viewing platform and restaurant, it is set to become one of the main attractions of the project. The new snowcat depot is being built at its base. The effects of wind, weather and countless lightning strikes bear testimony to just how much the tower is at the mercy of the elements. It would be impossible to undertake the project without heavy machinery such as the Volvo® ECR355E crawler excavator, which weighs in at 34–38 tonnes. But the first challenge was getting the machinery to the site in the first place. In the absence of a heavy-duty cableway, there was no other option in spring 2023 than to drive each piece of machinery up to the site at Klein-Titlis.
Construction workers begin their day at 5.50 a.m. on the dot at the cable car station in Engelberg. 40 minutes later and 2,000 meters higher, the famous Titlis Rotair® rotating cable car deposits them at the summit. “The weather up here has a huge impact on our work”, explains excavator operator Roman. Depending on the snow, they can only work between March and October anyway. Being able to rely on their machinery operating correctly is crucial. Titlis
In preparation for their stint on Mount Titlis, Marti AG's machines were switched to ECOSYNT HEPR 46, a high-performance, readily biodegradable hydraulic oil in accordance with OECD 301 B. The machines in question were three Volvo® excavators (EC35D, ECR235E and ECR355E) and a Kaiser® S12 walking excavator. The outstanding material compatibility displayed by HEPR technology ensured a simple switchover, while the beneficial properties of ECOSYNT HEPR 46 provide optimal protection for sensitive materials. “Mineral oil-resistant hoses and gasket materials are all still stable even though some of them have been in operation for over 3,000 hours”, explains Michael Wangeler. The 33-year-old construction equipment specialist was particularly impressed by the oil's exceptional viscosity-temperature curve. “On our high-altitude building site, we see hydraulic oil temperature fluctuations of up to 80°C! First thing in the morning in March we often had temperatures of as low as –20 °C. After cold starting, it wasn't long before the hydraulics were fully up and running—stably and minutely controllable in all circumstances”. This is also the source of the impressively good overall performance under all conditions and after hours of work, even when oil temperatures reached 60 °C.
Since space is in short supply on mountain construction sites, there is no workshop as such. Repairs have to be done on the spot and as quickly as feasible, while major maintenance work has to be avoided if at all possible. Quite unintentionally, these challenging conditions provided the ideal environment for stress-testing ECOSYNT HEPR 46. For example, water got into the hydraulic oil via a piece of equipment mounted on the Kaiser® walking excavator which was in frequent contact with melt water. The water was identified by an on-the-spot visual inspection and oil testing at MOTOREX. After the equipment had been repaired, the water in the system was separated off using a special filter system. The oil was then microfiltered and topped up. Because ECOSYNT HEPR 46 combines good hydrolytic stability with outstanding corrosion protection, work resumed without any further action being necessary once the MOTOREX laboratory had tested the oil one final time. In other words, the machines were still using the same oil. Performance that speaks for itself.
Not only is ECOSYNT HEPR readily biodegradable according to OECD 301 B test standards, the fact that it is an environmentally acceptable lubricant (EAL) provides additional security in mobile hydraulic systems. In addition, the hydraulic systems of all machines were fitted with a MOTOREX ECOFIL bypass filter system. This step, combined with regular service checks and laboratory tests, ensures the hydraulic systems keep working in exemplary fashion. An important factor in keeping the ambitious project moving and ensuring the TITLIS refurbishment project is completed on schedule.
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