Compact and quiet: New CBC 40 Silent Cutter of Bauer Maschinen Singapore’s underground train network needs to be expanded. In order to meet the demands of urban planning

Schrobenhausen, Germany – Singapore’s underground train network needs to be expanded. In order to meet the demands of urban planning and to obey the strict construction regulations of the city-state, BAUER Maschinen GmbH has developed a compact trench cutter with low noise emission – the CBC 40 Silent Cutter.

Construction company Songcheon is involved in the civil engineering work for the underground train shafts in the narrow streets of Singapore. To avoid having to rip out the full width of a street in the city already very limited in terms of space, the client required a cutter for which half of the street’s width would suffice. This way, the traffic on the free side of the street can flow undisturbed.

The construction is being carried out in shifts. However, a machine that operates in the middle of Singapore for 24 hours a day must comply with strict regulations. For the CBC 40, this does not pose a problem – its noise levels are much lower than those of any other trench cutter on a standard piece of equipment. Furthermore, a modular system makes it easy to transport the machine.

With the CBC 40, Bauer Maschinen has succeeded in developing a machine whose uppercarriage is only eight meters long, thus permitting maximum maneuverability even in the most confined spaces. In order to keep the dimensions small, the hydraulic power pack which enables extremely quiet operation is not attached at the rear as usual, but rather at the side. In Singapur, a crane usually used for milling, must comply with a number of other requirements. A specifically designed machine does not have to do that. And, the trench cutter CBC 40 with all its special features is one of those.

The client did not accidentally turn to Bauer Maschinen with this request. He already owns a CBC 33 – a model of which Bauer sold several pieces to Japan in the mid-90s, which has the same inner-city conditions with narrow streets. Impressed by its performance and compact dimensions, the client wanted a second cutter of this type. The CBC 40 was designed with new components and taking into consideration all modern standards. Other clients already expressed interest in this cutter. The CBC 40 heralds a new generation of equipment for assignments in urban environment – so called urban cutter.