Along the Waal near Ochten, GMB 's new electric crawler excavators are working on the Neder-Betuwe dike reinforcement project. This is not a test setup or demonstration, but heavy earthwork from early morning until the end of the workday. Operators Anton Molenaar and Jurgen Kruis notice mainly what isn't there: engine noise, exhaust fumes, and the power dip of a diesel engine.
Anyone following the engine noise near Ochten would easily walk past GMB's new excavators. On the Waalbandijk, tracks crunch over the sand, a bucket breaks open the rubble bed, and hydraulics hiss with every movement. The familiar roar of a diesel engine is absent. Meanwhile, work continues as usual in Anton Molenaar's cab.
His DX355LC Electric is a 35-ton electric crawler excavator with a boom extended to 12.3 meters. Not light work, then. Here, excavation takes place deep and placement high, precisely the kind of work that demands a lot of energy. Yet the two Powerbox 400 battery packs are swapped only once a day. In the morning, the earthmoving machine receives a full set; after that, it runs continuously throughout the workday. According to the operators, the swap itself takes at most four to five minutes. “The electric motor delivers its maximum torque immediately,” explains Staad sales specialist Frank Verbij. “As a result, the RPM does not drop when the machine is heavily loaded.”
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Anton now has over two and a half years of experience with electric equipment. “Ultimately, it remains a hydraulic excavator. Only the drive system is different.” He notices the biggest difference in the power output. A diesel engine constantly has to compensate under load, whereas the electric motor delivers its power evenly. “You have less dip and a continuous oil flow. The machine just keeps pulling.” He also expects benefits for the hydraulics: fewer fluctuations potentially mean less wear on the pumps.
Colleague Jurgen Kruis is just as down-to-earth. “You don’t really notice any difference in the way it operates. It’s mainly the surrounding elements that are different.” The plug and unlocking must be performed correctly before a battery change, and the start-up procedure requires a fixed sequence. Anyone wanting to go too fast can skip a step. “Those are things you just have to grow into.” The new electric machines help the operator with this, Frank explains. “For instance, a locking mechanism prevents the battery from being changed while the charging plug is still connected.”
The crawler excavators are being deployed on the Neder-Betuwe dike reinforcement project by Waterschap Rivierenland and Dijkalliantie Neder-Betuwe, a collaboration between Dura Vermeer, Ploegam, and GMB. The total stretch along the northern bank of the Waal measures 20.2 kilometers. Execution has begun on the first nine kilometers between Tiel and Ochten. Strict rules apply to the excavation of the dike body. The Waal can rise rapidly; therefore, only a limited length may be opened per earthmoving machine, so that the work can be closed in time during high water.
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For GMB, the purchase is not an isolated initiative. The family business aims to operate emission-free by 2030 and, to that end, created an exclusion path for diesel equipment, trucks, and commercial vehicles years ago. “We didn’t just want to buy an electric machine, but to find a partner with whom we could build further,” says Pascal Ogink, Head of Operations at GMB. He represents the operators and site managers in the selection and purchase of equipment.
The requirements were clear: interchangeable batteries, sufficient capacity for a full working day, and preferably a single supplier for both crawler and mobile excavators. Especially on dikes, fixed heavy-duty charging facilities are not available everywhere. With separate battery packs, the energy can be brought to the machine.
GMB had machines from various suppliers tested on projects. Operators worked with them for a day and reported on stability, speed, tires, reach, and operation. Subsequently, GMB evaluated the candidates on functionality, price, and collaboration. Staad and its electric machines emerged as the best from this comparison. Frank deliberately stayed close to the operators during the tests. “They can immediately feel if a machine feels right, isn't stable enough, or if a specific boom configuration doesn't suit the job. With that information, you can provide targeted advice.”
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Then the detailing began. GMB and Staad created a build book for each machine. It includes not only the length of the boom and the weighted counterweight, but also the position of screens, functions on the joysticks, lighting, cameras, decals, and lubrication points. “The operator sits in it all day. So his workplace has to be good,” says Pascal. Three of the four ordered DX355LC Electric crawler excavators will receive an identical long boom; the fourth will be shorter and more powerful.
The total order consists of four electric DX355LC crawler excavators, two electric DX165W mobile excavators, and four additional Powerbox 400 battery packs. In addition, GMB ordered three conventional Develons for work where electric power is not always feasible yet. Furthermore, on the Neder-Betuwe project, the contractors share a joint pool of 24 battery packs. A single platform makes swapping, charging, and mutual deployment significantly simpler. “You have to view the machine and the power supply as a single system,” says Frank. “Even without a fixed connection at every workstation, you can continue working emission-free with a charging station and interchangeable batteries.”
For the Staad sales specialist, the collaboration truly begins only after delivery. Operators can call him directly, and their practical experience feeds back into subsequent configurations. “It is precisely with critical comments that we can do something. That makes the machines better,” according to Frank.
On the dike, the bucket sinks back into the embankment. The long boom extends, the upper carriage rotates, and tens of tons of steel and soil are set in motion silently. Electric work does not announce itself loudly here. It just runs.
This article was published on GWW-Bouwmat, the platform for civil engineering, underground infrastructure, energy, construction equipment & construction machinery. View the article on the GWW Bouw website: click here.
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