8 June 2022
ASFINAG, the public organisation responsible for the Austrian autobahns, seeks a solution to the following question: How can a mobile system for filling salt silos be designed and built to reduce the dependence on silo trucks for winter maintenance in a timely manner?
ASFINAG stores salt for winter road maintenance in around 200 silos and 25 warehouses. Some of the silos are in ASFINAG's freeway maintenance depots, some along the route. Salt is delivered by silo trucks that are not owned by ASFINAG. Such a special vehicle blows about 25 tons of salt in one hour into the silo via a riser pipe at a height of about 25 meters. This method of filling reaches its limits, especially at times of high consumption, when silo trucks are in short supply. If a lot is consumed, the silos also have to be re-filled quickly due to the winter conditions.
For these reasons, ASFINAG wants to break away from its dependence on silo trucks and is looking for innovative solutions for the design and construction of a mobile system for filling salt silos to complement the use of special silo trucks in winter service. Which innovative solutions are available for the design and construction of a mobile system for the filling of salt silos in order to reduce the dependence on silo trucks in winter road maintenance? Suppliers that have ideas for the design of such a system or key components available, can submit them by 19 July.
More information on the challenge can be found here
Image copyright: Image (ASFINAG)