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| The Lankelma UK8 with the Manx ferry Ben-my-Chree passing by on the way to Heysham |
Since the beginning of June an unusual tracked vehicle has been spotted on the beach between Cleveleys and Fleetwood during periods of low tide. The vehicle in question has been conducting soil testing in association with future planned coastal defence upgrade work. The tracked vehicle is operated by Lankelma, and is a core penetration testing vehicle, designated the UK8 Tracked Crawler. The bodywork containing the test equipment is mounted inside the dumping body of a Japanese Yanmar C80R tracked dumper, fitted with rubber tracks to enable it to operate over soft ground or delicate infrastructure, such as sea walls. The machine works by pushing an instrumented cone into the ground at a fixed rate, using a series of metal rods, to determine the properties of the soil. The crawler is often accompanied by a mechanical excavator, in case further ground investigation is needed.
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| A rear view showing the rubber tracks and cutout in the dumper body for access steps |
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| The UK8 crawler on Cleveleys beach, with an excavator which has trundled all the way from Fleetwood |
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| The metal rod of the cone penetrator device visible in the sand between the tracks |
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| The crawler and excavator relocated along the beach to the next test site |
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| A front view showing the test probe in the sand between the crawler's tracks |
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| X marks the spot, "CPT39" or Cone Penetration Test 39, spray painted on the sand |
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| A Yanmar C80R tracked dumper moving firewood at Poulton-le-Fylde in November 2018 |
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