On the Elbchaussee, the road along the bank of the River Elbe which is home to Hamburg's rich and famous, silence is golden.
Traffic calming zones keep road noise to a minimum, industrial facilities are out of sight and earshot, and the only barking dogs are those belonging to security staff. You almost get the feeling you have to speak in hushed tones if you venture out of doors�
A short while ago, this idyllic peace was abruptly interrupted as heavy plant rolled up to demolish an old World War 2 bunker. Property developer Mathias Strufe from Breiholz near Rendsburg explains: �The 5,200 m� site is being developed for the construction of several duplexes and townhouses. Demolishing the walls � some of them 2 meters thick � and the 3-meter thick roof of the bunker is only possible using a heavy-duty breaker. Unfortunately, this kind of work can�t be carried out in silence. But as the residents in this part of Hamburg are extremely sensitive to noise, the people from equipment hire company Liebherr Mietpartner recommended a breaker from Atlas Copco with a particularly effective noise and vibration damping system.�
J�rgen Frahm is in charge of equipment scheduling at Liebherr Mietpartner in Hamburg: �The customer needed high-performance equipment that could operate under the special noise-protection requirements of this site. An HB 4200 breaker from Atlas Copco mounted on a Liebherr 954 Litronic excavator is the ideal combination for this �tricky� job.�
Excavator operator Peter Ritter has been using Krupp/Atlas Copco breakers for years and knows all about their quality: �We needed a big breaker to get through the roughly 8,600 m� of concrete and 700 tons of steel. The HB 4200 doesn�t just deliver the necessary power, it�s also incredibly quiet. At a distance of just 50 meters, you can hardly hear it any more. I�ll also be leaving the bunker wall facing the residential area standing as long as possible to as to prevent unnecessary noise until the very end.�
