ByTheWay…
Client KLEISER®bh case studies
The municipality of De Wolden on the KLEISER®bh
The municipality of De Wolden was the first municipality where the KLEISER®bh was introduced. Andre Horstman of the municipality of De Wolden observed the entire development of the KLEISER® from close quarters. “The KLEISER was born as a result of the problems faced by Jan Kleis. He thought things could be done differently. Our first reaction on seeing the prototype of the KLEISER®bh in action was “FANTASTIC!” The machine is very simple, but very functional at the same time. It just needed someone with a creative mind to invent it!"
In many municipalities, verges have been damaged by vehicles and filled with foreign material. The verge then becomes too high, and can no longer drain water off the road properly. The municipality of De Wolden therefore uses KLEISERs whenever possible. Previously, verges were only lowered and supplemented. This was done by a crane with a narrow bucket followed by a dump truck with material. The crane scooped material from the truck, and used it to fill in the verge. Then the whole area was compacted. The whole convoy then moved slowly along the road in this way. In this respect, the KLEISER is much more efficient, because almost everything is done in one pass. One of the great advantages of the KLEISER® is that nothing gets damaged because it works with rubber. The KLEISER® is highly flexible meaning trees or other obstacles encountered on the verge are no problem.
The costs of repairing verges since we started using the KLEISER® are much lower than before. It costs a fraction (+/- 20%) of what it first cost, partly because of its speed and the one operator-machine combination. In addition, the machine is very compact and provides no or only limited inconvenience to the surroundings. Cars can easily pass by without any road signs being needed. The KLEISER®bh crumbles material in a controlled way, so that the turf is not killed but can easily fill in holes in the section being worked on. All in all, the road starts looking good very quickly.
In fact, it’s crazy that no one thought of it earlier! The KLEISER is so simple, yet so effective. In terms of work, it's a great step forward, characterised by its simplicity.
The municipality of Kampen on the KLEISER®bh
“Since 2013, the municipality of Kampen has returned to the KLEISER®bh every year to repair our dangerous verges.
Many verges in the rural areas of the municipality have semi-hardened surfaces, usually milling asphalt. The rest of the substrate is composed of peat, sand or clay.
As with many other municipalities, our biggest problem with verges is that they become too high and can no longer drain water. In addition, it poses risks to road safety because of the emergence of dangerous gullies adjacent to the road surface caused by traffic driving over the verges. The municipality’s policy is to provide a number of roads every year with verge concrete (ribbed concrete edging). This type of dangerous verge was repaired in the past by filling in the gully at the edge of the road surface with new material, usually milled asphalt. However, this was a fairly costly exercise. Adding new material also accelerated the process of the verge becoming too high, leading to additional costs for verge reduction.
Often, there is sufficient material in another place in the verge to be able to make a smooth transition between the verge and the road surface.
Reason enough to try out the KLEISER®bh in 2013. Since this date, Kampen has identified a number of benefits:
- cost-effective
- also promotes drainage
- high operating speed of more than 4 km per day
- limited disruption to traffic
- good price/quality ratio
- semi-hardened verges become greener
- no damage to road surfaces, trees and objects in the verge
Ommen-Hardenberg Administration Office and KLEISER®bh
Ommen-Hardenberg Administration Office (contact Mr D. Luisman) has been an important client in repairing dangerous verges with the KLEISER®bh since 2013.
Ommen-Hardenberg Administration Office manages its own verge repairs, and has in-house equipment for this purpose. For regular verge maintenance until June, the municipality uses its own equipment. If there is any damage not covered by standard maintenance, the KLEISER®bh is called in. Beforehand, sections of verge are studied to see which are suitable for the machine.
"The simplicity of the KLEISER®bh and the rapidity of the machine are the main reasons that the municipality use it for jobs not covered by standard maintenance.
The KLEISER®bh is perfect for quickly making dangerous roadsides - a common problem in most municipalities - safe.
The KLEISER®bh can deal with about 3 or 4 km per day. This is quite a bit quicker than traditional methods, such as rebuilding a verge with crane and excavator bucket. In addition, the machine is manoeuvrable, and inconvenience to traffic is limited. The concept and this compact machine are perfect!
Good weather is obviously important when repairing verges, but if these are favourable, the verge is green again within two weeks!
Where have KLEISER®s already been deployed?
Verges have already been repaired with KLEISER®s in many places, including:
- Municipality of De Wolden
- Municipality of Ooststellingwerf
- Municipality of Emmen
- Municipality of Midden Drenthe
- Municipality of Staphorst
- Municipality of Westerveld
- Municipality of Kampen
- Municipality of Olst-Wijhe
- Municipality of Brummen
- Municipality of Zuidhorn
- Municipality of Achtkarspelen
- Municipality of Winsum
- North Holland Noorderkwartier Water Authority
- Rivierenland Water Board
- Ommen-Hardenberg Administration Office
- Municipality of Dalfsen
- Municipality of Zwartewaterland
- Municipality of Vlagtwedde
- Municipality of Stichtse Vecht
- Municipality of Littenseradiel
- Province of Drenthe
Based on interviews with road managers, we expect the above list to more than double in 2016.
Nominated for the Infra Tech Innovation Award 2015
As part of our participation in the Infra Tech trade fair in January 2015 in Ahoy in Rotterdam, we registered the KLEISER®bh and the KLEISER®vr for the innovation award. As a small company up against big names like Ballast Nedam, Heijmans etc., we were pleasantly surprised with a nomination for the KLEISER®vr (which made it to the final four), and an honourable mention for the KLEISER®bh (5th - 8th place).
We are slightly disappointed not to have won outright of course, but we are certainly proud of the result we achieved.
Nominated for the Life WIRE Rising Star 2016
We were also pleasantly surprised that our products led us to being among the five nominees for this award, organised by Shell in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce. We were among participants from very diverse sectors, and eventually McNetic won the award.
Interest from new customers
We are constantly working on getting more recognition for our unique products. This website is just one example; we also take part in trade fairs, contribute to articles and TV programmes, place ads, etc. However, all this is really aimed at getting us to talk to you about our products. Our first meetings with prospective clients almost all show enough common interest for a follow-up. That, of course, is mainly due to the benefits our products offer, without which it would be virtually impossible to introduce a new way of working.
Many of your colleagues look back positively at our first contacts and subsequent cooperation. Would you, too, like to spend an hour or so getting acquainted? Make an appointment. We’d be delighted to visit you.
