At a construction site in Ghana, a huge granite block had to be removed from the site. The size and location of the boulder were the main challenges to overcome during the removal process. Due to the proximity to houses, blasting was not an option. The company used a RILON diesel-hydraulic power unit and three RL-250 hydraulic rock splitters. Holes were first drilled in the rock at intervals of 300-500 mm using a rock drill, and then the splitter wedges were placed into the drilled holes. Using hydraulic pressure, the wedges are pushed forward into the hole, and the counter-wedges around them are pressed against the inner wall of the drilled hole. If several splitters are used at the same time, even greater splitting forces can be generated. In just a few seconds, cracks appear in the rock, and the direction of the cracks can be determined in advance. The splitting process is therefore completely controllable.
But even at this stage, the stones are too large to transport, so more splitters are used for secondary crushing. Larger stones are further crushed to a size of about 1 cubic meter until they can be easily transported off-site. The advantages of this environmentally friendly and controllable method are obvious: it meets the highest requirements because the splitting process is quiet and dust-free, vibration-free. In addition, there is no rock fragment flying nearby.