Doosan DX530DM tears down Milan’s Belloli oil mill

To meet growing demand for demolition equipment in both Italy and the rest of Europe, Doosan has launched a new range of high reach excavators, comprising the DX235DM and DX530DM models introduced in 2020, as well as the DX380DM, which will be launched in the first half of this year.

A particular advantage offered by these machines is their flexibility, allowing the user to easily switch between the demolition arm and an excavating arm and vice versa, making it possible to perform different jobs on the same site, with the same machine. Doosan demolition excavators are also equipped with a unique high visibility cab that tilts up to 30 degrees, specially designed for high reach applications.

These features were decisive in choosing the most suitable machine for demolition work on the former Belloli oil mill in Inveruno, in the outskirts of the city of Milan in Italy, where a new school complex for the town will be built on the site. The need to raise the standard of school buildings in Inveruno, together with the need to reconvert the abandoned area of the former Belloli oil mill, which has been closed for 20 years, led to the decision to build a new school complex on this 18,000-square-metre site located in the centre of the town.

Responsible for the carrying out this important demolition work is Seli Manutenzioni Generali Srl, a Milan company with over 50 years of experience in the construction sector, which has seen impressive growth in its new Demolitions & Excavations Business Unit. The demolition work involves the removal of the two sets of buildings in the old oil mill: a smaller tower and the imposing old concrete silos, where the oils were filtered, rising to a height of about 32m and with a capacity of around 12,000 cubic metres. For a demolition of this magnitude and at this height, the DX530DM, the largest demolition excavator model produced by Doosan, was the ideal choice with a 29m boom and its impressive work range.

In this top-down demolition, the DX530DM, equipped with shears has been used to tear down a building made up of reinforced concrete bearing structures – beams and pillars – and thick brick slabs from above. As with the entire Doosan range of demolition excavators, the DX530DM also offers hydraulic undercarriage adjustment, allowing the width to be extended to 4.37m for optimal stability, which is essential on sites of this type. The undercarriage width can also be hydraulically reduced to 2.97m for transportation purposes.

The DX530DM with demolition arm has been joined by two other Doosan crawler excavators on site: a DX235NLC-5 working with a concrete crusher and a hammer and a DX300LC-5 with a concrete crusher working on the demolition of the concrete tanks.

Once the demolition is complete, the DX530DM will carry out the excavation necessary to prepare the ground for subsequent construction works. For this work, the demolition arm on the DX530DM is simply replaced with the digging arm. To facilitate the change of the arm, the machine is equipped with quick-acting mechanical and hydraulic connections. A cylinder drive completes the operation by pushing the locking pins into place. The modular design of the Doosan demolition excavator family also offers two mounting configurations for the excavator arm, further expanding the versatility of the machines which are therefore usable in three different configurations.

The Doosan machines on Seli’s Belloli project were supplied by DMO, the Authorised Dealer for Doosan and Bobcat for the regions of Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Lombardy (the provinces for Milan, Cremona, Mantua, Lodi, Pavia, Varese, Monza and Brianza). The two businesses have built a successful commercial relationship and Seli has chosen DMO to be the company’s main supplier for the rental and sale of earthmoving machinery.