Science & Tech · Gadgets & EVs · 4 hrs ago
Electric Volvo machines build accessible trail at Virginia wildlife refuge
Volvo CE electric machines are being used for the first time in the National Wildlife Refuge System at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is using a compact electric excavator and wheel loader to build a new accessible trail.
The half-mile path will let wheelchair users travel around a pond in a refuge with grasslands, wetlands and woods that support many kinds of wildlife.
The wheel loader is laying the path, while the excavator is digging drainage trenches and helping place a viewing platform over the water.
Electric machines can reduce exhaust and engine noise compared with diesel equipment, which can disturb wildlife during construction.
A portable solar-powered charging system is supplying power to the machines.
The project is intended to make the refuge more accessible while limiting construction impacts, but no completion date is given.
Volvo CE electric machines are being used to build an accessible trail at Virginia’s Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
The project is described as the first use of electric equipment in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
A battery-powered ECR25 Electric compact excavator and L25 Electric compact wheel loader are doing the work.
The trail will run for half a mile around a pond and be accessible to wheelchair users.
The machines are intended to reduce noise and emissions that could affect wildlife.
- Who
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service is working with Volvo CE.
- What
- Electric machines are being used to build an ADA-accessible trail and carry out drainage and viewing-platform work.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.
- Why
- To make the refuge more accessible while minimizing construction’s impact on wildlife and the environment.
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- Location
- Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia
- Trail length
- Half a mile
- Excavator
- Volvo CE ECR25 Electric compact excavator
- Wheel loader
- Volvo CE L25 Electric compact wheel loader
- Charging system
- Portable EV ARC solar-powered system from Beam Global
What people are saying
We are excited to partner with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on this project to demonstrate Volvo’s commitment to lowering emissions and working to build the future we all want and need.
Projects like the one at the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge give a glimpse of how electric machines can create a more climate-friendly future for the construction industry.