Construction Machinery ME January 2015

ISSUE 39 015 janUary 2

quarry up-time

KSa production hits 327m tonnes

marKet lifterS

raimondi on its rising presence

sAudi-OMAN lANd bRidgE

DeSert haulerS

two GCC neighbours joined by a road through the rub’ al Khali desert - and the haulers that made it possible Plus: RAW POWER

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NEWs & ANAlysis

*

ThE lAsT WORd

*

siTE visiT

*

ANd MuCh MORE

Contents page 44 Better Than New?

CMME looks at some of the alternatives to buying new equipment outright, including leasing, renting and buying second-hand.

IS S U E 3 9 2015 ja n U a ry

04

Editorial Our predictions for what the year ahead holds for the construction machinery industry.

06

NEws What’s happening across the region in construction machinery?

11

Kit sPottiNG A Liebherr crawler crane travels up a difficult slope.

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hEavy hittErs: MarKEt liftErs Raimondi Middle East’s Ammar Jabbour explains how the tower crane is expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia.

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oN thE CovEr: dEsErt haulErs Contractor Al Rosan used Volvo CE haulers to build a road through the Empty Quarter desert.

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22

Quarry rouNd-uP Figures reveal which GCC countries produce the most aggregates, and how much is required domestically.

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tECh-iNG QuarriEs We explore the benefits of using Caterpillar telematics and project management software in quarries.

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Raw power

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36 NEW RELEASES A round-up of new machines launched for markets in the GCC. Page 41 TOP TEN We provide ten reasons to consider renting machinery for your next project. Page 44 BETTER ThAN NEW? We look at some of the alternatives to buying new equipment, including leasing, renting, and buying second-hand. Page 48 ThE LAST WORD Construction machinery companies have Page

launched new apps putting production information right in your pocket.

CX700B PROFIT ORIENTED

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Environmental responsibility. Maximum productivity Up to 20% lower fuel consumption.

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Web Page

www.nassgroup.com www.alshirawienterprises.com www.instantaccess-co.com www.ihe-oman.com www.nbks.com www.arabian-roots.com www.somecointernational.com www.cic.com.jo www.unimaregypt.com

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Editor’s Letter

GROUP GROUP CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER DOMINIC DE SOUSA GROUP CEO NADEEM HOOD GROUP COO GINA O’HARA PUBLISHING DIRECTOR RAZ ISLAM raz.islam@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5471

2015 - The Year of The Service conTracT

G

iven all the twists in the global economy, making predictions can be a fool’s game. But here at Construction Machinery Middle East, we’re confident enough to make the call: 2015 will be the year when more contractors start to look more seriously at service contracts.

Service contracts can be a good revenue stream for local dealers or subsidiaries of major suppliers, and traditionally many buyers of machinery have chosen to service their own plant, sometimes relying on dealer support for more difficult fixes or overhauls. There are many advantages to servicing your machines in-house, including working on an isolated work-site, a quicker response from your own mechanics and simply historical reasons.

But the shift towards telematics, improved service offerings from dealers and economies of scale are reason enough to consider taking your equipment (or some of it) on to a service contract. With many of the new machines delivered today equipped with telematic systems that can send notification of any faults directly to customers and dealers, dealers have a whole new level of insight into your machine health, meaning they can offer improved servicing.

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR VIJAYA CHERIAN vijaya.cherian@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5713 EDITORIAL ACTING EDITOR STIAN OVERDAHL stian.overdahl@cpidubai.com +49 176 759 89 250 REPORTER JERUSHA SEqUEIRA jerusha.sequeira@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5477 SUB EDITOR AELRED DOYLE MARKETING & ADVERTISING COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR MICHAEL STANSFIELD michael.stansfield@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5497 MARKETING MANAGER LISA JUSTICE lisa.justice@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5498 DESIGN ART DIRECTOR SIMON COBON SENIOR DESIGNER ROY CRUZ JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER PERCIVAL MANALAYSAY CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION

In the past, dealer technicians had to travel to work-sites when a machine displayed a fault, to troubleshoot the problem. Once diagnosed, they then had to return to their warehouse to obtain the correct spare parts, returning once more to make the repair.

Nowadays, when a dealer technician sees fault codes, they can diagnose the machine’s condition based on their extensive experience and with access to a centralised database of information. This means they are often able to travel to your site and get the repair done in one trip.

DATABASE AND CIRCULATION MANAGER RAJEESH M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 PRODUCTION MANAGER VIPIN V. VIJAY vipin.vijay@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5713 DIGITAL

This model obviously depends heavily on the competence of your dealers, spare parts availability and manufacturer support. But as we have seen this year, there are many dealers in the region who are at the top of their game and provide levels of support comparable with (or even better than) any found world-wide.

From a business perspective, contractors know they have to commit a significant percentage of their budget for plant and machinery to servicing. The question is what will give better value for money – servicing in-house, or a service contract?

Economies of scale suggest that dealers are able to provide better value for the same money, since their technicians are well-trained and know the products well. Their reputations are also on the line, as well as the motivation of possibly selling further machines.

And so we predict: 2015 will be the year that service contracts become an industry norm.

DIGITAL SERvICES MANAGER TRISTAN TROY MAAGMA PUBLISHED BY

Registered at IMPZ PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 www.cpimediagroup.com PRINTED BY Printwell Printing Press LLC © Copyright 2015 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

ISSUE 39 janUary 2015

quarry up-time

KSa production hits 327m tonnes

marKet lifterS

raimondi on its rising presence

Stian Overdahl, Acting Editor, CMME

4

CONSTRUCTION

MIDDLE EAST

January 2015

sAudi-OMAN lANd bRidgE

DeSert haulerS

two GCC neighbours joined by a road through the rub’ al Khali desert - and the haulers that made it possible Plus: RAW POWER

*

NEWs & ANAlysis

*

ThE lAsT WORd

*

siTE visiT

*

ANd MuCh MORE

NOW ONLINE You can now catch the online edition every month at: www.constructionmachineryme.com

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News Round-Up

NEWS

Hertz Dayim rentals for Qatar

New machines, new offices, new projects, new initiatives – we look around the region at what’s new this month VOLVO TRUCKS SALES RISE 24%

Volvo Trucks received a boost from the introduction of three new models in 2014, with deliveries rising by 24% compared with 2013.

This includes the new FMX for construction and heavy duty applications.

Hertz Dayim has announced it will offer rental and sales of equipment and tools for construction and industrial markets in Qatar, the result of a joint venture between Hertz Equipment Rental, Dayim Holdings and Phoenix Project Development WLL of the Al-Attiyah Motors & Trading Group.

Hertz Dayim has operated in Saudi Arabia for four years, offering equipment to construction, fleet management services and equipment training.

HRH Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of Hertz Dayim Equipment

Rental, added: “Regional expansion is a major strategic objective for Hertz Dayim Equipment Rental, and I believe that Qatar is the right place to begin this expansion.

Infrastructure and construction sectors in Qatar are expected to see massive growth because of the FIFA World Cup in 2022, leading to heavy demand for construction equipment and related services.

“Regional presence will give scale to our business, as well as the flexibility to move fleet across different GCC markets.”

Finetools opens new DIP headquarters Equipment and tool seller turnover to double to $81.7m Construction tool supplier Finetools has opened a new $4 million headquarters in Dubai Investment Park, saying that it expects to double its revenue in 2015 to $81.7m. Finetools is the parent company of the hardware and tools brand Uken, and an authorised dealer for brands including Dewalt, Makita, ESAB, Hitachi and 3M. Finetools operates in Oman, Qatar, India and the UAE, and has 12 outlets across the emirates. The company aims to open three new branches in 2015, one each in the emirates of Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Ajman, as well as new branches in Qatar, Oman and India.

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September 2011 January 2015

VK Abdul Salam, director of Finetools, said, “We currently have an annual turnover of over $41m [AED150m]. With the opening of the new integrated facility at DIP, our strategy is to double the annual turnover to $82m [AED

300m] in the next year and to $136m [AED 500m] by 2020. We will expand our infrastructure further in order to cater to more customers across the GCC. “We have upgraded our facilities recently as part of our aggressive

expansion plans. The positive impact of the Expo 2020 is already visible in the market. Being a leading company catering to the industrial and construction sectors, we are confident about our capability to serve the market in this line, and accelerate our growth in the coming years,” he added.

The new DIP facility is 9,300sqm (100,000 square feet), and the company said that the new base will help enhance standards in the company’s core business areas of industrial power tools and construction equipment, to deliver tools to construction companies and to individual end users.

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* Please contact us to discuss which services are applicable and suit your needs.

www.haulo tte.co m September 2011 January 2015

CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION MIDDLE EAST MIDDLE EAST

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News Round-Up

LIEBHERR TAKES CROWn On KInGDOM TOWER

CompaNy iNtElligENCE ZoomlioN haS rEportEd thE firSt SalE of a CoNCrEtE pump iN Saudi arabia, with its Concrete machinery branch Company receiving an order for a 174rSu concrete pump from a Saudi arabian agent. this is the first time Zoomlion has exported a concrete pump product to the Saudi market. the 174rSu is powered by a 174kW engine, with maximum concrete output of 78 or 47m3/h, depending on the concrete pressure options of 50 or 100 bar. it has a 600 litre hopper capacity and a fill height of 1400mm.

f

our Liebherr tower cranes will be used in the construction of the 1,000m Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, set to be the world’s tallest building on completion.

The German equipment manufacturer has been awarded the order to supply four HC-L series tower cranes for the project. Three of the cranes to be used are of type 280 HC-L 16/28, while the fourth will be of type 357 HC-L 18/32 Litronic.

The 357 HC-L is the largest, with the ability to lift up to 18t

at a speed of 44m per minute, at heights parallel to that of the tower under construction.

Current plans provide for the cranes to use jib lengths from between 40m and 45m, while the lifting capacities required vary from 11 tonnes to 12t at a radius of 35m.

The three 280 HC-L luffing jib cranes will be used to build the side wings of the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower. They will be anchored outside the building and reach hook heights of around 400m.

The 357 HC-L crane, on the other hand, will place the top on the building at a height of around 1,000m. This will set a new record for tower cranes.

To reach these heights, the cranes will have to move upwards in several climbing stages, and will be positioned on the tower’s sky terrace or on cantilever platforms mounted outside the building. The cranes onsite will erect and dismantle each other, Liebherr said. The 357 HC-L was launched in 2013 at Bauma in Germany.

EtErnity tEchnologiEs signs MoU with hEli ForkliFts Ras Al Khaimah-based battery manufacturer Eternity Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hala Heavy Equipment Trading, the UAE distributor of Heli Forklifts, to provide batteries for Heli Forklifts sold in the UAE. The lift trucks are manufactured in China.

Heli’s product range includes internal combustion forklifts and electric forklifts, along with other products such as electric warehouse trucks, loaders, tractors, empty container handlers and reach stackers.

The forklifts will be shipped from China to the UAE when an order is placed, and upon arrival will be fitted with the locally manufactured batteries, said Iftekhar Ahmed, general manager Sales for the UAE and GCC at Al Dobowi Group, which owns Eternity Technologies.

“Eternity Technologies provides professional after sales services related to batteries, so that all Heli clients shall receive

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September 2011 January 2015

24-hour services with optional AMC contracts.”

The MoU will cover electric forklifts to be used indoors in warehouses, Ahmed noted. The agreement extends to one year, and both companies will mutually agree on future years, he added.

Eternity Technologies produces lead-acid batteries for the motive power market in its manufacturing facility in RAK, opened in 2011. The company is owned by UAE-based Al Dobowi Group, which also deals in tyre management, lubricants, conveyor belt systems and technical rubber products.

85% of Eternity Technologies’ products are exported to Europe, with Germany currently the biggest market there, said Ahmed. “We’re really proud that a product manufactured in the UAE is marketed throughout the world.”

Despite its international presence, the GCC remains a “very important” market for the firm, Ahmed added.

It is actively working on expanding its regional presence, focusing on Saudi Arabia as a target market.

goodyEar haS SuppliEd itS latESt off-thE-road (otr) rt-5d tyrES to VolVo for original equipment fitment on a wheel loader, to be used in an italian marble quarry. the 875/65r33 tyres have been fitted to a VolVo l350f, CurrENtly thE SWEdiSh maNufaCturEr’S largESt WhEEl loadEr, with an operating weight of up to 56 tonnes and engine power of 397kW (540hp). al hamad automobiles, Qatar dealer for XCmg, has been recognised with the top 10 overseas distributors award at a dealers conference for XCmg in Shanghai. gEorgE aNNiCh, gENEral maNagEr of al hamad, aCCEptEd thE aWard and gave a speech about his experiences as the exclusive distributor for XCmg in Qatar.

SChWiNg StEttEr haS aNNouNCEd itS lauNCh of a raNgE of toWEr CraNES iN thE iNdiaN markEt, aS a rESult of itS tiE-up With XCmg. the cranes, with a 5t and 6t model launched, will be manufactured at its Chennai facility. the target is to increase indigenisation to 85% in the first 12-15 months.

tENdEr updatES

1

Oman’s Ministry of Housing will soon award a secOnd package Of tenders fOr tHe cOnstructiOn Of a new $1.3 billiOn city in liwa. the tenders include the construction of infrastructure for water, electricity, drainage, irrigation and communication networks. the project includes construction and consultancy works for the site, as well as construction and lighting of internal roads, together with water crossings.

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preliMinary infrastructure wOrk On tHe upcOMing dubai parks and resOrts prOject is 35% cOMplete. civil works have also begun on the leisure and entertainment destination, and more than 50% of construction contracts have been procured.

News Round-Up

AltAAqA globAl brEAks groUnd on hEAdqUArtErs

“Low dynamism” in ME Liebherr has attributed “very low dynanism” in the Middle East and Far East as part of the reason its turnover for construction machinery in 2014 is lower than in 2013.

terex india’s tie-up with lonking

l-r: steven Meyrick, board member, altaaqa global; Haytham Zahid, deputy regional manager, Zahid tractor; Majid Zahid, strategic accounts director, altaaqa global; usman Mahmood, director, finance and accounting, Zahid group; fahad Zahid, chairman, altaaqa global; justin wilshaw, sVp for commercial, dwc; tariq albadri, director for business development, dwc; Mohsen ahmad, Vp of logistics district, dwc.

t emporary power solutions provider Altaaqa Global CAT Rental Power has broken ground on its new headquarters at Dubai World Central (DWC), which will serve as the hub for the company’s worldwide operations. The groundbreaking ceremony was led

by Altaaqa Global chairman Fahad Y. Zahid.

Located on 40,000sqm of land, the facility will house the head office, a state-of-the-art asset monitoring and control centre, a training centre, an equipment servicing centre and recreational areas for staff.

“Once completed, the headquarters will propel Altaaqa Global to the position of a global operator, with its own resources to manage, maintain and service its assets in-house, shortly after its inception,” said Zahid. “The facility will also give the company the means to control its global footprint from a single central station. With a professional and passionate team, eager to serve and provide vital power on demand, we are enthusiastic about Altaaqa Global’s future, and our ability to expand into many countries where electricity is scarce and in high demand.”

In his keynote speech, Steven Meyrick, board representative of

Altaaqa Global, said, “Immediately following this ceremony, we will begin construction on the first totally dedicated Caterpillar IPP [international power projects] facility in the world. Although we all look forward to the completion of the construction phase of our facility, the company will not achieve greatness through bricks and mortar. These are simply tools. It will always boil down to the quality and dedication of a company’s employees. They alone will transform a good company into a great one.”

Groundbreaking festivities included the symbolic planting of a date palm tree by Fahad Y. Zahid.

Peter den Boogert, managing director of the company, said, “This date palm tree symbolises our company. Just like this tree, if we take care of our company and give it the necessary attention and dedication, it will grow stronger and sturdier.”

Last year in April Altaaqa Global opened a new office in Nairobi, Kenya to serve the East Africa territories where it operates, including Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

The company has the stated aim of becoming the leading and preferred temporary power solutions provider before 2020.

26,000 to bC inDia There were 26,000 visitors to bC India in December, a slight drop on the previous year, blamed on the economic climate.

terex india has announced a reciprocal agreement with lonking, with the launch of two new terex-lonking wheel loaders, Cdm 856 and Cdm 835. the announcement of a strategic tieup will also allow lonking to sell terex-built backhoe loaders throughout its international network. the announcement came at the recent bC india show in greater Noida, close to delhi. terrell india also launched a new backhoe loader, the tlb740SE. george Ellis, president, terex Construction, said: “We are proud to launch our new machines [during bC india 2014]. terex will continue

to explore ground partners and distributors across the country. We will keep on providing 360-degree service platforms to facilitate all our customers located in the defined target markets. this will further ensure that terex builds the right distribution and operational platforms within each of its market segments.” in india, terex bhl sales grew by 5% in 2014, in comparison with 2013. terex has a 5.5% market share in india, according to 2014 figures up to october. in april 2014, terex Equipment private limited recorded a key milestone of shipping its 8900th backhoe loader from its greater Noida factory.

JCB wins engine orDer JCB has announced one of the biggest engine supply deals in its history, securing an annual contract worth around $7 million to supply Ecomax engines to Terex GB. This comes recently after JCB celebrated the milestone of 10 years of engine manufacturing. The engines, produced by JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, will be supplied to Terex’s Coventry plant and initially used to power two Terex site dumpers in its range, the TA6 and TA6S. The engines will be the fuel-efficient Ecomax 55kW/74HP stage3B/Tier 4 Final models.

September 2011 January 2015

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News Round-Up

HIMOInSA SHOWS SOLUTIOnS APPROACH

S panish genset manufacturer Himoinsa and FAMCO, its local distributor in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have held an event to inform engineering companies about the energy solutions available for special projects.

The event was aimed at major construction, telecommunications and engineering companies operating on major projects in the Middle East, and the UAE Ministry of Public Works was represented by technicians from its engineering and projects department.

The main focus was on special projects, with power generation plants, hybrid systems, gas power generation and variable speed gensets described by company representatives. Keith Webb, general manager of Himoinsa Middle East, says the projects Himoinsa is working on allow it to offer comprehensive solutions for their customers’ projects.

Jean Luc Rolland, senior project manager at Himoinsa Middle East, and Massimo Brotto, business development manager at Himoinsa, responded to questions from the audience regarding how the ideal generator set is chosen for each project – the size, power and settings, as well as the necessary adjustments to ensure maximum

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September 2011 January 2015

performance in each environmental situation.

Attendees included Fujairah Rock and Aggregate, Metito, AF Engineering, Al Hamad Group Sharjah, Al Ittihad Electro Mechanical, DU, Thermo LLC, Al Mansoori Production Services, CCC, Clarke Samadhin Associates, Petrofac, MARS Equipment, Raj Stones, Airtech A/C and FNCT. These companies all operate on projects in extreme environments, and as such demand high quality generator sets resistant to high temperatures and humid climates, noted Terry McGuire, regional general manager – Power & Industrial Products Division at Al-Futtaim Auto & Machinery (FAMCO).

FAMCO has been selling Himoinsa in the region for four years. Himoinsa has a production capacity of 60,000 units a year, manufacturing generator sets with a wide power range, from 3 to up to 3,000kVA. “With these kinds of events, we can bring our solutions to the market. Himoinsa offers not only generator sets, but comprehensive solutions. We have a technical team of engineers working exclusively on power solutions, designing plug and play systems, turnkey projects, medium voltage projects,” said Guillermo Elum, director of sales and marketing at Himoinsa.

gEniE signs with MAnliFt indiA

dubai-headquartered company manlift has signed a distribution deal with aWp manufacturer genie for an official genie dealership in india. manlift will be responsible for sales, marketing, training and after sales support. the dealership agreement was launched at the bC india show.

said: “by awarding the dealership to us, genie has shown strong confidence in manlift to lead the development of the access equipment market in india. our highly motivated team will be able to offer our customers a full range of quality access equipment for a wide variety of applications.”

david king, managing director for manlift,

daniel ho, regional vice president for terex

aWp asia, added: “We consider india as an important growth market for the genie product range, and we are pleased that a progressive company such as manlift will be representing our brand.” the manlift group was founded in 2006 and has operations in the middle East, africa and asia. manlift has a substantial aWp rental fleet.

bAkhEEt sElls link-bElt For sAdArA ksa equipment seller bakheet has sold a link-belt rough terrain crane to rental equipment company expertise industrial services, based in jubail. the rtc-8050 series ii 50-metric tonne rtc is currently being used in jubail city at sadara, the $20bn chemical project which is the largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase, a joint venture between saudi aramco and dow chemical. for the handover, Mohammed ashif, ceO of expertise industrial services,

visited bakheet, with abdullah jabr, kashif nisar and Mohammed abdul naser, all of bakheet, in attendance. ashif cited the quality of product and bakheet’s after-sales product support as the main reasons for purchase. the rtc-8050 series ii is equipped with a four-section boom (10.833.5m), with the option of a two-piece off-settable fly (8.7-15.5m) for a 51.2m maximum tip height. the rough terrain has a 4.09m wheel base and 6.86m outrigger spread.

Kit Spotting

Liebherr LTr 1060 TeLescoping crawLer crane

Where: At altitude of 2020 metres in the Swiss Alps

w

hen a mobile crane was needed for work on extending a rail tunnel high in the Swiss mountains, the first problem was how a crane could be transported up the winding and narrow road.

Rental company Clausen Kran decided to use a Liebherr LTR 1060 crawler crane with telescoping boom, and drive it up the slope. The crane had to traverse a gravel track with tight bends and steep slopes with gradients of up to 40 percent, over 920 metres with an ascent of 180 metres. The company turned to Liebherr for advice on feasibility.

The Liebherr team calculated the overall centre of gravity of the machine to ensure that it would not tip over and would remain manoeuvrable when travelling around the bends and up the gradients. The results showed that the LTR 1060 would be

able to travel along the route without ballast at a gross weight of 38 tonnes and the boom at an angle of 20 degrees. In addition, the hook block had to be secured to prevent swinging.

The narrowness of the path meant that the crawler crane had to negotiate the snaking route with its crawler chassis retracted. This meant steerability was severely restricted, as a result of the poor ratio between crawler length and track width. To allow the vehicle to be steered in the tight bends, one-metre lengths of square timber were placed under the inner crawler chains to act as pivots.

Gear box and roller overheating was another concern, and Liebherr Biberach advised that the oil level should be slightly reduced in the gearboxes, to reduce splashing losses caused by the oil being swirled around. As a result, temperatures remained well below maximum values; they were monitored by the crane owner with a thermal camera as the crane ascended.

Driving the 940-metre route took two hours, though the final few metres had to be driven in reverse to give the crane easier access to the site.

The crane was then able to carry out the job, working on a tunnel extension for the Gornergrat rack railway, Europe’s secondhighest mountain railway.

January 2015

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Tower Cranes

Market lifters

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CONstrUCtiON

MiDDle east

January 2015

It was one of the biggest stories of 2014 – the news that HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud had purchased Italian tower crane manufacturer Raimondi. The new chairman is the only son of well-known investor HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, chairman and owner of Kingdom Holdings. He revealed plans to invest in new production facilities, including in Brazil, where a new factory is almost complete. Up to $100m is expected to be invested in Raimondi over the coming years, including the option of a manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia.

CMME spoke with Raimondi’s commercial manager in the Middle East, Ammar Jabbour, about the company’s plans to further grow its market profile.

Construction Machinery ME: Raimondi has good penetration in Qatar. What are your prospects for future growth there?

Ammar Jabbour: yes, presently we have a very strong presence in the qatar market. as per raimondi’s strategy for the GCC, raimondi is directly marketing and selling its products via its local branch companies. raimondi has taken this policy as it wants to ensure the best price, service and customer relation is given to the customer, and the only way to guarantee this is to do it yourself. as a result of this policy, raimondi has sold more than 130 cranes in qatar just in the last few years. we are expecting a steady growth in the number of construction projects in qatar in the next threefive years, considering the requirements of hotels, stadiums, residential and commercial buildings etc for the qatar world Cup 2022. This makes the qatar market a very promising market for tower cranes. due to this particular situation, we don’t expect any substantial decline in this trend, even with the decrease in oil prices. raimondi, with its superior quality, technological capabilities and price advantage, is expected to continue to take a substantial market share in the tower crane business in qatar.

established a strong presence in riyadh and Jeddah. we have immediate plans to open more branches in other regions in Saudi arabia to expand our sales and service operations. we have already established a strong presence in other GCC countries as well. in

CMME: Do you have long-term plans to grow your presence in Saudi Arabia?

AJ: yes, we do have long-term plans for Saudi arabia. Saudi arabia became a more important market for raimondi upon the acquisition of the company by hrh prince khaled bin alwaleed bin Talal al Saud. raimondi has already opened a local branch company in Saudi arabia, which has already

addition to qatar and Saudi arabia, raimondi also has offices in the uae which manage the sales and services.

HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud on the Raimondi acquisition “Raimondi’s acquisition is a key addition to our global strategy, and one in which I take great personal pride and interest. If I have learned anything from my father’s strategy in investments, it’s investing in companies that have a long and successful history – and certainly very few companies in the world can indeed compete with Raimondi’s 150 years of history.

“Raimondi now seeks to further strengthen its technological capabilities to achieve even higher quality and performance with new and reliable technology in all of its products range. This translates into greater competitiveness and global reach.”

CMME: Which are some of your most popular models, from your topless, hammerhead and luffing jib tower ranges?

AJ: we have several popular tower crane models,

“Saudi arabia beCame a more imporTanT markeT for raimondi upon The aCquiSiTion of The Company by hrh prinCe khaled bin alwaleed bin Talal al Saud”

Raimondi was a sponsor of the GP3 Series 2014 season, a feeder series for Formula One. Far left: Raimondi has a strong presence in Qatar, and has sold cranes to the Doha Metro project, some with travelling chassis.

such as mrT 111, mrT144, mrT 223 and mrT 294, which are topless / flat-top models, and the lr 165, a luffing jib model.

CMME: Do you see increasing demand for a particular product line, such as luffing jib for tower projects or flat-tops for rental companies?

AJ: from the past several years of experience in sales and rental services of tower cranes in the region, we can state that the demand for flat-top cranes is steadily increasing mainly due to the following reasons: ease in assembly and disassembly procedures for these types of models; less clearance is required when there are multiple cranes working in close proximity; and also aesthetic designs that suit the modern construction companies. luffing jib models are preferred in certain projects due to constraints in the job sites, or due to the complexity of the project, or due to the space limitations.

CMME: How is the business organised in the GCC? Have there been any changes to your operations as a result of the acquisition by new owner and Chairman, His Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud?

AJ: hrh prince khaled bin alwaleed bin Talal al Saud considers raimondi as the gem of his investments. he is very much involved in the management of the business, and he is fully determined to turn raimondi into one of the top three tower crane manufacturers in the world, and wants raimondi to be known for its quality, reliability and performance. we are undergoing many positive changes in raimondi as a result of hrh prince khaled bin alwaleed’s acquisition. raimondi has set up a regional Corporate office in dubai which controls all of raimondi’s operations in the mena region.

The Technical and production Team at raimondi’s manufacturing plant in italy is already strengthened; expansions of the current italian production facility underway; area managers for various regions where previously raimondi was not represented well were appointed; and the setting up of a brazil manufacturing plant exclusive for the brazilian market is almost complete.

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s

256km a g n i h build y knew t i w d taske r t, the s e a s e w d n ahl i l a d s a r o h e R v K l O l A Stian Rub’ a . e When t bility h c a t i e l j h e o r g r p u e ro th ng road th e a demandi neering and e task h t i o b t g l d n l it wou how deser t e een essentia ers ave b h s r e discov l E hau C o v l o of V

W

hile the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shares a 600km border with the Sultanate of Oman, at present there is no direct land route between the two countries. Road freight and travellers must take a circuitous route via the UAE. That’s set to change when a major land bridge linking the two countries opens later this year. The SaudiOman border port – as it is known – includes 565km of road in the Empty Quarter on the Saudi side, and 160km in Oman. The new route will shorten the current road trip by 400km, reducing transport costs for freight and passengers and boosting tourism.

But there’s a good reason why there’s been no land route: in the south of the Arabian Peninsula lies the Rub’ al Khali desert (or Empty Quarter), the largest sand desert in the world. With temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius or even higher during the day and plummeting to 1 degree during the night, as well as harsh winds constantly blowing sand, it’s a difficult area for construction work. But while the Empty Quarter is the stuff of legends, even a desert is not impervious to the steady march of progress: the Shaybah oil field is a major production site for Aramco, with numerous rigs, living quarters and machines working, and with over 400km of pipeline within the desert itself.

So when Saudi contracting company Al-Rosan Contracting won a contract to build the 256km stretch of highway through the desert and to the Oman border, they knew it would be difficult but not impossible. The company invested significantly in new equipment to take on the project, with the final fleet made up of a considerable number of Volvo Construction Equipment machines, 95 in total,

400 km the new road will shorten the current road trip between Saudi and Oman by 400km

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including 68 articulated haulers (35F models) and 10 of the large EC700C hydraulic excavators, used for quarrying out dunes.

Fahad Hazza Aba Alros, general manager of Al-Rosan Contracting, describes the scale of the difficulties of running a project more than 600km from the nearest inhabited area: “I would say the entire project was a challenge from day one, whether it was the climatic conditions, topography of the area, the distance from the nearest inhabited city or the availability of spare parts and services. None of the usual factors that are associated with success were present in this project.”

The desert terrain consists of tall, wind-blown sand dunes, as high as 150-200 metres, with salt flats or sabkhas (areas where seas have become landlocked and evaporated to form saline deposits) between the dunes. As far as building a road is concerned, the conditions could hardly be worse. The sabkhas have a very low bearing capacity, while the high dunes shift with the wind and any road path cut through them would quickly become inundated by sand.

Engineer Fayez M. Subbaheen, project manager at Al-Rosan Contracting, explains to CMME, via

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“I WOUld SAy THE ENTIRE PROJECT WAS A

CHAllENgE FROM dAy ONE. NONE OF THE USUAl FACTORS THAT ARE ASSOCIATEd WITH SUCCESS WERE PRESENT IN THIS PROJECT”

telephone from the remote job site in the southeast of the kingdom, that the solution to this difficult terrain was to build the road over enormous sand bridges that distribute the load over a wide area when travelling across the sabkhas, and allow it to go over high dunes, preventing accumulation of sand on the road.

But to do this required enormous amounts of sand to be excavated and hauled into place: in all, 130 million cubic metres of sand cut and fill are being used. In terms of cubic volume, this is equivalent to more than 50 great Pyramids of giza. The comparison is apt, since the sand bridges were constructed in pyramidal form. Needing to support a finished road

width of 24m, at their base they are as much as 500m wide, rising up in 1m lifts; some of the highest embankments have 60 or 70 layers.

The major part of the 234.5km road consists of a single-lane carriageway in each direction, although in sections where there are steep inclines, as it travels over the towering sand dunes, there are climbing lanes for trucks and slower-moving traffic.

In addition to the sand, a further 12 million cubic metres of selected material are being used to protect the embankment slopes from erosion from wind and from water.

As Subbaheen describes the scale of the project, it becomes clear why the Volvo CE haulers were so vital.

The Volvo CE articulated haulers are able to travel over the fine sand with excellent traction, as well as travel up slopes. On each trip, up to 22 cubic metres of material can be carried.

To build the embankments, sand is quarried from the dunes by excavators, including Volvo’s large EC700Cs. The haulers carry the sand to the construction site, dumping it to make the layers; each articulated truck capable of carrying 22m³ of material. Since the sand is extremely fine, it runs like water and is blown away by a constantly driving wind. Some mornings they return to the work site and find that sand dumped the previous evening, but not yet compacted, has completely disappeared, blown away. The Volvo haulers are also able to travel across the fine sand and up gradients, essential for productivity.

To form the embankments, sand is placed in layers one metre high and then compacted dry, which Subbaheen says is a very efficient method, since it is quick. Wet compaction takes far longer, and water in the Rub’ al Khali is scarce. Heavy 13-tonne selfpropelled drum rollers are used for compaction,

with double oscillators in the drums for greater compactive force. A short amplitude oscillation for high repetition means faster compaction, allowing them to quickly achieve the relative density required (70%) with six to eight passes.

Once the embankment is built up to the desired height of the road, its side slopes, constructed with a 4:1 or 6:1 slope, are shaped. To prevent erosion from wind or the occasional rainfalls during the wet season (which normally occur as heavy thunderstorms), the slopes are covered in materials.

Natural soils consisting of silt and clay, as well as small amounts of marl, are mixed with water and then spread on the embankment wall, again using the Volvo haulers. The silt and clay hold the water and prevent erosion by wind or water.

At the remote job site, Al-Rosan is operating almost independent of the outside world. A residential area was established for the labourers, with some 600 workers including machine operators on the site.

For construction of the road layers, Al-Rosan set up complete facilities, including a brand-new asphalt batching plant for the project, able to produce 240t per hour. The contractor established a quarry 400km

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FAMCO built a modular workshop at the main camp site, as well as having mobile service capabilities in order to keep the machinery running at all times. The nearest inhabited city was more than 600km away from the site.

from the job site, since there is no stone in the desert, from where they haul aggregates. A mobile concrete batching plant is being used for the bridges, culverts and slope protection around the culverts. Precast footing for the lighting columns is also being carried out. “This job is completely independent of any other project,” says Subbaheen.

For Volvo CE dealer Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company (FAMCO), it was obvious that they also needed to establish a full service centre on the site, since providing after sales support from their dealership branch hundreds of kilometres away in Riyadh was out of the question.

“Al-Rosan is one of our important contractors and a loyal customer of Volvo CE,” says FAMCO Saudi managing director Amal Al Mizyen. “When they were awarded this contract, we were left with the challenge of supporting them logistically,

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as the closest city was nine hours away by road.

However, from the very beginning Al-Rosan said on-site support was crucial, and so we had to gear our services up to that challenge. With a distance of 1,000km from the nearest inhabited city, we were determined to rise to the occasion and prove that we are worthy of our reputation.”

This was especially important given the harsh conditions and driving sand that take their toll on machines and operators alike. From its Riyadh branch, FAMCO established a logistics ‘bridge’ to supply the Volvo CE equipment and spare parts

to the isolated site, while at the project site they constructed a modular maintenance facility, capable of carrying out preventative maintenance as well as all needed repairs, since transportation of any machines would be costly and time-consuming.

In addition to the major workshop, the after sales facility has offices and a parts store, with service vans, technicians and a store keeper on-site.

The on-site workshops run 24/7, and the harsh conditions put equipment under enormous strain.

To cope with this, the FAMCO after sales team does routine maintenance and has reduced service

“FROM THE VERy BEgINNINg, Al-ROSAN

SAId ON-SITE SUPPORT WAS CRUCIAl, ANd SO WE HAd TO gEAR OUR SERVICES UP TO THAT CHAllENgE. WITH A dISTANCE OF 1,000KM FROM THE NEAREST INHABITEd CITy, WE WERE dETERMINEd TO RISE TO THE OCCASION” intervals on some of the crucial parts, such as engine oil and air filters.

Subbaheen says that the most important contributors to the project’s success have been the Volvo haulers, not only for their ability to traverse the fine sand, but also for their air-conditioned, pressurised cabins that insulate drivers from the heat and sand. “These are very strong machines.

Very suitable for the desert and sand area. It was amazing to see the dumpers moving on the very fine sand.” With the air-conditioned cabins on all equipment, the operators were able to work safely without ill-effects from the sun. Work was also halted between 11:30am and 2:30pm due to the

midday heat, which can reach 55 degrees during the nine-month summer.

The psychological well-being of the labour force was paramount, says Subbaheen. He explains that it is impossible to imagine the feeling of working on a site where all that is visible is sand, and there is no life or anything else around the project, entirely barren. “you cannot imagine a project in the desert.

There are mountains of sand, you are moving on sand, and everything is constructed from sand.”

To make things easier, the housing project had moving camps with prefabricated units for residents, completely isolated from the heat and airconditioned. Kitchens and bathrooms were supplied,

to minimise impact on the natural environment of the desert. leisure options included sports areas and televisions to watch movies, in order to create a social life for the workers.

To call this project the most challenging that AlRosan has undertaken since it was established in 1976 is perhaps an understatement: the Saudi-Oman Border Port project is one of the most challenging construction projects carried out anywhere in the gCC in recent years. When it is completed, expected to be Q3 2015, it will allow new and closer access between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.

To prevent blown sand drifting onto the road, the Ministry of Transport will provide 24-hour maintenance groups to remove sand that has accumulated on the top surface of the finished road, to keep it safe for travellers. There are also barriers and sand mitigation walls to prevent sand obstructing the road, keeping the route open.

“The road through Rub’ al Khali is a fine example of how service, product support, customer engagement and on-site maintenance all came together for the contractor,” says Paul Floyd, FAMCO group senior managing director. “This is a project that is extremely important to Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure development, and we are extremely proud of being part of this iconic but ambitious project, and rising to the challenge.”

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O THE FUTURE

Quarry Round Up

QUARRy RoUnd Up

KSA quarry output to top 327m tonnes

T

he total output of quarries in Saudi Arabia will reach 327 million tonnes in 2014, according to an estimate published in Saudi Gazette. The report also states that all of it will be used in the domestic market for construction projects and other uses.

By contrast, the UAE is estimated to have produced 201m tonnes of quarry products in 2014, while only 95m tonnes were used for domestic projects, with the remainder exported, a 106m tonne surplus.

Qatar produced 58m tonnes and

used 98m tonnes for local projects, importing the difference. Oman produced 42m tonnes but used only 35m tonnes, while Kuwait used 11m tonnes, with zero production, and Bahrain consumed 8m tonnes, producing only 2m tonnes.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia will require large-scale import agreements in order to meet the demands of their domestic construction projects, and will look to the UAE to secure new import agreements.

The UAE is expected to further grow its 106m tonne surplus, as demand

Kuwait

Bahrain

Qatar

Production: 0m tonnes Domestic use: 11m tonnes

Production: 2m tonnes Domestic use: 8m tonnes

Production: 58m tonnes Domestic use: 98m tonnes

UAE Production: 201m tonnes Domestic use: 95m tonnes

Saudi Arabia

Oman

Production: 327m tonnes Domestic use: 327m tonnes

Production: 42m tonnes Domestic use: 35m tonnes

continues to grow in the GCC countries. The UAE also exports its quarry products further afield, including high-quality limestone sent to India to be used in the iron-ore processing industries.

The UAE is the world’s third largest exporter of quarry products, and is expected to add approximately 20m tonnes annually from 2015 to 2019 to its export tally, which will require steady investment in new equipment.

UAE’s largest quarry signs with Etihad Rail

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tevin Rock, the UAE’s largest quarry, has announced plans to use the Etihad Rail network to transport material once the rail project is completed.

Stevin Rock’s output makes up a major portion of the UAE’s total output.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Faris Saif Al Mazrouei, acting CEO of Etihad Rail, and Naser Bustami, general manager of Stevin Rock. Under the terms of the partnership, Stevin Rock will use the 1,200km UAE rail network to distribute bulk commodities from its three quarries in Kadra (Shawkah), Al Ghail and Khor Khuwair to Etihad Rail distribution terminals across the country.

By 2020, it is expected that rail will facilitate Stevin Rock in transporting an annual volume of more than 22m tonnes of mined products and materials to real estate developers and construction companies in

Much of the growth in the UAE’s quarry output is expected to occur in Fujairah. Strategically positioned to supply the GCC countries, Fujairah’s quarry products industry is expected to grow in terms of production volume in line with the expanding demands of the region, from 100m tonnes in 2015 to 145m tonnes by 2019.

Currently, the largest importers of Fujairah’s vast quarry natural resources are Qatar and Kuwait.

the UAE and across the wider GCC. Bustami said that Etihad Raid represents a more cost-effective and reliable transport solution for the quarry, especially for long-distance transit.

Currently, Stevin Rock transports material using barges, trucks and via sea. “As we expand operations in the UAE and across the region, rail will allow us to move greater quantities of bulk commodity at one time and will improve transit times overall.”

The rail network will transport 6m tonnes per year of commodities from Stevin Rock’s Shawkah quarry to various UAE distribution locations, as well as to export terminals. Etihad Rail will also operate three trains each day to carry 11.9m tonnes per year of commodities from the Al Ghail quarry to distribution locations within the UAE as well as to export terminals.

FAMCo offers Hartl crusher buckets

H

artl Crushers, an Austrian manufacturer of crusher buckets and screener attachments, has signed a GCC-wide distribution deal with major equipment seller Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company (FAMCO).

Crusher buckets, which can be used with almost any model of hydraulic excavator, are growing in popularity as an attachment tool to process materials such as demolition waste on-site – without the hire of a mobile crusher, which is normally higher cost, requires specialist operators and can be logistically challenging for smaller sites.

Gerard Pastl, sales director at Hartl Crushers, says that due to the excavators size in the GCC, “Our bigger model crushers HBC 950 and HBC 1250 and screens HBS 1600 and HBS 2000 will be the most common attachments.”

The HBC 950 and HBC 1250 crusher

Terex Trucks signs Qatar dealer

T

erex Trucks has signed an exclusive Qatar distribution agreement with Rumaillah Motors W.L.L. to sell its range of offhighway vehicles. Etienne Lalande, regional sales director for MENA, said the agreement would further strengthen Terex Trucks’ position in the market.

“Rumaillah Motors is a firstclass company that has a wealth of experience working with major contractors in Qatar. Their ethos of providing strong customer support and satisfaction fits well with Terex Trucks, and we look forward to a fruitful future working together.”

The partnership with Rumaillah Motors follows

Terex Trucks’ recent acquisition by Volvo Construction Equipment, and will enable the manufacturer to lay a strong foundation for future growth in the Middle East, he added.

Terex Trucks produces off-highway articulated dump trucks with 25-38t payload capacity, and rigid dump trucks with 41-91t payload capacity.

The range is designed for heavyduty hauling operations and enables high productivity through extreme working conditions, likely to appeal to

customers operating in Qatar’s dry and dusty environment.

Rumaillah Motors provides material handling, aerial access and construction equipment across Qatar.

“In today’s business, it is important to find a strong partner that you can trust,” commented Rauf Malik, general manager of Rumaillah Motors.

“We believe that this agreement with Terex Trucks will help us to further enhance our first-class service to customers in Qatar.”

new Holland offers chain cutter for marble buckets have production capacities that range from 35-85 tonnes per hour and 50-110t/h respectively; production capacities vary based on material, feet size and gap setting. For gypsum, HBC 950 can crush up to 128t/h.

The Hartl crushers use a fourfold ‘quatro’ movement, resulting in less wear on the attachment and a more consistent performance for size and shape of the crushed materials. In 2013, the Hartl crusher bucket won the Red Dot Award for product design.

The bucket crushers can be used onsite for processing of construction and demolition waste, including concrete, bricks, asphalt, ceramics and glass, as well as natural stone processing. The screener attachment is used for separation of natural stone and recycling material into usable fractions, allowing on-site recycling and reuse of debris.

N

ew Holland has teamed up with an Italian marblecutting tool specialist to produce a chain cutting solution for the marble quarrying industry. The B100C backhoe loader is fitted with a support arm and chain cutter, mounted in the place of the backhoe, offering a simple and fast method for cutting blocks of marble.

The chain cutter was built by Benetti Macchine SpA, based in Carrara, who specialise in supplying marblecutting machines. Benetti worked in collaboration with the New Holland Construction Engineering division in Lecce, which has the capability to produce bespoke machines for niche sectors, based on customer requests.

Fitting a backhoe loader with a chain cutter is an alternative to diamond wire cutting machines, normally used to cut large blocks of marble (or ‘bench walls’).

However, the solution offers greater safety and a reduction in working time.

“This machine was created to meet the needs of our customers, who know better than anyone how to improve their business and what machines are required to best achieve it,” said Federico Benetti, owner of Benetti Macchine. “What they were missing

until now was a machine that could operate autonomously in the quarry and cut blocks of marble in situ.”

The prototype underwent several months of vigorous testing in Carrara marble quarries, with expert extractors working the machine at full speed and for long periods. The first sales have been to customers in Portugal.

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Tech-ing W Telematics systems in quarries can be used to improve operator performance, and identify areas where quarry production can be made more efficient. CMME talks to two Caterpillar product specialists about how technology is improving efficiency in the quarry industry

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ith telematics and machine control technologies slowly but surely transforming the construction machinery industry, quarry managers are also seeing the benefits of working in a data-rich environment. Caterpillar is a global leader when its comes to machine telematics, and all its new global construction and infrastructure (GCI) machines – roughly, those 20 tonnes and larger – have shipped

quarries with Product Link as standard since 2012. Product Link, the machine component, is in turn integrated into VisionLink software, developed through Caterpillar’s alliance with Trimble, which provides an overview of the machines – where they are, whether there are any mechanical faults, and utilisation.

For customers who are running Product Link on their newer machines and want to extend the benefits to older Caterpillar machines in the fleet, there is a retrofit programme to install telematics,

with the process taking about one hour per machine.

But how is this technology effective when used in quarry and aggregates industries, compared with contractors engaged in construction?

Construction contractors typically use VisionLink to monitor machine utilisation across all their job-sites, checking that machines are correctly distributed and avoiding shortages on one site or unnecessary rentals, whereas quarry operators monitor their machines and operators to become

more efficient and save on costs, says Peter-Valentin Sauter, a quarry product specialist at Caterpillar SARL in Geneva.

Economic circumstances in Europe are putting downward pressure on the cost of aggregates.

Quarry operators need to achieve the lowest costper-tonne production possible if they are to remain profitable. “Especially when an economy is in a downturn, there is more pressure on price, therefore there is more need for quarries to become efficient.”

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Fault reporting on VisionLink will provide information on mechanical issues that the service team needs to check out, as well as operator mistakes such as engine overspeed. This can catch faults early before they cause serious damage.

Fuel consumption is a big part of the operational cost for a quarry, so managers use telematics to monitor when their equipment is idle and when it is running. “In any quarry you want to avoid idling time, because when equipment is idle it is not working and therefore not productive, therefore not making money. By analysing the idling patterns or idling times, quarry operators can see where they can fix this, and run their operation more efficiently,” explains Sauter.

“When you see that the operator in the morning shift is burning 40 litres of diesel per hour, but the operator in the night shift – who is doing the exact same work with the exact same machine – is burning 45 per hour, you ask: why is there such as big difference when they are doing the same job?”

Since the performance of a machine in any given shift can be affected by a large number of factors, such as a breakdown in the crusher, slow arrival of trucks, bad weather or an under-performing operator, quarry managers need to use the data as a starting point, to determine the actual cause of idling time. But a likely fix for an operator who burns too much fuel is extra training.

And through its fault code reporting capability, VisionLink can reveal operator mistakes that in the long term damage machines, increasing maintenance costs and reducing up-time and residual value. For rigid frame or articulated haulers, warnings include coasting in neutral, engine overspeed and ‘body up while machine in motion’, meaning that the operator has raised the payload while the hauler is moving at speed; all signal the need for operator training.

Improving the service regime of a quarry and its maintenance practices is another major benefit of using monitoring software. Since all machine operating hours are recorded, it becomes easy to know when a machine is approaching its service interval, typically every 250 hours. This allows maintenance to be scheduled at a time which won’t have an impact on production. The plant team can also order any spare parts needed for a particular maintenance procedure, and if there is a technician needed from the dealer, this can also be arranged.

Fleet managers can also receive SOS oil sampling results through the programme.

In addition to planning, the system also monitors machine health in real time, sending an alarm to the site manager and maintenance team if a mechanical problem needs attention. Sensors across the machine monitor fuel levels, engine oil and hydraulic oils

“WhEn An ECOnOMy IS In A DOWnTURn, ThERE IS MORE PRESSURE On PRICE, ThEREFORE MORE nEED FOR QUARRIES TO BECOME EFFICIEnT”

and temperatures. If the coolant temperature is rising, the maintenance crew can act immediately to prevent a machine blowout or major catastrophe.

One real-life example from the field shows the importance of early fault detection. A customer received notification of low engine oil pressure events over several days in a 336DL hydraulic excavator, with its severity rating in VisionLink at lowest (yellow alert) and then rising to medium (orange alert). The site was advised, and the technician attending detected peaks of low pressure. The oil pump was inspected, and a broken bolt was found in the suction line, thus arresting the problem at an early stage, before the entire engine was damaged.

More generally, it means that dealers can provide service to customers with precise knowledge of any mechanical issues a machine has, rather than trouble-shooting a broken-down machine once the damage is already done. This is helpful at a time when Sauter says more and more customers in the GCC are outsourcing maintenance work and repairs to dealers. Outsourcing equipment management

Up-sizing machines One impact of business picking up in the GCC is a shortage of good machine operators. For quarry managers, one option is to move to larger equipment, meaning that a quarry can

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manage the same production with fewer operators, or increase its production levels without hiring new operators.

Sauter says that this upsizing of equipment is evident in the

market, though quarries are making the shift in line with ordinary purchasing cycles, rather than buying new, larger machines before they need to upgrade.

to the dealer gives customers access to better preventive maintenance and less breakdowns, with centralised skilled technicians who have access to a huge knowledge database. Servicing is also more efficient when the fault information has already been received, since they can bring the needed spare parts the first time they attend to a machine.

Sauter says one trend is quarries having service contracts for the key equipment vital for their production, such as wheel loader, excavators and hauling units, while doing the work themselves for support equipment that is not critical for production.

A decision on how to manage the servicing in a quarry can come down to many factors, among them scale: the largest quarry in the UAE, Stevin Rock, has a huge maintenance crew working over three shifts and its own oil sampling laboratory.

Payload measuring systems, available on medium and large Caterpillar wheel loaders (set-up details vary between model series), are one feature that can improve site performance. A sensor calculates the payload weight without disrupting the cycle or needing the bucket to be stationary, and provides the information to the operator through the cab display.

The system has advantages whether loading large haulers at the quarry face or performing operations around stockpiling or loading of aggregates onto on-road trucks. In-quarry, it prevents underloading or overloading of haulers. Under-loading means extra truck trips and wasted fuel, reducing site productivity. Overloading wastes fuel, as well as degrading tyres more quickly and causing extra damage to haul roads, and is a safety issue. A 20% overload of a truck can result in a 50% reduction in

tyre life, as well as higher haul road repair costs.

When loading trucks to take aggregates by road to the end user, the payload system means precision in the materials loaded. Overloading of road vehicles can result in stiff fines for quarry operators, whereas underloading means extra and unnecessary truck trips.

Measuring material weight can also be done via onboard systems on the hauler trucks, with Caterpillar’s Truck Production Management System (TPMS) available for rigid frame haulers. Sensors measure the strut pressure at each wheel and provide realtime information on the payload weight to the driver.

There is also a visual system to alert loader operators when the hauler needs one more load to fill, and when it has its desired payload. The TPMS can also be upgraded with features applicable to mining, such as recording truck speeds and measuring the impact of haul road conditions on production.

Talking about the use of these systems in the GCC, Anders Thomsen, Technology Solutions manager at Caterpillar SARL Branch in Dubai and a member of the Connected Worksite Group, says there could be a redundancy in having both the payload system on loaders and the TPMS on haulers; the technology is there to support mixed fleets, so that Caterpillar can provide a solution to customers whatever the mix of machinery brands in their fleet. When given a choice between the two, Thomsen says that the payload system on the loader would be the obvious first choice, since it is the loader operator who is actively responsible for the payload, and the information

“In TWO yEARS WE hAVE GOnE FROM zERO TO

hERO, IT hAS REALLy TAkEn On. nOW ThE nExT STEP IS ThE PRODUCTIVITy STEP”

would be available for him to view in the loader cab.

With a large number of the Caterpillar machines active in quarries in the GCC having Product Link, and quarry operators quickly learning the benefits of ongoing monitoring of machine utilisation and health, the next stage in using the technology is to take this information and look for possibilities to improve productivity across the whole quarry site.

Thomsen says that usage of Product Link has grown quickly in the radio-certified countries in the GCC, and dealers provide support. “In two years we have gone from zero to hero, it has really taken on. now the next step is the productivity step.”

Using 2D Project Monitoring software, an add-on to VisionLink provided by Trimble and Caterpillar, quarry managers can monitor cycle times and load counts by using data from the loaders as well as the body-up times on their haulers, matched with the GPS location, giving them an overview of the tonnes moved by the trucks. Analysis of machine cycle times can also reveal data such as average distance travelled per cycle for a loader, another chance to review operator practice and the quarry set-up.

While poor cycle times can be caused by an unskilled driver, site management issues can also be the cause, such as too many or too few trucks on the site, trucks arriving late because of poorly maintained haul roads, or problems at the crusher, such as not enough or too-small hoppers. The data received from the telematics may only be a starting point for a site analysis; quarry supervisors can use the data to detect productivity issues that they might not otherwise notice. “you can really detect things when you start to get the data flowing in,” says Thomsen. “The supervisor still has to jump in their truck every day and go out and inspect the site, it’s not a substitute for going out and looking.

“But even when a supervisor goes out and surveys the site, there are always things that are missed, the small things that mean you maybe can take a machine out and still do the same production.”

Sometimes this can result in fewer machines used for the same production. “It’s not that we don’t want to sell more machines; but we want first of all for the customer to be profitable,” says Thomsen.

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At the 2014 Construction Machinery Show we sold 70 units and 100 more units are under discussion. We have delivered a positive message to our existing clients, our competitors, and grabbed new clients.

I think gaining such an appreciation from all members in the construction equipment sector is a great honour and will encourage us to work very hard to keep the same level of style, image, and standards.”

This year the CM Show team delivered an exhibition Saudi deserves. For years, we have seen a vision in this Show and this year the vision was achieved. We wanted quality traffic and we saw equipment and company owners; and we were able to offer some promotions to entice sales.

I saw an increase in our sales immediately.

Our principles, Doosan and Everdigm, really enjoyed themselves. We anticipate the upcoming years to be even better.”

The Construction Machinery Show was perfect from an awareness point of view.

We explained Roots Group Arabia’s capability of covering the construction industry with all of its needs and requirements. The attendance was good especially during weekdays and towards the end of the exhibition. See you next year.”

Al-Qahtani & Sons Khaled El Shatoury, Managing Director

Saudi Diesel Equipment Ahmed Alkooheji, Marketing Manager

Roots Group Arabia Abdulaziz Felemban, Brand Manager

Co-located with

Raz Islam Publishing Director raz.islam@cpimediagroup.com Mobile: +971 50 451 8213

Michael Stansfield Commercial Director michael.stansfield@cpimediagroup.com Mobile: +971 55 150 3849

Site Visit

walk this

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way

CMME takes a walk down JBR to find out what’s different about the redevelopment of one of Dubai’s most famous tourist landmarks. Gavin Davids reports

E

ver since it opened in 2008, The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residences has been a popular destination for both tourists and residents of Dubai. With activities such as street painting, art displays and comedy shows alongside shops and restaurants, the city’s first outdoor retail avenue continues to attract millions of visitors every year.

Stretching a total distance of 1.7km, the shopping promenade overlooks the Arabian Gulf and houses as many as 305 retailers along its length. In addition, 11 luxury hotels have been established to cater to the estimated 12 million visitors a year.

Given those visitor figures, and the extensive work being done around The Walk, it’s no surprise that Dubai Properties Group, the project’s master developer, has launched an ambitious redevelopment scheme to completely revamp the retail avenue.

These developments include the introduction of new shaded areas to the many F&B and retail outlets along The Walk, as well as an improved streetscape and access to the Plaza (or podium) level via escalators leading to new and enhanced retail facilities. There will also be significant upgrades made to the Plaza level areas at Bahar and Rimal. Children’s play areas will be created, along with dedicated private areas for residents.

Furthermore, with the launch of the Dubai Tram in November, DPG says that part of the redevelopment work will include working with authorities to “further enhance traffic management and pedestrian flow in and around The Walk”. The intention is to create connectivity points for future planned stops for the Dubai Tram, the developer explains.

Although the redevelopment work itself is fairly straightforward, what does complicate matters is that shops and F&B outlets have remained open during the entire process. With thousands of visitors and hundreds of cars passing through the area daily, it’s easy to see how this could quickly devolve into a complicated situation.

“This project is not a normal construction project,” explains Sanjeev Nangia, project director for Shapoorji Pallonji Middle East, the contractor appointed to carry out the redevelopment of The Walk.

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Site Visit

“It’s completely different. Our HSE measures on this project are maybe four times stronger than on any other project. This is a tourist area and there are many cameras. We don’t want any HSE issues here. That was the first instruction from the CEO of Dubai Properties Group. He didn’t want to see any complaints.

“Even if five people are working on-site, we have a special HSE plan in place which covers how they’ll move around and where they’ll go. In every sector we have two engineers controlling [the site]. That’s not only the safety work, but also to take care of the movement of traffic. We have barricades and proper pathways for people to go through. There are about 40 flagmen altogether, who are continuously monitoring and guiding people.”

As the main contractor, Shapoorji Pallonji Middle East is tasked with working on three areas – The Walk itself; the Plaza (or Podium) level; and the Facades, the fronts of the retail and F&B outlets.

For the Walk itself, the contractor will be focusing on revamping the entire look of the ground level operations, giving it a “modern look” and increasing visibility, Nangia says. In addition, increased access will be given to the podium areas through the refurbishment and installation of escalators and lifts.

“The Walk area will also have these huge kiosks created to give visitors more space. They’ll be about eight metres tall. All the shops will have canopies and

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Speed Lift Before rendering work started on the redevelopment of The Walk, Shapoorji Pallonji had to remove the old GRC decorative features. In order to do this crucial base work, the team decided to use as many as 12 scissor lifts on-site, due to the amount of activity to be done before work could start.

“The scaffolding was

only erected to do the rendering. All other work was done without scaffolding. This had to be done, otherwise the shops would have been closed for a much longer time.

“We have used cranes as well. For a project like this, we have had to use many different types of cranes – mini cranes, scissor lifts and everything.”

there will be escalators going up to the podium as well,” he explains. “For all of the stretch, the façade will be replaced. Earlier, it was some kind of paint, but now all of the 1.7km stretch will be given a rendered finish. So that means it will have a glittering effect that will shine at night. That’s the reason why we’re doing a complete repaint, re-plaster and re-render of the whole façade.

“There will also be an amphitheatre created in the Bahar section. The existing staircase there is in the Spanish style, i.e. a big sweeping staircase. That’s all

going to be demolished and an amphitheatre, with a cantilevered steel structure roof, escalators and a green wall, will be built there.”

Nangia adds that the amphitheatre will be used for performances, while the escalator will lead to the podium level, which is also undergoing considerable rework. All of the existing parks and gardens on that level will be demolished, while existing retail outlets that aren’t doing well because of their location are likely to be converted into apartments.

In addition, the contracting team will be redoing paving and lighting on both The Walk and the podium.

The parapet on the podium was also removed, using a specialist demolition subcontractor, Reliable Star. The older, more traditional style of parapet is in the process of being replaced with glass railings for a modern look.

Scheduled to run from April 2014 to March 2015, the redevelopment of The Walk has posed a number of challenges to the Shapoorji Pallonji team. The first was assuaging the fears of owners, who were understandably reluctant to see their places of business become part of a giant construction site.

“There was a lot of complaints from shop owners and all, because obviously they didn’t want to close their shops, even for one day. But Dubai Properties Group had agreements with them about this renovation taking place. Even so, they wanted minimum disruptions.

“Before carrying out the work, we spent almost a

“WE SPENT AlMOST A MONTH MAkING A MOCk-

UP. WE CAllED IN DUBAI PROPERTIES, THE CONSUlTANTS, EVERyONE. IT WAS PlANNED AND REDONE UNTIl WE CAME TO A CONClUSION”

month making a mock-up about how we’re going to work. We called in Dubai Properties, the consultants, everyone. The mock-up itself was planned and then redone until we came to a conclusion. We decided where the shop entrances were going to be while there was scaffolding up and people working on-site. Our main purpose with the mock-up was to minimise the disruptions and we managed to do that.”

The scaffolding that covers the entire site adds to an already congested area, with some 650 workers on-site at any given time. When the rest of the construction team is factored in, that number shoots up to close to 900 people working around the clock.

Nangia admits that starting work just prior to the summer midday break period did put a crimp in their plans for the site, especially since traffic in the area was already a major headache.

“Traffic is so much, and the rest area is [right down at the end of The Walk]. So at 12 o’clock, to bring them there – it takes about one hour. Once you leave

the site, you have to go all the way around, due to the construction of the tram. It’s a big problem and it requires a lot of planning and HSE control, moving that amount of people,” he claims.

“Initially there were problems and we found that this wasn’t going to work, so now we’ve taken over huge podium areas which we’ve converted into rest areas, so there’s no need for them to come down and rest.

We’ve got two or three areas now, otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible. The traffic and the travel time would have been too difficult and not in our hands.”

Operating on a 24-hour schedule, the project team runs from 6:30am to 5:30pm during the day, and from 6pm to 6am at night. This allows more work to be done and will allow the team to meet the scheduled completion date, Nangia promises.

The 24-hour cycle also allows crucial logistical work on site to be carried out, with the Shapoorji team liaising with the RTA to allow access to the site through the Marina. However, this also poses particular problems, due to the need to keep noise levels down in a heavily residential area.

“To manage the night shift, during the day time we make sure we do all the major activities that produce noise, while at night and during the early morning we do the things that don’t make that much noise, such as shifting materials, the rubbish removal and all that.

“We have permission from the RTA to get everything in here, the big trailers and so on, but that’s only during

the early morning – after midnight up until 5am. All the major equipment comes in at night, but with winter coming, we’re afraid that people will be out till late at night, which could be a problem,” Nangia worries.

Traffic and ease of access aren’t the only problems hindering ongoing operations along the nearly twokilometre project site. Not only is there ongoing construction work on other projects, which further creates congestion in the area, but there are also preexisting utilities that hinder how Shapoorji Pallonji go about their business.

“Apart from these challenges, the other interesting thing was dealing with the authorities. There is a highvoltage cable corridor [running five metres from The Walk] and DEWA will not allow anyone to even plant machinery over there. That was a huge challenge, but it wasn’t just DEWA, there are Du cables as well as Etisalat cables. More interestingly, the Dubai Police have about 20 live cameras that are controlled by them.

So we have had to relocate them off the parapet and then refit them over the glass replacement, without losing more than one or two days,” Nangia says.

Ultimately, the success of this project has come down to careful and decisive planning, Nangia says, pointing out that three planners are employed on the project, in contrast to the standard one or two, even on bigger projects. “But if you don’t plan, then anything can go wrong,” he says, neatly summing up the philosophy behind this complex project.

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Al-Qahtani Vehicle & Machinery Co. Tariq Al-Qahtani & Brothers

Product Focus

Raw power EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. page 36

handy loadeRs

bobcat launches three new mid-weight telehandlers, designed for workplace productivity.

page 41

top 10 Reasons to Rent kit

CMME lists 10 reasons why rental equipment should make up at least part of your fleet on your next job-site.

page 37

new cat 4-dRum

new four-drum roller with onboard compaction meter.

page 38 dozing magic komatsu’s d65wX-16 dozer offers high productivity with a new cabin and the sigmadozer blade.

page 44 page 48 the last woRd

how apps from construction machinery sellers put information in your hands faster.

betteR than new buying second-hand or leasing has its advantages.

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Raw Power

Trim new Telehandlers from BoBcaT

Why geT iT? SophiSticated machineS for Simple operation

B

obcat has launched three trim new telehandlers, with maximum lift weights of 3.5 and 3.6 tonnes. The T35105, T35105L and T36120SL telehandlers, with maximum working heights of 10-12 metres, follow on from the launch of larger telehandlers from Bobcat over the past 18 months, with many of the same design improvements. The T36120SL incorporates both stabilisers and the framelevelling system, while the T35105L features the frame-levelling system.

The machines are designated for the Middle East markets, with a 74.5kW (100HP), 410 Nm Perkins Stage IIIA diesel engine. The new telescopic handlers have a hydrostatic transmission offering a maximum travel speed of 30km/h, complemented by an inching function for smooth driving and precise positioning.

New features to improve operations include

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the panoramic cab, which has a large parabolic windscreen providing wide visibility, especially when handling loads at height. The cab has a new dashboard with digital display and ergonomic controls, including a joystick with integrated forward/reverse (FNR) control for improved productivity and safety. Based around a 100l/min gear pump, the advanced hydraulics feature an active diagnostic system which ensures that in case of hydraulic failure, the machine always remains within safe limits.

For construction and rental applications, the new telescopic handlers feature an auxiliary hydraulic line and are supplied with a 1.12m foldable pallet forks carriage with backrest and 1200mm pallet forks as standard. An important safety feature is the Aggravating Movement Arrester (AMA) system, which cuts off all aggravating movements to ensure safe use within the working envelope, whatever

the attachment used and type of load (palletised or suspended) being lifted.

The T35105 and T35105L telescopic handlers both have a maximum lift capacity of 3.5t. The working envelope has a maximum lift height of 10.29m and a maximum forward reach of 6.88m. The T36120SL telescopic handler has a maximum lift capacity of 3.6t. The working envelope has a maximum lift height of 11.87m and a maximum forward reach of 8.20m.

T36120SL SpecificaTionS • features: Stabilisers and frame levelling • Maximum lifting capacity: 3,600kg • Maximum lifting height on stabilisers: 11,871mm • Maximum horizontal reach: 8,198mm • Maximum travel speed: 30km/h • Total weight (unladen): 8,660kg

Raw Power

825K SpecificaTionS • engine: Cat C15 ACERT, 302kW net power • Maximum weight: 35,528kg • drum diameter: 1,299mm • drum width: 1,125mm • Wheel diameter: 1,672mm • Maximum forward speed: 17.2km/h

neW 4-druM froM caT Why geT iT? the on-board SyStem meaSureS the Soil’S load-bearing Strength to aSSeSS compaction Caterpillar has launched a new four-drum roller, the 825K, built with the Machine Drive Power (MDP) system, an on-board system that measures the soil’s load-bearing strength to assess compaction. The MDP enables operators to consistently attain compaction specifications with minimal passes, yielding low operating costs by saving time, fuel, rework expense and machine hours.

The four-drum roller has a 35.5t operating weight powered by a Cat C15 ACERT engine with 302kW net power, giving it the weight and power to take on the most difficult compacting and dozing chores. Its machine frame is designed for long-term durability and an operator environment that ensures optimum comfort, safety and productivity.

Fuel-saving features include an engine-idleshutdown system that conserves fuel by stopping the engine after a pre-set interval of idling, and a delayed engine shutdown feature protects the engine by stabilising operating temperatures before shutdown.

The 825K’s drive train uses a 3F/3R Cat power-shift transmission featuring Single Clutch

Lg959 SpecificaTionS • engine: Weichai WD10G220E21 • rated power: 162kW @ 2200rpm • control type for working equipment: pilot control • Maximum dumping height: 3,120mm • rated load: 5t • operating weight: 16.6t

Speed Shifting, which assists in maintaining torque flow through the transmission during gear changes, resulting in smoother shifts and minimal power interruption, useful on uphill grades. An integral lock-up torque converter provides direct-drive efficiency, speed and fuel savings, while also significantly reducing drive-train heat.

Additionally, an auto-shift system allows the machine to automatically upshift or downshift based on machine speed and torque, optimising performance and saving fuel.

The MDP system senses the rolling resistance of the material being compacted (the measure

of its load-bearing strength) to determine the degree of compaction. Unlike accelerometerbased compaction-measurement systems, the MDP system correlates well with portable measurement devices, works in a wider range of applications and also measures closer to the depth of the lift with less variability, both in granular and cohesive materials. Operators can quickly establish the MDP target value that matches the compaction specification, and then can rely on the intuitive MDP monitor in the cab to assess the progress of the compaction being carried out.

5t payLoader Why geT iT? uSeful machine for Stockpiling or conStruction SDLG’s five tonne payload wheel loader, the LG959, is described as the perfect machine for non-production uses in its field. The loader is powered by a Weichai engine, producing power of 162kW at 2200rpm. Built by Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery (SDLG), a subsidiary of Volvo CE, the machine has robust controls and features pilot control for its working equipment. With an operating weight of 16.6t, ZF transmission and axles, wet disc brakes and a hydraulic quick coupler, the machine is targeted to applications such as construction or stockpiling where the machine will see regular use, without the rigorous requirements of fulltime production. The standard bucket capacity is 3.1m³, and wheel base is 3,179mm. The LG959 has a maximum breakout force of 180kN, features load-sensing full hydraulic articulated steering and has maximum gradability of 30°.

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Raw Power

Liugong’S LargeST Loader Why geT iT? the new loader from liugong tipS the ScaleS at 50 tonneS

cLg8128h SpecificaTionS: • dump height: 4.04m • rated load capacity: 12t • Breakout force: 360kN • rock bucket volume: 7.0m³

LiuGong is the largest manufacturer of wheel loaders in the world, and at the recent Bauma China event in Shanghai it unveiled its largest loader to date, the CLG8128H, with an operating weight of over 50t. The massive loader has a rated load capacity of 12t, breakout force of 360kN and 4.04m dump height. At Bauma China, it was shown with a rock bucket with 7.0m³ with movable blade. Components include a Dana C9672 torque converter, and the machine takes 7.4 seconds to raise for full loading.

The CLG8128H will be used mainly for large projects. There are no Chinese competitors in this weight class, noted the company, pitting the machine against the likes of Caterpillar and Komatsu, who also manufacture loaders in this weight class.

dozing Magic Why geT iT? the d65wX-16 iS a Strong-performing bulldozer from komatSu Efficient whether ripping or dozing, the D65WX-16 features a mix of optimised work equipment and high productivity hydraulics. Designed to offer high productivity with low fuel consumption, it uses an automatic transmission and automatic lock-up torque converter for low cycle times and improved performance.

The hydrostatic steering system (HSS) offers fast response and more precise turning. Both tracks are powered without interruption, allowing smooth, continuous turns and powerful and productive dozing, even on soft ground or on slopes.

Komatsu’s Sigmadozer blade design offers up to 15% higher production, compared to a conventional Semi-U blade. The middle section of the blade acts like a V-shaped bucket with d65WX-16 SpecificaTionS (SigMadozer) • engine: Komatsu SAA6D114E-3 • engine power: 164kW @ 1,950rpm • operating weight: 20,370kg • ground pressure: 0.49 kg/cm² • overall length with blade: 5,500mm • Blade capacity: 5.90m³

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aggressive ground penetration, while its lateral blade edges help to push the rolling material continuously towards the centre.

Operators benefit from a well-designed cab, with hexagonal design and large tinted glass windows giving excellent panoramic visibility for optimal blade visibility to the left and right, making both dozing and grading easy, safe and fast. The fully automatic climate control system

pressurises the cab to keep dust out.

The machine uses Komatsu’s Komtrax monitoring system, which provides detailed operation data about how long machines are used for and how productive they are; tracks the locations of machines to discourage theft; and sends warnings, alerts and cautions, via website or email, to help with maintenance planning and for longer machine life.

Raw Power

eXpLoring your opTionS Why geT iT? new eXplorer booStS atc optionS for lift companieS

eXpLorer 5500 SpecificaTionS • engine: Scania, with 331kW power (Tier 3) • axles: 5 • Lift capacity: 395 tonne-metres • Boom length: 60m

• Boom extensions: 11, 21 and 33m • outrigger extension positions: 2.54, 4.7 and 7.0m

coManSa Jie’S SMaLLeST fLaT-Top Why geT iT? firSt comanSa Jie flat-top offered with powerlift SyStem

Due to the new emission laws in Europe and elsewhere, Terex Cranes has launched new versions of its all-terrain cranes, with the Explorer 5500 the third new ATC launched. And while the emission requirements don’t affect the GCC, users here still take advantage of the updated design and features.

The new Explorer 5500 is the most compact ATC in the 130-tonne capacity class, says Terex, and all the components for the crane can be transported using a single standard support vehicle. With a carrier length of 12.1m, total length of 14.3m and width of 2.75m, built over five axles, the crane is more compact than any other in its capacity class, which enables it to be used inside cities as well as on narrow construction sites. In addition, steerable axles provide excellent manoeuvrability in tight quarters.

The new crane features a 60-metre main boom; three extensions of 11, 21 and 33 metres are available, all of which can be offset.

The maximum system length is 86.5m and the maximum load moment is 395 metre-tonnes, with the maximum lifting capacity when telescoping 24.5t. Outrigger extension positions of 2.54, 4.7 and 7.0m can be selected. All the Explorer cranes (5500, 5600 and 5800) are built with a single-engine concept, meaning the same engine is used for on-road driving and operation of crane functions. This lowers operating costs, since only one motor requires maintenance. Further technical sophistication comes from a control system that automatically recognises each demand; for instance, it switches from high power in driving operation to energysaving mode during crane operation. Moreover, the system also has an energy-saving start/stop function.

For operational safety, the touch screen display with intuitive controls provides the driver with important data on more than ten operational parameters, such as tyre pressure, brake system status and the suspension system. In addition, there is constant monitoring to maintain the axle loads.

exceed 108m by combining different types of tower sections.

This new model is the first from Comansa Jie to include the PowerLift system, developed by its Spanish parent company, Linden Comansa. The PowerLift system improves the load diagram of the

11CJ132-6t by up to 10%, with reduced speeds, allowing the crane to load, for example, 1,320k at the jib end (60m) instead of a load of 1,200k without PowerLift. This system comes standard and is very easy to use. Comansa Jie expects to gradually include this system in all models.

Comansa Jie launched its new 11CJ132-6t flattop tower crane at Bauma China in November. The 11CJ132-6t has a maximum lift of 6t, or 1,320k at the jib end (60m). The crane is the first model of the new CJ1100 series and the smallest model yet from Comansa Jie. The Chinese manufacturer expects to gain market share in China, India and Southeast Asia.

The 11CJ132 can be erected with a jib length from 30 and 60m, with configurations each 2.5m, allowing the reach of the crane to be perfectly adapted to the conditions of each job-site. The fixed version of the 11CJ132-6t has a maximum freestanding height of 57.4m, although it can 11cJ132-6T SpecificaTionS • Max lift weight: 6t • Max lift at jib (60m): 1,320kg • Jib lengths: 30-60m, with 2.5m intervals • Max freestanding height: 57.4m

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Ten Tips

doN’t Worry about maNpoWer With rental companies able to supply skilled operators, this can be a big advantage if you’re not looking to use a machine long-term and don’t want to go to the trouble of recruiting a skilled operator. renting can also be a solution for companies which aren’t yet in a position to hire large numbers of new operators while complying with labour localisation laws.

Get your machiNes immediately When buying new equipment, lead times vary but can be significant, especially for larger machines. rental companies offer much faster delivery of stock, which is useful when you’re starting a project or need extra machines for a peak period. With a rental machine, you only pay for hours worked.

Top 10:

Reasons to rent equipment No maiNteNaNce requiremeNts since rental companies pay for breakdowns, machines normally arrive at your site well-maintained and ready to work the required hours. this takes the pressure off your maintenance team, allowing them to keep on top of servicing your existing fleet, or work on timeintensive jobs such as machine overhauls or rehabilitation. equipmeNt doesN’t aGe betWeeN jobs once a job is completed, your machines may sit idle in your yard until your next project starts, either taking up warehousing space or weathering. over time, this can lead to reduced value, through dust or sand entering into the hydraulic fluids, or wear and tear of other components.

Renting equipment has many benefits over owning. We list 10 reasons why renting may be right for your next contract

peaK shaViNG peak shaving is one of the best-known and smartest uses of rental equipment. extra machines are rented during peak project periods, allowing contractors to complete jobs well within time without having to invest in permanently maintaining a larger fleet. if you’re not short of machines during the peak periods of your projects, before drawing on rentals or other short-term options, then your fleet is probably too big.

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Ten Tips

preserVe cashFloW if you’re looking to preserve cashflow, renting machines costs far less up front and can be paid for as the job progresses. if you’re worried there may be a gap between completion of your current project and the start of the next project, during which a machine you bought would have to work to pay for itself, then renting allows you to plan your fleet and your payments around the availability of work.

try beFore you buy if you have your eye on a certain new machine model, your local dealer may be able to rent it to you. this gives you an idea of how the machine would perform in your fleet. you may also be able to negotiate a rent-toown contract, or buy the equipment as used once the job or rental contract is over.

FeWer Wor ries bu

ying and se lling machin ery can be a contractor’ big part of s work focu a s, whereas this model rentals cut and reduce through the number required. re of service st ntal means aff you don’t h transporta ave to worry tion, insura about n ce or the man consuming y other tim administrat eive duties of machine ow nership.

Watch your machiNe productiVity

While some contractors may have equipment standing idle, this is far less likely with rental equipment, when you can calculate the day cost of a machine. using a rental machine will make you more conscientious about what a machine is really costing you, and ensure that you’re maximising its production hours while it’s on your site.

Get NeWer equipmeNt rental companies can supply brand-new equipment for improved performance on your job-site. Newer machines may have specific capabilities lacking in your fleet, such as an operator cab equipped with air conditioning and a rear view camera, or on-board measuring devices on machines such as rollers.

equipmeNt to suit the terraiN if you’re undertaking a job that’s outside your ordinary working zone, or in unique terrain that you’re not likely to encounter frequently, renting equipment allows you to overcome ground issues without having to invest heavily in new equipment. if you’re building a road through tough terrain and blasting, articulated haulers can be rented to help clear the spoil.

Wheeled excavators can also come in handy for job-sites on hilly terrain or infrastructure projects entailing long travel distances.

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Used Equipment

Better than I new?

With mounting pressure on contractors to cut costs, buying used equipment or leasing can help keep your cash safe. Jerusha Sequeira looks at alternatives to buying new, and the risks involved n the GCC’s increasingly competitive construction industry, contractors face tighter margins than ever, and cost control becomes a necessary part of the equation. As far as machinery is concerned, there can be advantages when considering alternatives to buying new machines, such as buying secondhand or leasing.Mohammad Al Qahtany, chairman and managing director of Kuwait-based First Equilease, speaking at the Big 5 show last year in Dubai, says that buying and owning equipment is a thing of the past.“The option of leasing is number one. I think contractors have to stop thinking of themselves as equipment owners and rather think of themselves as a service provider,” said Al Qahtany during a panel discussion at PMV Live in November.

“You’re a contractor, you provide a service.

Equipment is part of your service. It’s not your main business,” he added, urging the audience to consider leasing equipment as a viable alternative to buying new machines.“One lesson learnt from the financial crisis is better management of your cash flow,” Al Qahtany told audience members.

Managing cash flow better includes not spending

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Indoogoo adds rental feature Heavy equipment sale site Indoogoo has added a feature allowing users to list heavy equipment available for rent, as well as provide users searching for rental machines with a variety of listings from different sources.

Users can search for rental equipment, specifying the machine they need, and where and when it is needed. The site’s geolocation technology compares these search criteria to all equipment near the given location, and presents a customised map showing all suitable machinery in this area.Each piece of equipment is marked with a flag; by hovering over a flag with the cursor, the user can see the details of the listing in brief. Clicking on the flag takes the user straight to the full listing page.

From here, the potential customer can contact the rental company directly to request a quote. Conversely, those looking to put their equipment up for rent simply upload their listing and specify their location in order to be added to the map.

Mark Turner, CEO and founder of Indoogoo, explains that this is the first time this type of service has been made available to the construction equipment rental market.

“My Rentals uses a geolocation service to help users track down the exact equipment they need,” he says.

“For the first time in the industry, professionals have a comprehensive, live database of local rental options, as well as a visual representation of where equipment can be found nearby.

This simplifies the whole process and, because Indoogoo is a social network, contacting the rental companies is easier than ever – simply send a personal message or contact request to start the ball rolling.”

Turner says that Indoogoo is the first industry website to allow users to compare a variety of rental options in one place. These options will include listings from rental giants as well as from individual users.

“With this service, everyone can be a renter. It gives all users the

large amounts of capital buying equipment that is bound to depreciate anyway.

Buyers of machinery focus on the fact that it might cost them 4-5% more to lease equipment as opposed to purchasing it, but do not factor in the associated costs of owning and maintaining the machinery, the chairman added.

“People usually look at direct cost and not indirect cost. And I think when you make a decision you need to look at all of the costs associated with you owning this equipment.”“The problem with a lot of contracting companies is, everything is tight.

Everybody works on a tight budget. But if you have extra cash flow for a bad day or rainy day, it doesn’t hurt,” Al Qahtany said, also pointing out the risks of buying new equipment, especially when it comes to

While traditionally Middle East contractors have preferred to purchase new machines, the alternatives – leasing, renting or buying second-hand – have their various advantages, including preserving cashflow.

opportunity to hire out their equipment when it is not in use. Renting equipment should be straightforward – Indoogoo takes the stress out of finding the right equipment near you, and if you’re looking to hire out your equipment, you can be sure it will be seen by those who count.”With My Rentals, users can locate rental

delayed payment from clients, or in the worst case, a financial crisis. In long-term projects, for instance, non-payment can be an issue. If work has to be stopped, equipment lying idle can be a liability, and leasing thus allows for more flexibility. Additionally, when a financial crisis occurs, the market for used equipment can crash, making it hard to resell equipment. “This is the problem when we talk about ownership. But if you don’t own [the equipment], at least you are surviving with minimum cash payment in your cash flow system,” Al Qahtany said.

Moreover, ownership is a problem when it comes to reselling equipment, as the residual value while selling may not be as much as expected, leading to further losses. So with the advantages of leasing machinery apparent, why do contractors insist on buying new machines?

Al Qahtany admits it may be a cultural issue, a certain sense of prestige in owning a large fleet of machines.

“This is the norm,” he tells CMME after the panel discussion concludes. “In the old days, that was the only solution.”

“CONTrACTOrS hAVE TO STOP ThINKING OF ThEMSELVES AS EQUIPMENT OwNErS AND rAThEr ThINK OF ThEMSELVES AS A SErVICE PrOVIDEr”

equipment in their area, connect with other local professionals and expand their trading network. By tracking down equipment close to their job sites, users can reduce demobilisation and mobilisation costs; and because the service is 100% free, procurement costs are also kept to a minimum, explains Turner.

he adds that the need for ownership is more prevalent in the Middle East, while markets in North America and Europe have long adopted leasing as an option. however, the region is gradually changing.

“I think the whole industry is evolving. It’s a matter of change in culture. I think it’s a process where we are catching up.”

Another alternative to buying new machines is, of course, buying used ones. Several options exist for purchasing used equipment at competitive rates; and with the advent of the digital age, customers are increasingly turning to the internet to buy equipment online. This is a particularly attractive option for buyers in the Middle East, says wolfgang Buhn, managing director of Mevas (Machinery Evaluation Service).

“Many people buy online because they can’t travel.

They have no chance to get the visa for Europe for inspection of machines, and for that reason, they go online for buying,” says Buhn.

But can one always be assured of a good deal when purchasing used equipment? Those looking to buy second-hand machines online must exercise due caution, he says.

“In a perfect world, you are purchasing a machine or truck [and] the unit is real, the supplier gives you a perfect description, you pay a good negotiated price... you get what you expect to get,” Buhn says.

“In our real world, you’re buying a machine or truck, and the unit does maybe exist, but the supplier forgets to mention some problems, you pay maybe a little bit too much, on transit to you it gets damaged, [or] parts are lost.” In more unfortunate cases, the equipment may even be stolen.

“In an optimistic scenario, 70% of the equipment you buy is in a good condition. [But] there are of course machines in bad quality, machines have manipulated hours, trucks have exchanged

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Used Equipment

odometers, and in some cases there are Chinese copies of western equipment,” he says. Buhn’s company has also come across several instances of fraudulent websites that scam customers into buying equipment or vehicles that don’t exist.

Dealers sometimes use domain names of existing companies, keeping all details except the phone number and bank account information intact, he says. In other instances, transactions conducted via email are intercepted by third parties who change the bank account details on the invoice, thereby diverting the money intended for the seller into their own accounts. One crucial step to avoid fraud online, he stresses, is to ramp up cyber-security by installing the latest antivirus software and firewalls, and not opening suspicious-looking attachments.

“IN AN OPTIMISTIC

SCENArIO, 70% OF ThE [USED] EQUIPMENT YOU BUY IS IN A GOOD CONDITION” Another important measure is to send an independent, qualified professional who is familiar with the machine in question to carry out an inspection before purchase. “we have seen many cases where working hours have been manipulated,” Buhn says, referring to an instance where a machine was advertised as having clocked 11,000 hours, but upon thorough inspection of the internal computer, it was found to have done 19,000. Moreover, Buhn advises against making payments before an inspection is carried out. he recommends asking the seller for a clear and legible picture of the serial number and

Inspecting in person or having an experienced inspector check over the equipment is a necessity when buying second-hand, says Wolfgang Buhn (pictured), managing director of Mevas (Machinery Evaluation Service).

Advantages of buying used equipment at an auction Buying used machinery at auction is a well-worn path, and another option for buyers and sellers looking to trade in equipment.

A key benefit is being assured of a fair and honest market price for your machine, says Steve Barritt, regional manager at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA).

There’s also no waiting time involved to get your hands on the equipment, he adds: “You can take it straight away and operate it straight away.”

RBA conducts live, unreserved public auctions for bidders onsite and online. Headquartered in Canada, the company sells a wide range of used and new equipment for several industries, including construction, mining, transportation, oil and gas, agriculture and forestry.

The auctions are unreserved, meaning there are no minimum

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bids or reserve prices, and every item is sold to the highest bidder on auction day. Auction financing and shipping services are also available to buyers, according to the company’s website.

The company also appraises every piece of equipment it receives to make sure information

is correct – RBA has over 40 auction sites in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Auctions are carried out on a quarterly basis at the sites, Barritt says. The firm has been in the UAE for 17 years, holding its first Middle East auction in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone in 1997.

checking up with the dealer on the service history or repairs carried out on the machine.Some vendors like Caterpillar also have a database with records of vehicles reported stolen, Buhn adds. he advises customers to properly verify the seller’s bank account details before transferring any money, so as to safeguard themselves from being cheated. with the tight margins contractors face, it may be tempting when coming across equipment at rock-bottom prices, but buyers should beware of machines being sold far too cheaply, Buhn says.

“These problems occur everywhere, and the problem is that many buyers like to purchase at a good price.

And that’s the key problem, they see a very nice price and they stop thinking,” Buhn notes. Buyers should also be wary of sellers who try to pressurise them into buying quickly – an all too common tactic.

It is also crucial to do your homework before buying online from another country, he emphasises, and buyers should also try to ask around about the seller’s reputation among people who know the market. “Go to well-known databases for used machinery. It is nowadays quite difficult to find reliable suppliers, and my recommendation would be you talk to people you know or people you got recommended,” says Buhn.

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