NZ Contractor 1609

NEW ZEALAND’S CIVIL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2016 $8.95

New Cat F Series excavators Innovation, power and performance

INSIDE: Talking with Mark Pizey – on health and safety in the workplace CCNZ conference – making good and getting smart in Auckland Crane conference – celebrating success in Nelson Managing road assets – industry RAM lessons

CONTENTS CONTRACTOR

INSIDE: Regulars 4 Editorial 6 Upfront 12 Contractors’ Diary 14 On the Cover 52 Motoring 54 Classic Machines 58 Innovations 62 Civil Contractors NZ update 62 Advertisers’ Index

Comment 44 Peter Silcock CCNZ 46 Rob Gaimster CCANZ, NZRMCA 47 Kevin Haskins Bware 48 Tommy Parker Highways, NZTA 50 Mallory Ward Kensington Swan

18 Highlights / Features 16 Profile – Mark Pizey

Mark Pizey came from Solid Energy to take over as the new chief guardian of quarrying and mining health and safety.

18 CCNZ Conference 2016

The 2016 CCNZ conference went all out this year at the Sky City Conference Centre, Auckland.

28 Crane Association Conference 2016

The 2016 Crane Conference and trade show will be remembered as one of the industry’s most successful events.

34 Stopping a slip slip-sliding away

Goodman Contracting takes on another difficult slip, this time on the Otaki Gorge Road.

Technology 40 Managing road assets

Road asset management is about managing existing

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roads as an integrated asset in the most cost-effective manner.

6

34 SEPTEMBER 2016 3

CONTRACTOR EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER Contrafed Publishing Co Ltd Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland PO Box 112357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: +64 9 636 5715 Fax: +64 9 636 5716 www.contrafed.co.nz

Flying: time, hot laps and pigs “We think probably something in the order of 35 percent of the quarries in the country have nominated managers, and it’s our intention over the next 12 months to address that with some vigour, with the intent of capturing all the operational quarries.”

That’s the word from Mark Pizey, chief inspector extractives at WorkSafe New Zealand’s High Hazards Unit. After taking over from Tony Forster earlier this year, Pizey spoke to Hugh de Lacy for Contractor on page 16 about the issues around quarry safety, codes of practice, Certificates of Competency (and the end-of-year deadline). The issue isn’t so much with those sites used daily, but what he calls “ephemeral” sites: those that may work one week then not be used again for months.

So if you have a quarry that’s “out the back” and only call upon its resources occasionally, check you’ve done everything you need by the deadline. It’s already been extended once; it won’t be extended again.

This month we also have extensive coverage of two industry conferences: Civil Contractors on page 18, and the Crane Association on page 28. Both conferences have achieved considerable success in numbers attending, the quality of the presentations, the networking opportunities and – in CCNZ’s case – some creativity for the annual CablePrice-sponsored “themed dinner”, aka the fancy dress party. And yes, that is pastpresident Dave Connell dressed as a pink pig. With wings.

Other news from conferences and awards is also scattered throughout the magazine.

See for example “Honouring Joe Edwards” on page 11. His extensive industry experience makes him a worthy recipient of a CCNZ Life Membership. And there’s the 37 finalists in the second annual Hays Nawic Excellence Awards reflecting the increasing contribution being made by women across the industry.

But it’s not only within these printed pages that you can see this coverage. In an increasingly “online” world, more and more content is being distributed via our websites and email newsletters. In the magazine we’ve only room for a small selection of photos; online we can share many many more. If you haven’t looked for a while, take another look at www.contractormag.co.nz. You can also search for content and read back issues (via www.issuu.com/contrafed).

Our monthly newsletter is also growing. It’s deliberately a quick read so you can see what you may have missed, and what’s coming up. You can sign up from the website, or just flick me a note asking to be added.

And as an extra special this month, and with a big thank you to Mark Neilson of MWN Civil for making it happen, we’ve got a competition to win a Hot Lap with Brad Lathrope in a NZ V8 Touring Car during the 2016-2017 Premier Motorsport Series at either Taupo, Christchurch, Invercargill, Feilding or Hampton Downs. It’s a fantastic prize: all you need do is answer three very simple questions on the flyer in this magazine. The winner will be announced in the October issue of Contractor.

Kevin Lawrence, Editor

GENERAL MANAGER & EDITOR Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 Email: kevin@contrafed.co.nz EDITORIAL MANAGER Alan Titchall DDI: 09 636 5712 Mobile: 027 405 0338 Email: alan@contrafed.co.nz REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Malcolm Abernethy, Mary Searle Bell, Richard Campbell, Hugh de Lacy, Cameron Officer, Richard Silcock, Chris Webb.

ADVERTISING / SALES Charles Fairbairn DDI: 09 636 5724 Mobile: 021 411 890 Email: charles@contrafed.co.nz ADMIN / SUBSCRIPTIONS DDI: 09 636 5715 Email: admin@contrafed.co.nz PRODUCTION Design: TMA Design, 09 636 5713 Printing: PMP MAXUM

Contributions welcome Please contact the editor before sending them in.

Articles in Contractor are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher.

Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the shareholding organisations.

www.linkedin.com/NZcontractor @NZContractormag nz contractor magazine nz contractor magazine The official magazine of Civil Contractors NZ www.civilcontractors.co.nz The Aggregate & Quarry Association www.aqa.org.nz The New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association www.hha.org.nz The Crane Association of New Zealand www.cranes.org.nz Rural Contractors New Zealand www.ruralcontractors.org.nz The Ready Mixed Concrete Association www.nzrmca.org.nz Connexis www.connexis.org.nz

ISSN 0110-1382 4 www.contractormag.co.nz

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

A close-up view Delegates at the 2016 CCNZ Conference who got in quick enough to a limited number field trip were treated to a Waterview breakfast tour on the Saturday morning of the conference. The country’s most expensive roading project is heading towards the finishing line, and will open up to traffic early next year.

See more conference photos from page 22.

Safe Roads Alliance busy

Roading project beckons

Last month the Safe Roads Alliance started work on the $1.5 million project to improve SH1B between Taupiri and Gordonton in the Waikato.

The Alliance is made up of Transport Agency staff, Beca, Bloxam Burnett and Olliver (BBO), and Northern Civil Consulting.

Over the past decade there have been eight deaths and five serious injury crashes on the stretch of highway, due to vehicles losing control on the corners, running off the road, or crossing the centre line.

Side barriers, which isolate cars from hazards, and wider centre lines, which will provide greater separation between vehicles along the 10.5 kilometre stretch of the highway will be installed as part of the project. Work will also be carried out to improve visibility on the roundabout on the northbound exit of the expressway, and improvements will be made to signs and road markings in low visibility areas.

The project is expected to be complete by the end of next month.

The government’s Safer Roads and Roadsides Programme will see safety improvements made to more than 90 high-risk sites on rural State Highways in 14 regions with all work carried out by the Safe Roads Alliance on behalf of the government.

The proposed $384 million tolled Penlink Highway providing an improved route in and out of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula got the green light after an out-of-court settlement with housing developers.

Landowners Green McCahill Holdings and Weiti Developments lodged appeals relating to access to their housing developments near the final route. Last month they reached an agreement with Auckland Transport and these private firms will build a roundabout and part of the southbound on-ramps to the seven kilometre road next month even though the project has yet to be funded.

Auckland Transport hasn’t decided to cough up funding for the project, but agrees it’s a priority and, as the route is now protected, can be built anytime within the next two decades.

Meantime, the project has been touted as a good public private partnership and will feature a four-lane toll road and a 540 metre bridge over Weiti River and an electronic toll ($3) system similar to the Northern Gateway.

6 www.contractormag.co.nz

Oil, herbs, fragrances and high tea The weather was among Auckland’s worst, but the spirits were high for the delegates participating in the CCNZ Conference Partners’ Programme.

The women caught a ferry to Waiheke Island and toured Rangihoua Estate – producers of fine olive oil – for serious tasting and yummy herb spread.

Then it was off to Batch Winery where they were hosted by Jill Mulvaney from the Botanical Distillery. After a glass of bubbles they took part in the Botanical Distillery Fragrance Event – creating their own fragrance to take home, with “interesting” results, says Sue Abernethy who was on the tour.

Higgins changes its tune

Higgins buyout done

At the time it looked like a long-term strategy to have a presence in the Canterbury civil construction market as it was boosted by the $40 billion of post-earthquake rebuild money put up by insurance companies and the government.

Three years down the track that strategy seems to have been abandoned

by Palmerston North’s Higgins Group as it sold out to Auckland-based multinational Fletcher Building United.

In mid-2013 Higgins jumped into the Canterbury market by buying up two previously family-owned local businesses in what was touted as the northerner’s second sally into the South Island.

Higgins bought 100 percent of both Calcon, a 40-year-old civil construction company with 80 staff, and its aggregates supplier, Selwyn Quarries.

Four years earlier, before the Canterbury quakes hit, Higgins had gained a foothold in the South Island market by setting up in Nelson.

At the time of the Calcon and Selwyn Quarries buy outs, Higgins chief executive Dave Geor described it as “a movement in the general direction of becoming a New Zealand-wide entity”.

“It happens to coincide with what’s going on [in Canterbury], but that wasn’t the driver,” Geor said.

Now those ambitions appear to have been abandoned as Higgins becomes another trophy on the Fletcher Building wall.

Neither Geor nor family patriarch Bernard Higgins was prepared to comment on the sale of the company which is one of the country’s largest, with a staff of around a thousand working in civil construction, and bitumen, asphalt and aggregates manufacture and supply.

Fletcher Building also declined to comment.

Higgins was a family company established by Irish immigrant Dan Higgins as a drainage and road repair business in the 1950s. By Hugh de Lacy

By the end of July, Fletcher Building had bought New Zealand and Fiji road construction and maintenance business Higgins for $303 million.

The businesses acquired as part of this transaction are made up of: Higgins’ road construction and maintenance operations in New Zealand, including asphalt and bitumen plants; road construction and maintenance operations in Fiji; Higgins’ aggregates business (excluding the Horokiwi Quarries, a Wellington based joint-venture); and other related businesses including the manufacture of traffic signs, bitumen tanks and sprayers.

Higgins’ ready-mix concrete and property businesses were excluded from the transaction, which has been cleared by all relevant New Zealand and Fijian regulatory authorities.

According to business news reports Fletcher Building paid $12 million below the flagged purchase price to buy its rival after dropping Horokiwi Quarries from its application to reduce its dominance in the aggregates market.

Higgins transferred its ready-mix concrete and property businesses to existing shareholders prior to the acquisition.

Around the same time Fletcher reportedly paid $2.4 million for two blocks of land next to its Hunua Quarry in Auckland to act as a natural noise buffer, allowing the Hunua Quarry to increase its hours of operation.

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Two big ChCh roading projects begin

New CCNZ President Brian Warren Brian Warren from Canterbury has been elected as president of CCNZ after Dave Connell from Waikato stepped down from the role after three years.

Brian has been vice president for the past year and has been on CCNZ’s national executive committee since the merger of Roading NZ and the Contractors’ Federation in 2014.

Before that Brian was on the board of Roading NZ for nine years and a member of the merger committee which brought the Contractors’ Federation and Roading NZ together.

He has spent his entire working career in the civil infrastructure construction industry, initially using his engineering degree working as a site/contract engineer then progressing into management and subsequently governance roles.

During his 28 years with Fulton Hogan he led teams, ranging from five to 350 staff, in Christchurch, Brisbane, Blenheim and Dunedin.

He then spent 11 years as chief executive of Christchurch-based Isaac Construction, leading that company through the highs and lows of economic growth in the mid 2000s, the GFC of the late 2000s and the devastating earthquakes.

Brian is now doing consulting work and is the authorised representative of Canterbury member Burnside Contractors.

Colin Calteaux from Andrew Haulage in Otago was elected vice president and Dave Connell from Connell Contractors now moves to the past president’s role.

8 www.contractormag.co.nz

The contract for the second stage of the Christchurch Southern Motorway and the new Christchurch Northern Corridor, worth $435 million, was awarded by the Transport Agency to a McConnell Dowell/Downer joint venture.

These are the last two Christchurch motorway projects to be built under the government’s Roads of National Significance programme.

The new Christchurch Northern Corridor will be built to the east of Belfast, between the Waimakairiri River and Cranford Street.

This alliance contract between the Transport Agency, Christchurch City Council, Fulton Hogan, Aurecon and Jacobs, will construct the new section of State Highway 74, as well as two Christchurch City Council projects, the Northern Arterial Extension, from QEII Drive to Cranford Street, and the four-laning of Cranford Street to Innes Road.

Construction is expected to get underway this month and take four years to complete.

Specifically, the Christchurch Northern Corridor will include: The upgrade of QEII Drive to four lanes between Main North Road and Innes Road (aimed at reducing freight congestion to Lyttelton Port); and construction of a third northbound lane on the Waimakariri motorway bridge through to Tram Road.

The Southern Motorway stage two will four-lane State Highway 1 just north of Rolleston to near Robinsons Road. From here, the new section of motorway will be built to the east of SH1 across Greenfields to connect with stage one at Halswell Junction Road. This second stage also begins in October and will take three and a half years to complete.

Improved road condition monitoring From this month MetService and the NZ Transport Agency start an innovative road weather mobile data acquisition trial in conjunction with Fulton Hogan and Downer.

MetService already provides a year-round road weather programme to the Transport Agency, including road weather observations, forecasts and meteorological briefings.

During winter, this service expands to include road surface temperature forecasting that determines the impacts of colder weather and the likelihood of freezing conditions and ice formation over the State Highway network.

The six-month data acquisition trial follows a pilot sensor-assessment process, and aims to expand road weather observation assets by evaluating the meteorological integrity and potential utility of a range of very precise vehicle-mounted sensors for monitoring road weather conditions across the network.

The sensors will be mounted on field vehicles operated by MetService, Fulton Hogan and Downer. As the host vehicles traverse the road network, they will transmit realtime data continuously to provide observations of road and air temperature, rain, snow, slush, water film height, ice content, humidity and dew point temperature.

Some of the sensors are capable of taking measurements up to 100 times per second. Data can be visualised on smartphones connected to the sensors by Bluetooth and transmitted on cellular networks for subsequent analysis.

The data collected will deliver key insights for improving road weather forecasting and road safety in locations for which there is currently no weather information available.

MetService business development manager Peter Fisher says this science-based innovation will help enhance road weather modelling systems and help MetService inform roading contractors how to optimise their application of the de-icing agent calcium magnesium acetate (CMA). CMA is an alternative to road salt and is used in both granular and liquid forms to prevent snow and ice from bonding to the road surface.

“The Transport Agency, Fulton Hogan and Downer will have access to a wide range of previously unavailable data to assist with planning and operational activities so that roads can be kept as safe as possible for the travelling public,” says Fisher.

“Drivers of the sensor host vehicles have immediate access to data to inform them of dangerous driving conditions, and fleet operators will have better quality, more timely information for fleet management.”

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Plywood scarecrows support road building Plywood construction worker cut-outs that popped up in a paddock off State Highway 1 just north of Paekakariki generated a lot of commuter curiosity.

They appeared as part of early works to support construction of the Transmission Gully Motorway and acted as markers for vehicle operators working inside an area of sand dunes just south of Mackays Crossing. This ‘sand borrow pit’ is being excavated for use as fill for the future alignment of the new motorway.

The life-size plywood cut-outs alerted operators to ‘settlement plates’ monitoring and measuring ‘pre-loading’.

TEL exceeds expectations More than 2.3 million vehicles have travelled on the Tauranga Eastern Link since it opened a year ago – close to 40 percent more than predicted.

The 21 kilometre, four-lane, $455 million highway is the Bay of Plenty’s biggest roading project ever with seven bridges and the country’s biggest roundabout.

The new highway replaces a stretch of State Highway 2 that was ranked fourth most dangerous in the country in terms of crashes. It now has a five star safety rating, the highest in New Zealand.

New state highway for Northland The NZ Transport Agency has taken over the operation and maintenance of 96 kilometres of roading in Northland.

Te Pua Road, Mangakahia Road, Otaika Valley Road and Loop Road (North) have become State Highway 15. The government made the move to protect and improve the main link between Northland’s 50,000 hectares of forestry and the port at Whangarei.

Volcanic themed skatepark Construction of a unique volcanic themed skatepark in the Auckland suburb of New Windsor started at the end of August.

The skatepark will complete the third and final stage of the Valonia Reserve upgrade being delivered as part of the NZ Transport Agency’s Waterview Connection project.

Designed collaboratively by Boffa Miskell, Auckland Council and the local skate and BMX community, the skatepark will be built by Melbourne based firm Convic, a specialist contractor in skatepark design and construction.

The skatepark is the latest in a number of community amenities being built as part of the Waterview Connection project.

The final stage of the Valonia Reserve upgrade is expected to be completed by early 2017 and also involves the construction of a half-court basketball court designed to match the volcanic theme.

The Valonia Reserve upgrade has been constructed in three stages by the Well-Connected Alliance, which is delivering the Waterview Connection project.

Stage one involved the construction of two fullsize sports fields, complete with irrigation, drainage, lights and sand-turf pitches which many local people and sports teams have used over the past two years.

Stage two consisted of new changing rooms, a volleyball court and car park.

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UPFRONT CONTRACTOR

Honouring Joe Edwards The following is a precis of the Life Membership citation read out during the presentation at the CCNZ conference, as written by Peter Silocok, chief executive of CCNZ. An article in Contractor magazine back in 2011 accurately described Joe Edwards as a man who strives for excellence; who believes in a strong voice for industry and has put in countless hours of unpaid work on behalf of his fellow contractors.

Since 2011 when that was written Joe’s level of industry service has grown significantly. His record is outstanding: 2000 – 2015 Auckland Branch Executive 2002 – 2008 Contractors’ Federation National Executive Member 2008 – 2011 Contractors’ Federation Vice President 2011 – 2014 Contractors’ Federation President 2013 Pike River Implementation Team 2013 – Present MinEx Director 2013 – Present Extractive Industries Advisory Group 2014 – 2015 Civil Contractors NZ Past President 2015 – Present Mines Rescue Trust Chair 2015 – Present Contrafed Publishing Director Joe started working in the industry over 40 years ago as a plant operator and boxing hand on the Twizel hydro-electric power scheme.

He has worked for a number of companies on a wide range of projects in New Zealand and offshore and has risen to be construction manager at McConnell Dowell.

Joe played a big part in establishing the memorandum of understanding between Contractors’ Federation and Roading NZ and in the discussions that led to the merger of the two organisations in 2014.

He has been a very strong advocate for health and safety providing

Viewing: 15th to 21st September, 8am - 4pm

Di and Joe Edwards and CCNZ chair Dave Connell

invaluable industry feedback on all sorts of documents, draft regulations, codes of practice and proposals that Civil Contractors New Zealand has submitted on. The amount of time and energy that Joe puts into this work is huge and the staff often receive emails from him on Sunday afternoons when he has been reviewing these documents.

Joe is a great supporter of making civil construction a career of choice for young people and of the industry Construction Excellence and People Awards.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Di [Edwards] for her support of Joe. I am sure that there were many times when Joe should have been helping you in the orchard [when not involved in industry matters the Edwards have a susbtantial commercial orchard in South Auckland] when he was instead working for the industry.

Joe is highly respected throughout the civil construction and associated industries. He is a dedicated and passionate advocate for our industry.

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Over 350 lots including: 30+ lots Access equipment, 15ft - 49ft Scissor lifts, 34ft - 100ft Boom lifts, Generators, 20+ 3-500KVA Compressors, Welders, 8+ lots Compaction Equipment, 15+ lots Light Towers, 10+ lots Dome Shelters, 5+ lots Forklifts, Telehandlers, Water Pumps and much much more.

Selection of 15+ Lighting Towers

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Selection of 34 ft to 100 ft Boom Lifts

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Large Selection of Wacker Neuson Plate Compactors and DPUS

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Choice of 2x Dynapac Rollers

Choice of 2x Genie 4390 (43 ft) (10 Year inspections completed 2014)

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SEPTEMBER 2016 11

CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Recognising women in construction “The calibre of the women recognised at today’s awards bodes well not only for their future but also the industry as a whole and will undoubtedly help attract other women to embark on a career in the infrastructure industry.”

Winnie Rawiri-King of the Electricity Supply Apprentice Programme (left) and Suzanne Naylor of Watercare Services (right).

There are 37 finalists in the second annual Hays Nawic Excellence Awards, reflecting the increasing contribution being made by women across the industry.

The number of women in the construction sector has doubled to 17 percent over the past 15 years and is continuing to grow with women now making up 12 percent of trades apprentices.

The awards have six categories which cover a wide range of roles across the industry, including contracting. The 2016 awards event will be held mid this month (September) in Wellington.

Meantime, the annual Connexis ‘Celebration of Women in Infrastructure’ lunch at Te Papa recognised a group of women from around the country and their achievements in the industry over the past year.

The lunch is the highlight of a month-long initiative called ‘Girls with Hi-Vis’ encouraging women to try out the industry, and a

component of a wider initiative called Ultimit.

This is driven by Connexis in partnership with other infrastructure organisations and aims to increase the number of women in trade and technical roles in the workforce.

Connexis CEO Helmut Modlik says: “With women representing nearly half of the population but a minor percentage of the current industry workforce, there is a large pool of prospective employees out there. The calibre of the women recognised at today’s awards bodes well not only for their future but also the industry as a whole and will undoubtedly help attract other women to embark on a career in the infrastructure industry.”

was very enthusiastic about learning more about the industry including reviewing her current career to potentially work in the electricity supply industry.

Aspiring Leader Award Awarded to: Winnie Rawiri-King from the Electricity Supply Apprentice Programme for showing leadership within her team and actively supporting Women in Infrastructure.

The judges were impressed with Winnie’s commitment to health and safety, and leading by example.

Inspirational Leader Award Awarded to: Suzanne Naylor from Watercare Services. The judges were particularly impressed that Suzanne was an IPENZ mentor, and the vote of confidence from Watercare in promoting her to her current role. She is a team player but also not afraid to step up to the plate as a leader.

Bright Star Award Awarded to: ‘Girls with Hi-Vis’ participant Terri Taylor who attended the Contact Energy open day at Clyde. Terri was actively engaged, illustrated a positive attitude and willingness to learn and ‘Gave it a Go’. Terri

CONTRACTORS’ DIARY Date

Event & Venue

Contact

2016 31 Aug - 2 Sep 3-6 Sep 19-20 Sep 24-26 Sep 6-8 Oct 10-14 Oct 30 Oct-1 Nov 1 Nov 7-8 Nov

IECA & NZIHT International Erosion Control Conference, Rydges, Auckland AusIMM NZ Annual Conference, Te Papa, Wellington Auckland Transport Infrastructure Forum, Pullman Hotel, Auckland Sustainability in Public Works Conference, Jasper Hotel, Melbourne NZ Concrete Industry Conference, Ellerslie Events Centre, Auckland 23rd ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) World Congress, Melbourne NZTA/NZIHT 17th Annual Conference, Dunedin Road to 2018 LTP Seminar, Millennium Hotel, Queenstown NAMS Advanced Asset Management Forum, Wellington

www.nziht.co.nz/Conferences-and-Seminars/ www.ausimm2016conference.co.nz bit.ly/CONFERENZ_AklTransport www.eastcoastconferences.com.au/sustain2016 www.theconcreteconference.co.nz www.itsworldcongress2016.com www.nziht.co.nz/Conferences-and-Seminars/ bit.ly/SOLGM_RoadTo2018 www.nams.org.nz

Road Infrastructure Management Forum, Waipuna Hotel, Auckland

www.rims.org.nz/

2017 22-23 Mar

Please send any contributions for Contractors’ Diary to kevin@contrafed.co.nz, or phone 09 636 5710 12 www.contractormag.co.nz

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YOUR GOUGH CAT MACHINE SALES TEAM - BY REGION

Northland Jimmy Brewin 021 860 074

East Cape, Hawkes Bay & Wairarapa Heath Stewart 029 247 3929

Auckland Bryce Mason 021 682 403 Waikato James West 029 299 8909

Nelson, Marlborough & West Coast Scott Bonnington 029 200 8382 Canterbury Matt Holloway 029 208 0423

Rotorua & Bay of Plenty Shayne Kennedy 029 200 7270

Otago Brent Duncan 029 222 4682

Central North Island Paul Roche 021 954 376

Southland Pete Shaw 021 277 6597

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CONTRACTOR ON THE COVER

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The Cat 330FL Excavator (pictured) is among the range of models available in the large excavator class, and is built to keep your productivity high and your owning and operating costs low. The machine’s C7.1 ACERT engine not only meets Tier 4 Final emission standards, but it does so with all the power, fuel efficiency, and reliability you need to be successful.

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the dual GPS technology that the 330FL features.

Poovan Naidoo, Gough Cat major accounts manager, says that Reid’s are already able to see the benefits that the 330FL is having for its operation.

“While [Reid’s] has outlaid additional capital expenditure for its Cat machine fleet, this is far outweighed by the savings in operating costs now being achieved,” Poovan says.

“Improving these efficiencies along with operator comfort and safety are some of the main focuses of the [Reid’s] business, and Cat F Series Excavators have a lot to offer in all these areas.”

John Russel, Gough Cat’s general construction industries manager, says that the features that Reid’s are most happy with in the 330FL are characteristic of the entire range of Cat F Series Excavators.

“When it comes to moving material quickly and efficiently, you need the groundbreaking power of Cat F Series excavators,” John says.

“There are also technological advancements that are unique to specific models; features that bring a way to achieve even higher benchmarks for grading efficiency.

“Cat Grade with Assist delivers efficiency and productivity gains. This system is the first operator assist feature with semi-autonomous grade control available as a factory integrated option on a Cat Excavator.”

Ross Reid has acquired 20 new Cat Excavators since January 2015, and is now transitioning its fleet to the new Cat F Series range.

Grade with Assist is available exclusively on the new Cat 323FL. It automates grade adjustments that are typically achieved by the operator using manual controls.

“Operators at all experience levels can reach target grade as much as 45 percent faster than traditional grading,” John says.

“It’s easy to use from the start. Integration with the familiar Cat grade control system, display and joysticks enables the operator to easily create simple 2D designs in the cab, press the auto button, and get to work.”

Operators can take advantage of the guidance features built into the base system without the need for data transfer infrastructure. For example, grade indication and audible alerts function while using assist technology to perform precision work — without the need for external positioning infrastructure.

Integration with the machine and hydraulics delivers full power to the cutting edge with precise control throughout the cut, enabling the operator to create fast, accurate grades with less effort.

System flexibility enables customers who work with complex grade plans to add Cat AccuGrade for additional 3D capability.

The best in operator comfort is available on all models of the F Series Excavator range. Operators enjoy automatic climate control, ventilated seat options, fully adjustable joystick controls, plenty of storage and an easy-to-see-and-navigate

monitor. Reinforced frames, special viscous mounts, roof lining and sealing limit vibration and noise.

“It’s a comfortable, safe environment that reduces operator fatigue while boosting productivity. After all, a happy operator is a productive one.”

On the larger 336F XE and 349F XE models, Cat Production Measurement now brings payload weighing into the cab. Loads are weighed as the boom swings and then displayed on the monitor – in real time – so you know exactly how much material is in the bucket and when trucks are filled to target. Site managers can wirelessly access data via the VisionLink web portal to measure production and monitor efficiency.

Product Link monitors and collects information about machine location, hours, fuel use and more. VisionLink® is the web-based interface that lets you access that data wirelessly from any device, anytime.

Finally, it’s now easier than ever to expand your excavator’s performance with a variety of attachments from Cat Work Tools: buckets, hammers, multi-processor pulverizers and shears, grapples and thumbs. With the Cat Pin Grabber coupler on the F-Series Excavators, you can quickly change attachments and switch from job to job.

For more on the range of Cat F Series Excavators now available from Gough Cat, visit www.goughcat.co.nz/f-series

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SEPTEMBER 2016 15

CONTRACTOR PROFILE

Mark Pizey at the coalface of health and safety He had a job that nobody could envy in an organisation going down the tubes, but Mark Pizey survived two tumultuous upheavals at state-owned collier Solid Energy to take over as the new chief guardian of quarrying and mining health and safety. By HUGH DE LACY. MARK PIZEY SUCCEEDS Scotsman Tony Forster as chief inspector extractives of the government industry health and safety agent WorkSafe New Zealand’s High Hazards Unit.

It’s a tough act to follow: Forster vacated the role when his three-year contract ran out last year, by which time he had won the industry’s ungrudging respect for generating the codes of practice so disastrously missing from the 1991 Health and Safety in Employment Act. Pizey takes over from Forster with a credible – some say world-leading – extractives H&S regime more-or-less in place, but still requiring honing.

It’s a far cry from his previous role as manager of the Pike River Mine when Solid Energy, still a viable entity at the time, bought it in the wake of the disaster that killed 29 men in 2010.

A less enviable management role is hard to imagine as the country no less than the extractives industries reeled at the revelations of gross safety mismanagement at the mine when it was still owned by listed company Pike River Coal.

And if that wasn’t enough, Pizey then faced the agonising meltdown of Solid Energy itself as global coking coal prices crashed from US$300/tonne to $50/tonne in the wake of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.

But the grim times are behind him as Pizey takes up the reins in a job he sees as “a continuation of the step-changes” that Forster implemented by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River tragedy.

He anticipates “no significant change at all” under his administration, but a continued drive to bed in the post-Pike changes.

Pizey has 37 years’ experience in both underground and opencast mining here and overseas, covering both the coal and the metalliferous industries.

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He holds a First-Class Mine Manager’s Certificate, an A-Grade Quarry Manager’s Certificate and an A-Grade Tunnel Manager’s Certificate, all built on formal training in geology, rock mechanics and excavation engineering.

High on Pizey’s agenda at the High Hazards Unit is the establishment of named managers for the country’s plethora of quarry sites, many of which are used only occasionally.

“We think probably something in the order of 35 percent of the quarries in the country have nominated managers, and it’s our intention over the next 12 months to address that with some vigour, with the intent of capturing all the operational quarries,” Pizey says.

He wants to include as many as possible of the “ephemeral” sites, as he calls them, that may work one week then not be used again for months.

“We should be able to focus in the near term on the areas that are working more consistently, then move on to the others later on.”

The certification of safety regulations is another ongoing process.

“We have a number of approved codes of practice that are in development at the moment.

“A schedule of three or four of them come up in this calendar year, and that isn’t by any means the end of it: there are more beyond that that will take us through next year as well,” Pizey says.

One of these codes relates to ground control, while others cover emergency preparedness, air quality and worker health.

“They’re all in the process of being approved prior to release, and that approval process includes the consultative phase with the industries,” he says.

Progress on Principal Hazard Management Plans within the

“One critical issue is not so much around the plans as the appointment of the electrical or mechanical superintendent.” mining industry has been positive, with the High Hazards Unit unaware of any sites that don’t have such plans in place.

“They vary in quality, of course,” Pizey adds, “and as necessary we will work with operators to bring them up to the standards that we deem acceptable.”

Similarly, Principal Control Plans are well developed at the majority of mining sites, though again the quality varies.

“One critical issue is not so much around the plans as the appointment of the electrical or mechanical superintendent.

“These positions may require more depths of experience within the industry – I don’t know yet, but we’ll get a feel for that,” Pizey says.

“The issue is that we have these specialist roles requiring certain qualifications.

“It’s a new imposition on the industry, so I’m aware that among those people who have been put forward for electrical supervisor roles for instance, there has been a relatively low pass-rate in the oral examinations.”

Pizey puts that down to “probably a lack of understanding of what the requirements are”.

Applicants may be technically competent, but translating that competence into what’s required under the Act is still a little unclear.

“That’s not surprising given this is the first cycle through such things, and people need to learn what they’re going to be asked in the oral exam.

“No doubt they’ll then be talking to their peers and saying, ‘You don’t need to know all that great a depth in some areas, but you’ll need more information on how you apply it in a given situation’,” he says.

On the question of core competencies relating to health and safety, Pizey believes a good manager should have skills above the purely H&S ones, especially in managing people, in administration and in technical areas.

Pizey concedes there is concern and uncertainty in the extractives industries about continuing professional development, with questions about what forms of learning will earn the required annual number of points.

“We’re doing our utmost to ensure that anybody who submits a logbook to us with a record of training is given accurate information as rapidly as we possibly can.

“In the fullness of time I expect to see this as a more automated exercise where you would file through a web-page of your own, and we can review that and give periodic updates, so you would know in real time whether what you submitted is creditworthy,” Pizey says.

The new chief on stage Mark Pizey took over the role of WorkSafe chief inspector extractives back in April. His first major ‘industry’ appearance was at the AQA/IoQ quarry conference. ALAN TITCHALL was there.

Mark Pizey’s first ‘public’ appearance was in front of the quarry industry and, whether he knew it or not, he was on review.

He spoke for 40 minutes, without notes, and with a softer attitude than his predecessor Tony Forster, whose Glaswegian-accented, solid-stare stance got the backs up of many quarry operators who were reeling under the weight of the new H&S regime dropped on them by the government.

It is difficult to pinpoint Pizey’s age, but he has certainly been around the traps judging by the number of jobs he has experienced in the extraction industry. His career started off in the Cornish mines, took a stint in an underground goldmine in Fiji for five years, another five years on the West Coast as a mine’s inspector in the 1990s, and he also worked for miner L&M Mining and with state miner Solid Energy, where he was general manager of Pike River Mine after the company bought it.

As he said: “It was a sobering experience at the site knowing there were 29 souls buried in there.”

After three months in the top High Hazard Unit job, three things are on Mark Pizey’s mind – Certificates of Competency (CoCs) and the fear of a last minute rush of renewals before the end-of-year deadline; a lack of policing resources within the WorkSafe agency (taking on the job he didn’t realise how poorly resourced WorkSafe was, with just three quarry inspectors); and the “outliers” still hiding from the agency’s quarry register.

There have been over 600 new CoCs issued already, but WorkSafe fears a rush of last minute renewals in December. Pizey says he would be a lot happier if the industry got its ‘A’ into ‘G’ and sorted

out the outstanding CoC renewals. He says he is unclear how WorkSafe will handle CoC non-compliance after January 1, but “there will be no extensions”.

He reckons there are a large number of quarry operations that rely on their geographical isolation to remain under the radar and he needs more “arms and legs” and industry collaboration to track them down.

Pizey made mention of the oral part of the CoC exams, saying they are “not something you should dread”.

“We are looking for confidence. Read the law and understand the legislation.”

Areas where those sitting are tripping up are answers to legislation, emergencies, leadership and management, and safety systems. Much has been made of the high B grade failure rate, but this is based on very low stats.

At the end of his presentation Pizey was questioned about the length of time a CoC manager can be absent from the site. If more than five days, the quarry must report to WorkSafe and email the name of a preapproved alternative, which can be someone who is a pre-approved CoC holder, or someone close to it. One manager can also look after multiple sites, as long as they are at each site at least once a day.

He also warned about hiring Australian certified staff under the TIMRA Tasman arrangement. “They must know our 7412 regulations and standards, otherwise employers are exposed to risk if things go wrong.”

Next year the quarrying regulations come under another review. “I don’t buy into the idea that quarrying and mining are the same, but there is some overlap, and some mining regulations that should cover quarries.”

SEPTEMBER 2016 17

CONTRACTOR CCNZ CONFERENCE

Smart contracting and celebrating success The 2016 Civil Contractors NZ conference went all out this year with the choice of venue being the SkyCity Conference centre in Auckland.

While it meant no big machines sitting outside at the entrance it did make for an upmarket venue which was matched with an upmarket programme.

The event attracted a record number of delegates – over 450 conference participants and over 40 trade exhibition stands.

New this year were three sessions of concurrent presentations. Each session had four business streams, providing delegates with a wide choice of 30 different presentations.

The conference’s success has been credited to the conference advisory group from the Auckland Branch, led by Stuart Robertson and Jarrad Reid. CCNZ says it will look at a similar collaborative model for future conferences.

Over the following pages we bring you a pictorial spread of the four-day conference in Auckland.

You can see more CCNZ Conference images at Contractor magazine’s YouTube channel.

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1. First line of defence – registration.

2. Simon Bridges is a popular MP to have up on stage at any CCNZ function.

3. Emergency services at SkyCity Conference centre were excellent.

4. Brian Warren (right) from Canterbury has been elected as president of CCNZ after Dave Connell (with wife Margo) from Waikato stepped down from the role after three years.

Brian has been vice president for the past year and has been on CCNZ’s national executive committee for the past two years.

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5. The serious stuff started on Thursday morning.

6. CCNZ chief Peter Silcock detailing another successful year for the relatively new association since the Contractors’ Federation merged with Roading NZ in 2014.

7. The Partners’ Programme hosted 21 women and a memorable trip to Waiheke Island.

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8. Dave Jewell, Bond Construction Management, on making ECI a success for your client.

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9. M aking use of exhibition space at Auckland conference prices is an art.

10-16. The president’s welcome and then the pub quiz – always a fun brain teaser, especially after a few drinks.

17. Marvellous what those smart phones can do – resulting pic is on page 24, top left.

18. A highlight of the business session was a forum called Business Challenges with a focus on company successions, handovers and sales. Presentations were made by Dave and Margo Connell; John Dobson from PWC; Tony Van Camp from Bayleys Business Sales; Graham Rodgers from Success Personnel; Hugh Johnstone from Johnstone Construction; and Caroline Boot from Plan A. 19. Janet Brothers on health.

20. Inspirational presentation by Dr Paul Wood.

21. How did they get that tabby in there?

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SEPTEMBER 2016 19

CONTRACTOR CCNZ CONFERENCE

CCNZ/Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards

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CCNZ/Hirepool Construction Excellence Award winners Projects with a value of less than $1 million was won by Groundfix for its work on the Waterview Tunnel.

For projects with a value of between $1 million and $10 million the winner was McConnell Dowell Constructors for its project work at Waitaki Dam. Projects with a value of between $10 million and $50 million was won by HEB Construction for its Wero Whitewater Park project in Auckland.

Projects with a value greater than $50 million was won by Downer NZ for the Holcim import cement terminals contract.

Excellence in the maintenance and management of assets was won by the Auckland Motorway Alliance.

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Z People Awards Emerging Leader Award was won by Hugh Johnstone from Johnstone Construction.

The Training Development Award winner was Joseph Beskalo from Ross Reid Contractors.

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Connexis Company Training Awards The Connexis Company Training and Development Awards recognise outstanding development of company staff and they are presented at the CCNZ National Awards each year.

Connexis says that in 2015 there were 47,500 people employed in the civil sector with a job growth rate of 6.2 percent between 2014 and 2015, while the total economy growth was 2.4 percent over that same period. The industry is continuing to grow and it is estimated that they will need approximately 19,600 new people by 2020 to meet workforce requirements.

The winner of the ‘Under $10 million Turnover’ award was Construction Contracts.

The winner of the ‘$10 million to $25 million Turnover’ award was the Texco Group.

The winner of the ‘$25 million plus Turnover’ award was Higgins Contractors.

PHOTOS CONTINUE ON PAGE 22

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1. Awards dinner.

2. Going, going gone. Every award dinner is supported by the Nationwide Equipment (NE) auction and a selection of Wacker Neuson gear up for grabs with the proceeds going to the Construction Safety Council and ConstructSafe. On stage is the lovely Paula Evans from NE. 3. Industry veterans. Award judge Steve Hart and Malcolm Abernethy, CCNZ executive officer.

4. Connexis winners. Helmut Modlik, CE Connexis; Kaye McGrail (Texco training coordinator); Graeme McNicholl (Texco contracts manager); David Howard (CCL director & general manager); Dale Scrimshaw (CCL director); John Bryant (Higgins Group support manager) and Ross McArthur (Civil Trades evaluator).

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CONTRACTOR CCNZ CONFERENCE

1. Hugh Johnstone from Johnstone Construction.

2. It’s not a conference or an awards dinner without sponsors and on stage is Gary Richardson, sales and marketing director at premium award sponsor Hirepool.

3. Joseph Beskalo from Ross Reid Contractors.

4. Hirepool award winners line-up.

5. HEB Construction won the award for a project with a value of between $10 million and $50 million.

6. McConnell Dowell Constructors took out the award for a project with a value of between $1 million and $10 million.

7. Downer line up after winning the award for a project with a value greater than $50 million.

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CONTRACTOR CCNZ CONFERENCE

Captured in the exhibition hall during the CCNZ 2016 conference Left: Carl Leenders, designer of Real Steel’s new trenching cage called ‘Foxbox’, which is made from high tensile steel imported from Sweden.

“The Hardox wear plate is specifically designed to be hard – it’s used to build digger buckets and the like,” he says.

“Along with being extremely strong the properties of the steel allow us to do fancy things with the engineering.”

The new cage featured in the August issue of Contractor and has a number of other innovations, including armoured struts that prevent the cage getting damaged when the digger moves it and the front edges are protected by mesh. Also, the pins on the struts are recessed, as was the ladder, to prevent accidental damage by the digger. Most significantly, the Foxbox is said to be much lighter than comparable products and Carl says this makes it more manoeuvrable on site.

Brent Petrie from Prime Pumps and Adrian Gozdz from Connexis.

Charles Fairburn, Contractor magazine, on Turner’s virtual Bathurst race track.

Brent Riggs from Hirepool and Josh Allan from Geotechnics.

Bryce Swainson from Synergy Positioning Systems and Brent Riggs from Hirepool.

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Sam Rye, machine control and survey technician, Synergy Positioning Systems. Next to him are the new GX55 models that have been released to the market recently – with the same screen but a much slimmer casing.

Malcolm (CCNZ executive) and Sue Abernethy filling out a Hot-Lap competition entry at the Contractor magazine stand.

Emma Gibson and Alex Cunningham from the Civil Share stand.

Don Wilkinson from Industrial Seatbelts at the Contractor magazine stand.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 25

CONTRACTOR CCNZ CONFERENCE

Flights of fancy invokes insanity It proved a good theme challenge for the imagination when it came to a costume party and the CablePrice Flight of Fancy themed dinner at the MOTAT Aviation Display Hall in Western Springs in Auckland attracted a crazy array of costumes.

We have left out the names of those caught in the photographer’s lens (or unashamedly posed?) in the name of good taste, but is that you Dave?

26 www.contractormag.co.nz

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SEPTEMBER 2016 27

CONTRACTOR CRANE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

A conference to remember ALAN TITCHALL has covered literally hundreds of conferences in his journalism career but says

the 2016 Crane Association Conference and Trade Show will be remembered as one of the industry’s most successful events.

contractor conference in the country by any means, but it is always one of the best run, and it is the first time since my days covering the travel and tourism industry that I have been greeted at registration with a goodie box (thanks to organiser Robyn Grooby).

I had forgotten how welcoming a box of nibbles and drinks is when you turn up expecting just another two days of ear bashing around health and safety regulations over the winter ‘conference’ season. And I have been covering conferences for so long now that I can even remember when they used to be fun.

The 2016 Crane Conference (the 42nd) was the biggest yet, since the first one which was also hosted in Nelson in 1975 when the legendary Max Whiley, founder of the Titan Group,

IT IS NOT THE LARGEST

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was president of the association.

These days most conferences have given away the obligatory powhiri and local blow-hard politician lathering compliments on the respective industry but the crane event got stuck in with the president’s (Scott McLeod) message and a very good presentation from the major sponsor. This year that sponsor was Underwriting Agencies of Australia (UAA), which has also committed to sponsoring the event for the next three years.

The company was founded in Newcastle, NSW some 40 years ago solely as an insurer of mobile cranes. Since then it has grown to become the largest crane and plant underwriter in Australia and New Zealand after setting up here just two years ago in May 2014.

The 2016 Crane Conference (the 42nd) was the biggest yet, since the first one in 1975, which was also hosted in Nelson when the legendary Max Whiley, founder of the Titan Group, was president of the association. The Originals Welcome Reception was sponsored by Titan Equipment/Terex and named after the association’s founding companies.

Its UAA regional manager south & NZ, Stan Alexandropoulos, was given the stage for 20 minutes and he did a good job of explaining why UAA has seized such a big market share over just two years. It works with all brokers for a start and takes a clear stance on the hidden risks associated with lift insurance coverage.

We didn’t quite escape the politician, who turned out to be articulate Michael Woodhouse, the minister of ‘too many things’ including Workplace Relations and Safety (WorkSafe).

In this capacity the bucks stops with him, although the frontline is WorkSafe and the agency in everyone’s faces these days.

Woodhouse is one of the best when it comes to industry engagement and he conceded that there is a “lot” he can learn

from the industry on how the H&S changes are going, and he says he is very sensitive about risk management and over-thetop red tape. He believes the agency has “the balance right”, but ultimately that will depend on the industry and WorkSafe.

He did however justify the recent WorkSafe advertisements, which have been criticised for ‘over-cooking’ H&S data.

The agency’s chief, Gordon McDonald, who has only been in the role since March 2014, is packing up and going back home to the UK at the end of this year.

Woodhouse also said that the new H&S laws don’t ask to eliminate all risk, only to mitigate and reduce it.

He also conceded that the changes that came in on April 4 this year were just a start. “We are not there by a long shot.

SEPTEMBER 2016 29

CONTRACTOR CRANE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

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There’s still quite a lot to do in the regulatory space.”

Interestingly, serious harm has gone down six percent since then; workplace deaths by 26 percent, but minor harm has gone up a bit – probably reflecting an increase in reporting.

Woodhouse said he has instructed WorkSafe to take an engagement approach to industry policing. “And I want to hear that WorkSafe came to you ‘announced’, with advice and a wish to understand your business.”

He even suggested sending him an email over ‘visits’ if you like. “I am keen that WorkSafe understands its role.”

A point in the new H&S regime that not many people know about is the fact an employee can be fined for breaching the act, although at this stage, says Woodhouse, WorkSafe has been told to take it easy on offenders in the initial year.

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1. Stan Alexandropoulos, UAA regional manager south & NZ; and Matthew Ziegler, UAA NZ sales manager.

2. Andrew Crane, National Equipment sales manager, CablePrice; Bernard McClelland, H&S manager, MJH Engineering; and Akira Miyazaki, Hitachi Sumitomo.

3. Liebherr stand.

4. HIAB Trucks’ stand 5. Allan Diaz, from ENZED. 6. Jan Coton, an association council member, and chief executive Rod Auton.

A healthy association The association’s financial results over the past year were described as ‘exceptional’, and built on two years of growth.

The Crane Association enjoyed a 35 percent increase in income over the past financial year and only a 15 percent increase in expenditure. While membership increased by 16 percent over the past year, subscription only contributed to 60 percent of the association’s income, with the rest coming from other avenues.

Back in 2014, subs contributed 76 percent of the association’s annual income. The main non-sub revenue streams are the conference, fuel scheme, insurance offering and the Crane Safety Manual published last year.

At the 2015 AGM a separate ‘lobby’ fund was set up and

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1-2. Michael Woodhouse, the minister of Workplace Relations and Safety (WorkSafe) impressed delegates with his talk of “engagement” and sensitivity about risk management and over-the-top red tape.

3. Lorna Harrison and Lance Riesterer from The Skills Organisation.

4. Andy Palmer (left) from Bridon Cookes and Jim Juno of Juno Civil with the new lightweight chain (pink) compared with the previous (unpainted) chain that is certified for the same lifting weight of 12.5 tonnes and with a safety rating of X4.

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“With EROAD’s system, you’re dealing with facts, as opposed to emotion. It’s an excellent tool.”

“We started using EROAD as we needed a more modern management tool. With EROAD’s system, you’re dealing with facts, as opposed to emotion. It’s an excellent tool.”

Jim Shankie, Fleet manager, Isaac Construction

0800 4 EROAD www.eroad.co.nz

SEPTEMBER 2016 31

CONTRACTOR CRANE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

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1. Allan Collins won Crane Trainer of the Year.

2. Bruce O’Brien is the new national manager for the CVIU and eager to work with the industry and break down negative barriers.

3. Robert Carden from Tidd Ross Todd collecting the Best Booth Award from Rod Auton CANZ CEO. 4. Rugby personality Matua Parkinson was a guest speaker sponsored by Liebherr.

5. Andrew Legge receiving his Crane Trainer of the Year award from Lance Reisterer, general manager, The Skills Organisation.

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financed through the ‘November’ renewals, and $25,701 is being held in a separate account.

The 2016 AGM was noted as one of the ‘quietest’ on record, and was brought to a close 20 minutes early.

President Scott McLeod credits the 10-member council for its solidarity and success over four decades. “We have a slow turnover of council members which is important to building ‘history’,” he says.

McLeod is very proud of the association’s new NZ Crane Safety Manual with its focus on ‘users’. This year they launched a safety website, wwwsafecrane.nz to complement the manual, which has sold very well.

“Compliancy is a fast moving beast and the association does a lot of work on keeping members up with the play,” he says.

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6. Grant Moffatt from HEB Construction with the Crane Company of the Year award.

The industry is facing regulatory changes scheduled for 2018 when the old rules will be rewritten and crane operators will be faced with new practice guidelines, a system similar to the certificates of competency (CoC) on top of the National Certificate required in other industries. The association says it is making sure it is actively involved in the process.

McLeod says the Australian industry licensing system has not proved effective as it is too broad and not machine specific, and would not work here.

A new CoC system here also needs to be a sign-off to crane types not weight of lift.

Over recent years the association has worked with the NZTA to reduce road user charges for some vehicles by as much as 35 percent.

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1-2. The award dinner was noted for great food and a good band.

3. Association president Scott McLeod.

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4. The 2017 Crane Conference will be held in Rotorua.

16/08/16 2:59 pm

SEPTEMBER 2016 33

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

STOPPING A SLIP slip-sliding away

This massive slip took ingenuity, logistics and careful planning to clear and stabilise.

RICHARD SILCOCK reports on how working safely was paramount on the highly unstable ground conditions.

FOLLOWING A NUMBER of slips since last winter and another

massive one in February this year, concerns were raised over the stability of the hillside which was displaying deep fissures some 100 metres above the popular Otaki Gorge Road which follows the Otaki River and leads to the recreational Tararua Forest Park in the lower North Island.

Large rocks and slip debris were also hanging precariously above the road necessitating the road be closed immediately for safety reasons and it has, up until recently, remained closed. It was only after extensive earthworks, stabilisation of a high bluff and over 70,000 cubic metres of debris and earth material had been removed that the road was reopened and access regained.

The Otaki River runs from its headwaters on the western side of the Tararua Ranges, through a deep gorge, out across a fertile coastal plain dotted with market gardens and orchards, to the Tasman Sea. The upper reaches of the river and park 34 www.contractormag.co.nz

are popular with hunters, trampers, campers, recreational trout fishermen, school groups and day-trippers who gain access via the unsealed Otaki Gorge Road which follows the river through predominantly thick native bush and forest. There is a privately owned house, a DOC ranger’s house and various drop-off points along the river for kayaking and rafting operators.

Group Infrastructure Services manager with the Kapiti Coast District Council (KCDC), Sean Mallon, says the council was keen to clear the slip in an area that is known locally as the ‘Blue Bluff’ as soon as was feasibly possible to allow access for the various interested parties.

“We worked with a team of experts, including geologists, surveyors, consulting engineers and the contractor to assess what could be done in the short and long-term to stabilise the bluff, remove the slip material and restore access to the area.”

Physical works began in April, with Goodman Contracting appointed to carry out the work.

Above: View from the top of the bluff with the river and road some 110 metres below.

Left: Komatsu excavator at work on part of the slip

SEPTEMBER 2016 35

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

Excavators at work clearing debris from the site. It was only after extensive earthworks, stabilisation of a high bluff and over 70,000 cubic metres of debris and earth material had been removed that the road was reopened and access regained.

“It has been a massive job and has taken the good part of three and a half months to clear the road and stabilise the bluff face due to the enormity of the slip and the steep and difficult terrain,” says Sean. “Work included not only the removal of earth and debris, but also the cutting of wide batters into the bluff face and reducing the angle of the slope so that any future slips will be minimised.”

For Vaughan Goodman, project manager for the physical works, it was an exercise in logistics, ingenuity, communication with all parties and managing the issues associated with working safely in an extremely tight and precarious site.

“As the Otaki Gorge Road is very narrow and perched high above the river, access and safety was an issue,” says Vaughan. “We could only use relatively small equipment due to the narrow cut and unstable terrain which is weak, fractured greywacke with argillite layers through it. To compound the 36 www.contractormag.co.nz

matter, earthquake faults also run through the area.

“Due to this and the height and steepness of the terrain, the unstable sections of the hillside were also subsiding under their own weight. To ensure very little debris ended up in the river below as we worked to remove material and create the benches we had to create an earth chute at the top of the bluff and a ‘catch-pit’ at road level. The catch-pit held around 2500 cubic metres of material which took two days to fill and oneand-a-half days to load out.

“At the top of the bluff, which was accessed by cutting through densely forested adjacent land, we were working some 200 metres above the river removing the unstable section of the bluff and cutting four, seven-metre wide benches which were at 35, 25, 25 and 25-metre intervals from the top,” he says.

“While the winter conditions were late in coming this year, heavy rain slowed construction of the batters and made

Above: An excavator loading a 40-tonne dump truck, with the slip face on right. Large rocks and slip debris were also hanging precariously above the road necessitating the road be closed immediately

Top: Fissures in the ground above the bluff were numerous.

Above: Gorge road after the slip material cleared away.

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CONTRACTOR PROJECT

Above: View from the top of slip area after it had been cleared. Excavators (obscured) are working below cutting a bench.

Right: The benches being formed on the bluff face. Once the slip material had been removed, the bluff stabilised and the batters completed, the road was graded and rolled. The vegetation was cut back, the weeds sprayed and three kilometres of the drainage system checked. The accesses to the benches were retained to allow for any future maintenance of the bluff.

Top: The ‘restored’ bluff after completion of works. The equipment used for the job included five excavators, one of which was a long-reach, 20-tonne Hyundai 210, three 40-tonne dumpers, a Cat D6T dozer and a grader.

handling of the material difficult. We had to carefully monitor both the slip face and the new cuttings during construction to ensure the safety of the team as further slippage was ongoing.”

Fifty-five thousand cubic metres of the cut material was dump-trucked to a nearby forestry block at Cyrus Hills for the construction of skid sites and access roads.

Once the slip material had been removed, the bluff stabilised and the batters completed, the road was graded and overlaid with standard AP40 from the Waitohu Quarry at Otaki. It was then layer graded and rolled. The vegetation was cut back, the weeds sprayed and three kilometres of the drainage system checked. The accesses to the benches were retained to allow for any future maintenance of the bluff.

The equipment used for the job included five excavators, one of which was a long-reach, 20-tonne Hyundai 210, three 40-tonne dumpers, a Cat D6T dozer and a grader.

38 www.contractormag.co.nz

“Goodman’s have done a fantastic job having been involved with this site since the first slip,” says Neil Williams, Roading Network Performance team leader with the KCDC. “We were very pleased we were able to engage a local contractor with the necessary skills, plant and knowledge of the terrain to undertake this work from design through to completion.

“Unfortunately there is no guarantee a slip will not happen again, but this work will help mitigate severe slips such as this one, and together with ongoing management of the slope we hope to reduce any future road closures. We will keep an eye on the ‘active’ area of the bluff and we are in the process of setting up a monitoring programme that’ll help ensure safe access to the forest park in the future.”

The road reopened to traffic in mid-July with the cost of the project around $500,000, with just under half of that coming from the NZ Transport Agency’s emergency works fund.

Gorge road after the slip material cleared away. The road reopened to traffic in mid-July with the cost of the project around $500,000.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 39

CONTRACTOR TECHNOLOGY

Managing road assets Road asset management is about managing existing roads as an integrated asset in the most cost-effective manner. RICHARD SILCOCK talks with some of those involved with RAM contracts.

Pothole maintenance of road surface and entering in central RAM database using a Tablet.

40 www.contractormag.co.nz

Resurfacing a footpath using ‘long-life’ concrete.

THESE DAYS, WITH so many large road building projects under construction it is sometimes easy to forget that maintaining the existing road network is equally as important, though perhaps less newsworthy.

“Road asset management [RAM] can be defined as providing and achieving a level of road life in the most cost-effective manner,” says Tony Porter, Opus International Consultants global strategic advisor for Road Asset Management. “To meet this goal it’s been essential to implement a strategy that is both robust and sustainable.

“For many road asset owning authorities, the traditional means of managing the asset has resembled a facilities management approach, with a ‘find-it and fix-it’ approach dependent on the budget available and the level of service.

There has been, up until quite recently very little thought given by authorities to minimise whole-of-life-costs in their road network,” he says. “Yet roads constitute one of the largest assets of any country, and every dollar spent on the physical infrastructure in excess of that necessary equates to less dollars being available for other road improvements and other public services.

“Through planning and adopting good RAM policies benefits, such as reduced life-cycle maintenance costs, consistent levels of service and performance predictability, lower financial and operational costs can be achieved.”

Tony says that linked to performance-based (PBC), or network outcomes (NOC) contracting models, where the contractor is responsible for meeting (or exceeding) specified performance indicators, whole-of-life road maintenance is enhanced through: more consistent and improved levels of

service, allocation of risk, spread of resources beyond the controlling authority, cost certainty, and a separation of the governance authority role from the operational/activities contractor role.

“A typical PBC results in significant price reduction with savings of eight to 20 percent. Variations can result however, depending on the nature or condition of the existing road, ie, unpaved roads will generally deteriorate more quickly with the KPIs generally easier to specify. By comparison, paved roads in poor to fair condition may need to move from upgrading through to an ongoing maintenance programme, while roads in excellent condition may require relatively small (if any) investment.

“These types of contracts require a sound understanding by both the authority and the contractor to deliver timely maintenance interventions and workmanship that meets a specified service level for the least cost.”

Here in New Zealand the NZ Transport Agency’s RAM policy is led by ‘customer’ levels of service as defined in the One Network Road Classification.

“A sector-wide, road maintenance and operations review some 18 months ago resulted in most of our maintenance activities being delivered through NOC contracts,” says David Darwin, outcomes delivery manager for NZTA. “These [contracts] target the delivery of activities to ensure ‘customers’ receive a fit-for-purpose level of service delivered by the right activity, at the right level, in the right place and at the right time.

“When considering what ‘treatment’ to apply we take a short, medium and long term view and consider the options, ie, SEPTEMBER 2016 41

CONTRACTOR TECHNOLOGY

continued maintenance, partial rehabilitation and resurfacing, or a low-cost, short-term solution followed by significant capital investment. In reaching a decision, we calculate the costs of the maintenance and renewal works of each option and select the one with the best cash flow to determine the best long-term solution in relation to whole-of-life cost.

“In recent years we have also instituted a more durable road design specification, such as better quality aggregate which has resulted in a reduction in maintenance activity, while also improving skid resistance.

“In making these advances, we look to our contractors to deliver more effectively and efficiently, and we believe the NOC style of contract rewards suppliers who develop and implement better practices for the benefit of our customers.”

Mike Manion, road maintenance business development manager for Higgins Contracting, says the depth of asset management service depends on the client’s needs and capability.

“Higgins brings a robust understanding of materials and performance which we use in making our RAM decisions. We use RAM and RAM Contractor applications as the platform to manage this type of work and have developed a strong capability in-house,” he says. “Our goal is to obtain data capture as close as possible to the actual road in question, with our maintenance teams equipped with mobile devices which enable a more accurate data collection on work identified and completed.

“At a contract level we are able to analyse this data and this helps us to make better decisions in terms of efficient maintenance activities and better long-term outcomes.”

Mike says Higgins has modified its RAM systems, refining them to meet the needs of NZTA’s new contract model and is delivering tangible cost savings and whole-of-life benefits.

“For example, as the lead contractor on three NOC contracts – Bay of Plenty East, Manawatu/Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay – we are achieving significant whole-of-life savings,” he says.

Fulton Hogan’s chief executive, Robert Jones says the new

Applying aggregate as part of a road upgrade.

42 www.contractormag.co.nz

Maintenance of a road surface using GPS technology to trim the grader blade angle and depth.

NZTA NOCs are a positive step forward in managing road assets.

“The holistic view being applied to each contract by Fulton Hogan, both in New Zealand and Australia, is allowing for smarter and more cost-effective solutions,” he says.

“As an industry we have a long history of working with authorities to solve difficult challenges and we apply this collaboration in meeting and managing today’s and tomorrow’s [future] infrastructure.

“We need, however, to explore how we as an industry can harness the expertise across the sector so that we can provide solutions using a broader range of contract types. Models such as those used on SCIRT provide cost effective, end-to-end solutions by combining the input from planners, designers, contractors and the asset owners to deliver outcomes that are based on actual need and affordability.”

The Transport Agency’s David Darwin agrees that innovation across the sector is key to delivering improved RAM services.

“We are always keen to consider innovation that has been tested through an objective assessment process. We should all systematically review performance against plan, identify opportunities, implement best practice and improve the value-added component.”

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CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Working together for success PETER SILCOCK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND

ONE OF THE QUIET HIGHLIGHTS of last week’s CCNZ “Smart Contracting” Conference was the launch of the WorkSafe Excavation Safety Good Practice Guide. Looking at the long list of acknowledgements inside the front cover of the guide quickly tells us that it has been a collaborative effort and that real people who drive excavators and regularly work in excavations have been involved in its production.

The fact that the Good Practice Guide was published by WorkSafe is important because it means that we can have confidence that it is what the regulator expects. More importantly though, the involvement of Civil Contractors New Zealand and a number of our experienced members should give everyone the confidence that this is a real world, practical, well-written and well-illustrated guide.

“The involvement of Civil Contractors New Zealand and a number of our experienced members should give everyone the confidence that this is a real world, practical, well-written and well-illustrated guide.”

It is a great publication with extensive use of line drawings which clearly demonstrate the key principles. It is a musthave for all civil contractors and that is why CCNZ has sent a copy to every one of our members. If you would rather have it electronically then it can also be downloaded at bit.ly/ WorkSafeExcavationSafety.

I want to congratulate everyone who was involved in the production of the guide for coming together and sharing their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the wider industry.

That joining together to have a strong voice for contractors both in the branches and nationally is one of Civil Contractors New Zealand’s key purposes for being. We coordinate the industry view and engage people with practical on-the-ground knowledge and experience that can contribute to things like this guide but also central and local government policies, regulations and laws.

The quality of CCNZ’s representation and advocacy is directly related to our knowledge of the industry. We get that knowledge from mixing with and talking to members at events like our conference or branch meetings or by members telling us what their thoughts and ideas are by phone or email.

Many of our members say it is only by getting involved that you get the most out of the organisation. It seems that those people who contribute the most are the ones that also learn a lot from other people and as a result develop their own thoughts and businesses along the way.

More and more the contracting industry is about relationships – how you can work together with other contractors, with clients and with engineers and designers to create great results, whether that is a good practice guide or a high quality piece of civil infrastructure.

At the conference we acknowledged one person who has over a long period shared his knowledge and expertise for the good of the wider industry. It was great to see Joe Edwards awarded a Life Membership of CCNZ. Joe has spent all his working life in the industry (more recently with McConnell Dowell). He has served in roles in the Auckland branch and nationally for 16 years and continues to provide detailed comments to us on various health and safety issues particularly those related to tunnelling.

Joe is a very humble man who is highly respected throughout the civil construction and associated industries.

He is a strong team player and is a dedicated and passionate advocate for the industry and of members working together and sharing information.

The reality is that we can all learn from each other. A great example of that was the sessions at our conference this year which drew on the knowledge and experience of our own members who provided short sharp presentations on subjects like “Fatigue – more than just feeling tried”, “ECI – Making it a success for your client”, “Enhancing project value through constructability”, “Improving outcomes with worker competency on moving plant” and many others. These were sessions where a member provided other members with good practical knowledge and experience that has been used successfully in construction businesses.

I know that many conference attendees went away having learned a lot from other members. That is the real power of our organisation.

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CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Precast concrete – a strong future ROB GAIMSTER, CEMENT & CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NZ (CCANZ), NZ READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION (NZRMCA) WITH APPROPRIATE DESIGN, the use of correct materials and

manufacturing processes, all overseen by skilled personnel, precast concrete offers value add to the strength and durability synonymous with concrete. Manufactured in a dedicated off-site facility, precast concrete allows for tight quality control measures, while its portability is ideal for transport and rapid erection on-site.

PRECAST NZ: Formed in June 1999, Precast New Zealand Inc (Precast NZ) is the association that represents the interests of manufacturers in this increasingly important sector of the concrete industry. Precast NZ acts on behalf of around 20 precast companies operating some 30 precast concrete facilities that account for over 80 percent of the factory produced precast concrete.

Along with its members, Precast NZ is supported by a growing number of associate members who supply to or service the precast concrete sector.

Amongst a range of recent undertakings Precast NZ has developed a Plant Certification Programme, as well as publishing a good practice guide for the handling, transportation and erection of precast concrete.

PLANT CERTIFICATION: The Precast NZ Plant Certification Programme provides specifiers, contractors and their clients with confidence that products purchased from a certified plant are backed by an established operator with appropriate facilities, quality assurance programmes and experienced staff.

Precast NZ executive director Rod Fulford points out that regardless of application – architectural, structural, cladding, civil or other – purchasing from a Precast NZ certified plant ensures that the product has been manufactured at a facility with quality systems audited by an independent body. Precast NZ certified plants have invested heavily in modern equipment, oversight procedures, and staff training with the intention of delivering quality.

While cheaper alternatives may be available, cost should never be the only consideration. Recent history has demonstrated that when contractors accept the lowest price, issues with delivery and performance can cause significant disruption and additional cost.

46 www.contractormag.co.nz

A comparison can be made between the Precast NZ Plant Certification Programme and the New Zealand Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NZRMCA) Plant Audit Scheme. An experienced builder is unlikely to purchase ready mixed concrete from an uncertified plant.

Rod believes that a similar approach should be adopted when purchasing precast concrete products, and suggests specifying that all precast concrete be sourced from a Precast NZ certified plant.

INDUSTRY GUIDE: One mechanism Precast NZ uses to best serve the interests of its members and promote the uptake of precast concrete construction is the development of good practice guidance documents.

Industry Guide – Handling, Transportation and Erection of Precast Concrete aims to give practical assistance in relation to precast products, covering the steps from manufacture through to final placement.

The guide primarily considers precast concrete as used in buildings, but it may be referred to for handling, transportation and erection of all precast concrete elements where appropriate.

It does not take priority over the Building Code, New Zealand Standards, or approved Codes of Practice.

The Building Code and various design standards cover requirements for structures in service. This guide is to assist with the processes prior to incorporation of precast concrete elements into the structure.

It covers matters from manufacture through handling, transportation and erection. The available range of precast concrete products is large, and is used in a myriad of ways. This guide does not cover all circumstances.

All procedures described in the guide should be performed under the control of a competent person with appropriate training.

Download a free copy from the Precast NZ website: www.precastnz.org.nz.

COMMENT CONTRACTOR

Fear of punishment won’t work KEVIN HASKINS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF BWARE

KEVIN HASKINS, chief executive of Bware (Business and Workplace Activity Reporting Engine – a health and safety cloud management service set up in 2002), says the fear of the consequences of contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 will only achieve minimum legal compliance.

“We’re getting calls from people who are worried about whether they’re in the gun or not, and what their responsibilities and accountabilities are as individual persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs).

“While the big stick approach will achieve short-term changes, it is distracting managers from building a truly positive bottom up safety culture.

“At the moment it is all about punishment avoidance, and not enough about the benefits that a culture of safety offers every single person in the workplace.”

Haskins says the old health and safety legislation was very vertical because PCBUs only had to worry about their direct employees and contractors. The new legislation, however, requires all parties in a mutual relationship to consult, cooperate and coordinate in respect to their overlapping duties, which in theory should be a positive development.

After compliance comes cultural change, says Haskins, which is more deep seated and enduring and the best way to cut down on workplace incidents and injuries and health issues.

He suggests that to comply with new legislation, as well as ensure that the workplace really is safer for all concerned, companies should consider taking these steps:

Understand the risks associated with the work “Establish a Hazard and Risk Register that will give you a better understanding of the risks – the level of risk and the likelihood of the risk occurring. Rather than having to concern yourself with managing all significant hazards (as was the case under the old legislation), a risk management model allows you to prioritise the high to critical risks.

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Verify workers’ competency “Once your business risks are known, this will give you a better understanding of the training needs of your workers.

“Training is the next important step to achieving cultural change. Evaluate what training each individual on the team has had – don’t take it for granted.

“Over-estimating competency is mistake that can lead to under supervision that puts your workers at risk. Make sure you can verify the competency of your workers, and that each person understands the risks associated to the task or equipment that they are using.

“Ensure your people know how to manage those risks and that they are carrying out the job appropriately to the correct standards either set by yourself as the employer, or to WorkSafe NZ or industry guidelines and standards.”

Win worker participation and engagement “Involve your workers in health and safety. It’s not just about ticking the boxes. Do it for the right reasons! Get the whole group – for example everybody who is working on a construction or building site – talking together, collaborating and consulting.

“Make sure everybody is on the same page and that they have the right plant and process to do the job safely – you will save time and won’t have to do things twice.”

When an accident occurs, talk about it “When an accident occurs, even a small one, talk about it and how it might have been avoided. People are your biggest asset and injuries cost your business money, and your workers pain and discomfort.

“No matter what systems and practices you have in place, incidents and injuries will and do happen, so don’t hide it; talk about it, learn from it and ensure that the same mistakes don’t get repeated,” says Haskins.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 47

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Update from the Transport Agency TOMMY PARKER, GROUP MANAGER, HIGHWAYS, NZTA

I’VE JUST RETURNED FROM a period of time over in the UK – this time away was part work, part spending time with family and friends.

While in the UK, I spent some time at Highways England and attended the UK Roads Conference. This has been most useful in shaping our thinking in some areas and I look forward to sharing more about the ideas this visit has sparked in my next column.

In the meantime, we, and the rest of the sector, are into our next financial year and we are gearing up to deliver what I could term a significant programme of works.

To put this in perspective, looking at the Safe Roads Alliance alone, we already have four projects underway, but are expecting to have 120 project phases (business case, pre-implementation and construction) complete or underway by the end of 2016/17.

The Safe Roads Alliance is responsible for fast-tracking much of our ‘Safer roads and roadsides’ programme under the government’s ‘Safer journeys’ strategy.

This is a lot of work, and a lot of contracts, particularly when you add the work we’ve already got underway in the Roads of National Significance programme.

Over recent years, we have been keeping an eye on ensuring a healthy supplier market. We are very aware that a strong contracting industry can only be good for the economy – and for us here at the Transport Agency of course. Without a strong contracting industry, we can’t deliver what we need to.

The large number of project phases the Alliance is committed to delivering is what I see as a great opportunity for those contractors who are keen to grow.

At the recent Civil Contractors NZ conference, our Project Services team delivered a session on the forward programme and how we are organising ourselves in the way we procure it.

This focused on the programmes we published and encouraging our suppliers to get involved, including outlining some of the things we’re working on such as a Competitive Early Contractor Involvement delivery model, developing an improved approach to managing panel contracts, and improvements in the way we interact with suppliers through our Supplier Relationship Plan.

There are a few boxes to be ticked to be one of our contractors – for good reason. Transport is one of the largest government spends, and we’re the custodian of that. We need to ensure this investment is spent wisely, with either minimal risk or the option of taking a considered risk.

Prequalification is an acknowledgement of your qualifications and experience, and it saves time and effort in the tender process.

Some months ago, we moved to ISNetworld (www.isnetworld.com) to help us manage our prequalification system.

Overall, as a sector we have a lot to gain from using ISN. It will be used as the regular communication channel going forward for our Zero Harm and prequalification communications. It allows you to house all your company’s safety training records, certifications and 48 www.contractormag.co.nz

“One of our major areas of focus for this year is resilience of our network.

Resilience is about preserving and quickly restoring access to the network in the face of unplanned events.” training videos; helps identify potential gaps in written health and safety programmes to drive continuous improvement; and allows you to prequalify with a number of differing hiring clients. We are continuing to monitor and review usability and support from the ISN service to ensure we are getting the benefits we expect.

Recently, Civil Contractors NZ raised with me concerns that our move to ISN meant some of our smaller contractors were finding an element of financial uncertainty.

To this end, we have reviewed our arrangements, and have taken the opportunity to commit to an extension of the period for reimbursement of subscriptions for organisations with up to 24 employees, through until the end of 2016/17. We have also decided that any previously prequalified supplier can retain their ability to tender for our work, with any subsequent award of contract being conditional on ISN registration, through until 2016/17.

Please talk to our Project Services team if you have any queries or would like to discuss ISN further.

Talking of Zero Harm, our Zero Harm team recently announced we have registered ConstructSafe test centres in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. This means if you are working on one of our projects, it’s now easier to take the ConstructSafe test.

ConstructSafe is an initiative run by the Construction Safety Council. It provides a consistent and transparent way to independently check people are competent and safe to work at our sites.

From July 1 this year, the scheme became the principal requirement for new and existing projects and contractors.

We have a 12-month implementation plan, to enable our contractors to plan how people can access the testing and to ensure capability to meet the Tier 1 (Foundation Health and Safety) competency standard.

To find out more, go to www.constructionsafetycouncil. co.nz/constructsafe.html.

And on the theme of safety, you may have heard the news that the Transport Agency is establishing a Centre of Excellence for Road Safety – this process is being led by Harry Wilson, whom many of you will know as our regional director for Waikato.

This is about maximising the impact of our activities by working really closely with our road safety partners to deliver better outcomes for New Zealand using all the mechanisms that are available to us – including our roads and roadsides, vehicles, drivers and road rules.

We have too many people who die or are seriously injured on our roads. A simple fact of road safety is that almost all the time we’re not talking about bad people or bad drivers; we’re talking about ordinary people who make a simple mistake which has tragic consequences.

The first step through the Centre of Excellence will be developing and implementing an organisational improvement programme for road safety – this will integrate our safety work programme – appropriately focusing, prioritising and aligning road safety activity for our organisation in a way that will resonate and deliver results for New Zealanders, so watch this space.

Finally, one of our major areas of focus for this year is resilience of our network. Resilience is about preserving and quickly restoring access to the network in the face of unplanned events.

We’ve been tackling this for some time: we are well advanced in seismic strengthening key bridges; have well established and internationally recognised avalanche control and rock fall management initiatives in place; have improved scour protection programmes in place for at-risk roads; and have been working on building greater resilience and better alternative routes into our network. In conjunction with our local government partners and Lifelines groups, we have resilience emergency response plans across New Zealand.

We are now putting increased momentum behind this work.

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Just some of our deliverables include up-to-date, field-tested business continuity plans for each region; consistent, fieldtested emergency response places at every level of our network; an expanded programme of targeted resilience improvements and maintenance activities; an online interactive GIS tool for detour maps, and closer links with local government and New Zealand Lifelines.

This work will result in an increasingly robust network with improved alternative routes, decreased recovery time when it comes to network outages and, ultimately, customers who are better informed about our network when it comes to getting from A to B.

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To ind out how StreetPrint™ can enhance your project, see www.streetprint.co or call ASCO on 0508 222 002.

SEPTEMBER 2016 49

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Prosecutions and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 MALLORY WARD, SOLICITOR, KENSINGTON SWAN’S HEALTH AND SAFETY TEAM

THE HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ACT 2015 (the Act), which came into force in April of this year, has introduced significantly greater penalties than the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 that it replaced, whether for persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) and workers, or other individuals who fail to comply with health and safety standards.

Unsurprisingly, given the increased liability under the new Act, there has been much speculation about which duties WorkSafe New Zealand (the New Zealand health and safety regulator), will focus on under the new Act, and who is most likely to be prosecuted when something goes wrong.

Of course, certain industries are more likely to come under WorkSafe’s spotlight than others. The construction industry has been categorised as a ‘high risk’ industry and will therefore continue to be a particular focus area for WorkSafe under the new Act. However, it is unclear which particular duties WorkSafe is likely to pursue prosecutions for when breaches occur. It is also unclear whether some entities will be given more slack than others, including not-for-profits and companies or individuals with excellent health and safety records.

WorkSafe’s prosecution policy WorkSafe has recently released an updated Prosecution Policy which sets out guidance on its approach to enforcement of the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

The policy describes the process that WorkSafe will follow when making a decision as to whether or not to prosecute a duty holder – including the ongoing review of charges, its approach to disclosure and its approach to press discussions and withdrawal of charges.

However, although the Prosecution Policy describes the factors that WorkSafe will consider in making a decision about whether or not to bring a prosecution, the policy contains very little guidance on who and what WorkSafe will prosecute under the Act.

Australian case law Because the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 is closely modelled on the Australian health and safety legislation, Australian case law can be a useful tool when predicting how the new Act will be interpreted and applied in the New Zealand courts.

Interestingly, some recent cases in the Australian courts have demonstrated that every duty holder will be equally on the hook, regardless of the nature of their duty, their excellent health and safety record, or their not-for-profit status. We will take a brief look at two of those decisions.

Boland v Trainee and Apprentice Placement Service Inc [2016] SAIRC 14 (27 May 2016) In a recent decision by the South Australia Industrial Relations Court, a labour hire company was convicted and fined $12,000 50 www.contractormag.co.nz

“The construction industry has been categorised as a ‘high risk’ industry and will therefore continue to be a particular focus area for WorkSafe under the new Act.” for failing to comply with its duty to consult, coordinate and cooperate with other PCBUs in relation to health and safety.

This duty applied because the labour hire company and at least one other PCBU had a health and safety duty in relation to the same matter.

The labour hire company had placed a trainee worker with a roofing contractor. In order to ensure the health and safety of the workers that it placed and to understand the risks to its employees, the company had three field officers who attempted to attend the various sites every eight weeks.

Unfortunately, when carrying out work for the roofing contractor, the trainee worker was significantly injured when some guttering that he was working on came into contact with high-voltage power lines.

The court acknowledged that the labour hire company had an awareness of work health and safety issues on the host employer’s site. It also acknowledged that the labour hire company had a difficult task and that it must have been necessary for it to rely upon those on site to do the right thing.

Despite this, the labour hire company was convicted for failing to, so far as was reasonably practicable, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with the host employer in relation to the worker placed on site.

The court explained that the host employer’s job safety analysis audit on the site was inadequate, as there were no safety measures in place on the site. It found that, in breach of the duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate, the labour hire company had entirely relied upon those on site to comply with health and safety obligations.

Even though the court found the labour hire company to be an ‘exemplary employer’ that had been in business since 1997, had no prior convictions and was a not-for-profit organisation, the court convicted the company of the health and safety offence and fined it $12,000. Interestingly, the failure to consult, cooperate and coordinate was not articulated as a particular of a breach of another primary health and safety duty – rather it was a standalone charge faced by the company.

This case is also interesting because it highlights the fact that health and safety duties will often overlap, and where they do it is important that each duty holder consults, cooperates and coordinates with other duty holders in respect of their overlapping duties.

Another interesting case is:

McKie v Al-Hasani and Kenoss Contractors Pty Ltd (in liq) [2015] ACTIC. That case, which was heard before the Australian Capital Territory Industrial Magistrates Court, was brought in response to an incident where an employee of a family owned construction company died from an electric shock when the tip-truck he was operating made contact with a power line.

The project manager for the company was prosecuted for failing to exercise due diligence as an ‘officer’ under the health and safety legislation by ensuring that the company was fulfilling its health and safety obligations. The company that employed the deceased employee was also prosecuted on the basis that it had a health and safety duty and failed to comply with that duty, exposing an individual to risk of death.

The court ultimately found that the project manager for the company did not fall within the definition of officer under the Australian legislation. The court said that whether or not a director will be an ‘officer’ will depend on an assessment of their role in the company as a whole, rather than a particular function or project that they are involved in. While the project manager was responsible for specific contracts entered into by the company, the court was not satisfied that he had sufficient control of the company or that the decisions he made were ones that affected a substantial part of the company’s business.

The company, on the other hand, was convicted and later fined $1.1 million (out of a possible maximum fine of $1.5 million).

The court justified the substantial fine by explaining that the accident could have been averted had a number of relatively

simple safety measures been implemented and because the company had tried to obfuscate the Australian safety regulator’s investigation.

In New Zealand, the test for who will be an ‘officer’ under the Act is slightly different to the Australian test. In short, a person will be an ‘officer’ if they have the ability to significantly influence the management of the business or undertaking.

WorkSafe has indicated that this will only capture people who hold very senior leadership positions in the business – for example, chief executive officers.

Despite this difference, the McKie case is still useful in that it suggests that the issue of whether someone is an officer will be viewed by the courts in New Zealand as a question of fact, to be determined on a case-by-case basis. It will also be a useful case to refer to for individuals who merely have significant influence over a particular project (as opposed to the wider business of a company itself).

The case suggests that such individuals might not have influence over a sufficient amount of the business to meet the threshold of being an officer of the company. However, each case will turn on its facts. It will still be important for individuals in these ‘marginal’ situations to carefully consider with others in their company (and take independent advice if necessary) as to whether they might be deemed to be an officer under the Act by virtue of their role.

Finally. the McKie case indicates that if WorkSafe follows the example set by the Australian regulator, it is likely to have no problem prosecuting individual ‘officers’ alongside their companies, where WorkSafe considers that multiple duty holders have breached the Act.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 51

CONTRACTOR MOTORING

VOLKSWAGEN still the king of shifting things CAMERON OFFICER reviews the latest incarnation of a cargo transporting classic from Volkswagen.

Volkswagen Transporter SWB 4MOTION Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel Transmission: 7-speed DSG automatic Power: 132kW Torque: 400Nm 0-100km/h: N/A Max speed: N/A Fuel economy: 7.5L/100km (manual version) C02 emissions: 197g/km Price: $63,990

52 www.contractormag.co.nz

IT’S EASY TO DISCONNECT the modern day Volkswagen Transporter with the Type 2 Kombi of old, although take out the familiar rickety bed, gas hob and Formica table of the highly-regarded campervan and you have, in essence, the same workhorse that was once upon a time a common sight in every loading dock between Dusseldorf and Dunedin.

Naturally things have progressed a fair bit within that familiar blueprint, however.

The sixth-generation Transporter is a fleet-footed example of the modern cargo van, replete with all the power, comfort and convenience features you’d associate with a Volkswagen Passat or Amarok.

The Transporter I sampled a few weeks ago was the top short-wheelbase example, featuring the full-fat 132kW/400Nm turbo diesel, but there are other options besides. There is also a four-cylinder turbo diesel tuned for 103kW and 340Nm, while both six-speed manual and seven-speed DSG automatic gearboxes are available.

You can have your Transporter as a standard-, mediumor high-roof model and in either short- or long-wheelbase format too, and you can also still get a Transporter cab with a flat drop-side tray on the back as either a single or doublecab, with the tray measuring between 2539mm and 2939mm in length (depending on your preference for short- or longwheelbase). Plenty of options in other words.

Back to the vans, the Transporter I drove distinguishes itself by being the only four-wheel drive van in its class, with Volkswagen’s proven 4MOTION all-wheel drive system augmented by a Haldex clutch. The Transporter also features all the passive and active safety gear you could hope for; electronic stability control, anti-lock braking, an electronically-locking front diff, a hill-hold assist function and daytime running lights.

Access to the back is easy enough through the sliding doors on the sides and a lifting tailgate at the rear. Load compartment length measures in at 2572mm (or 2975mm in the long-wheelbase models). There’s a variance of 530mm between the internal height of the standard roof and the high roof models, although you can only get the high-roof option if you go for a long-wheelbase Transporter. The van features a 2500 kilogram braked tow rating right across the board.

It’s a pretty good-looking thing too, with a ‘family face’ grille familiar to all modern Volkswagens, lots of brightwork and the option of stepping up to 16” or 17” alloy wheels from the standard steel wheels. Also optional is an up-rated suspension system with heavy duty stabiliser bars front and rear.

Up front the cab feels bright and airy, with plenty of outward vision and comfortable seats. This is a new cockpit for the sixth generation van and features things like cruise control, a reversing camera, a multi-function leather-clad steering wheel and Bluetooth audio streaming and phone connectivity as standard.

There is plenty of competition in the delivery/cargo van segments these days, especially from European brands with a long history of commercial vehicle manufacture (see sidebar for an example).

Not many have longer histories than Volkswagen though; even though the Transporter is about as far removed from its split-window, barn-door, seat-over-engine Kombi roots as possible, that heritage does still count for a lot.

Van-cy that: a new Renault Trafic after all these years RENAULT HAS BEEN A smaller player in the New Zealand light commercial market, although the company is hoping for big things with the latest version of the Trafic.

In Europe this mid-sizer has been a big success story for the French manufacturer; the best-selling model in its light commercial line-up for an impressive 18 years, with 1.6 million units shifted since it first debuted in 1980.

Testament to the longevity of light commercial models, the updated Trafic we’re about to see here is the Trafic III. That’s right; the van has had only three major updates in the past 36 years. Mind you, with an engine at the front and a big box at the rear, you could argue what else is there to update?

Still, that doesn’t stop Renault lavishing a fair bit of care and attention on this third-gen edition.

For a start it’ll feature a newly-developed 1.6-litre dCi twin-turbo engine that will certainly give the load-lugger a bit of pep (103kW/340Nm), but also promises pretty good combined fuel economy of 6.2 litres/100 kilometres.

The front of the van has been redesigned, with new headlights, air intakes and grille. The angle of the windscreen has been modified to allow for better outward vision and overall – with an increase in the amount of colour-coded exterior trim – the outside of the Trafic looks to be much more of a premium affair.

Inside things are looking pretty. The driver and passenger receive lateral side curtain airbags, and there’s cruise control, reversing camera and sensors, auto headlights, a multi-function steering wheel, a bench seat with an integrated fold-down work table and laptop storage, and a steel bulkhead separating the passenger cell from the cargo area.

That cargo area measures in with enough room between the rear wheel arches for standard builder’s sheets and pallets (2.9 metres long x 1.2 metres wide). Access is provided by dual glazed sliding doors along the sides and a double-opening barn door at the rear. There’s also what Renault terms a ‘load trap’ that extends underneath the front passenger seat to help stow extra-long items.

The Trafic slots in between the Kangoo small cargo van and the bigger Master in Renault’s light commercial line-up and will be priced from $49,990 when it goes on sale here this month.

SEPTEMBER 2016 53

CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES

CL

M

A

ASSIC

C H I N E S

1

The International Harvester TD20 & TD20B By the end of the 1950s, International’s “jack of all trades” TD-18 was getting beyond further economical development. The TD-20 was the result. BY RICHARD CAMPBELL. THE INTERNATIONAL TD-18 had been first introduced in 1939

after a couple of years of development and was itself a logical progression of International’s previous TD40 track type tractor which first saw the light of day in 1932.

At just over 11 tons bare with 111 horsepower at its disposal, the TD-18 was an ideal mid-sized tractor, suitable for all kinds of work.

During WWII, the TD-18 was supplied in quantity to the US Armed Forces and acquitted itself well from the hedgerows of Normandy to the various island hopping campaigns in the Pacific where it built up a good reputation as a tough tractor.

However, all was not well as the TD-18 had an inherent flaw in the engine cylinder heads which were prone to cracking due to inadequate cooling. This was partially a result of the engine starting method adopted by International which was one of gasoline to diesel conversion.

Each cylinder head contained two sets of valves – one for gasoline combustion and the other for diesel. This compromised 54 www.contractormag.co.nz

the surface area available for adequate cooling and despite several attempts by International to correct the issue (including adding a water header tank on the hood of later models), the issue was to plague the machine until its discontinuation in 1958.

International’s designers had been working on a heavily reworked replacement for the TD-18 which was initially to be called the TD-18B. However the end product was so radically different from the former machine that International gave it a new designation, calling it the TD-20.

First introduced in 1958, the TD-20 200 series was powered by the same International D-691 engine that had powered the TD-18 only this time with redesigned cylinder heads and a completely new cooling system, the increased size of the TD-20 chassis allowing a lot more room to fit a larger radiator.

Meanwhile, engine output was increased to 134 horsepower.

A redesign of the exhaust manifold to allow better engine “breathing” reduced exhaust back pressure considerably

1. Quite a modern tractor when it made its debut in 1958, this TD-20 200 series is seen making trails on a Texas ranch. It is equipped with a Superior double drum cable control and a Bucyrus-Erie angle blade. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION 2. An International TD-20. Equipped with a Superior double drum cable control and Bucyrus-Erie straight blade, the machine is seen stockpiling fill. Photo is dated 1958 which would make this a TD-20 200 series machine.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

3. Equally at home in the forest, this TD20 is building logging roads with an angle dozer in Washington, USA, in what appears to be quite heavy material. The rather flimsy logging sweeps would probably not pass muster these days!

2

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

4. First of the new breed of TD-20, the TD-20B. Comparison with earlier TD20s reveals many changes and an even more modern styling. This 1963 photo shows the high operator position which gave excellent visibility. The bulldozer blade is now one of International’s own, IH having bought out Bucyrus-Eries construction division a few years earlier.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

4

3

compared to the TD-18 which had two exhaust pipes. The TD-20 just needed one.

A six-speed manual transmission delivered power from the engine to the final drives and featured a forward/reverse lever to allow easier shifting.

Changes to the track roller frame also meant a stronger, more stable tractor. With all the above alterations, a new TD-20 tipped the scales at just over 15 tons without attachments.

Speaking of attachments, Bucyrus-Erie supplied the bulk of attachments to equip the TD-20. Either hydraulic or cablecontrolled bulldozers and angle dozers could be installed depending on customer preference.

The cable control units were supplied by Superior, one of International’s trusted outside suppliers which also offered a sideboom attachment for pipe laying.

For logging operations the most common towing winch fitted came from Carco.

International’s Drott division could completely outfit the

machine as a track type loader complete with one of its legendary “4-in-1” skid shovels.

Where the TD-18 had been a very popular tractor, the TD-20 suffered sluggish initial sales – why is not known, but only just over 1500 TD-20 200 series machines were built between 1958 and end of production in 1961.

In 1961 the first TD-20 upgrade took place.

Improvements included the addition of a turbocharger to the engine giving an extra 10 horsepower, a pressurised transmission lubrication and filtering system plus additional improvements to the track rollers and frame.

This version of the machine was known as the TD-20 201 series. Sales of this machine were also low with fewer than 500 SEPTEMBER 2016 55

CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES

1. D rott Corporation, at that time a subsidiary of International Harvester, offered a complete loader package for the TD-20 incorporating its famous skidshovel arrangement.

This is a TD-20 201 series with lengthened track frame and some extra counterweight on the rear. These machines were well liked, if a little labourintensive to operate.

1

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

2. International Harvester also made a dedicated track loader version of the TD-20B called the 250B. Normally equipped with a Drott 4-in-1 bucket, this example is mulching out on tree stumps. The 250B was very popular with demolition contractors who considered them pretty bullet-proof.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

2

being built. The increase in engine output was also leading to problems with the machine’s final drives.

International’s engineering and design team took steps to address the problem and in 1963 introduced the TD-20B. This was a giant leap in the right direction as the TD-20B now featured a new engine, the 150 horsepower International model DT-429, a powershift transmission and planetary final drives.

Coupled with all these improvements were an isolated track frame with pinned equaliser bar, lifetime lubricated track rollers and improved operator’s environment.

To the credit of the IH design team, the new tractor (for that’s what it was) weighed no more than the former TD-20 201!

International, which now owned the construction division of Bucyrus-Erie, supplied all the attachments other than cable controls and logging winches.

This version of the TD-20 was quite well regarded by the industry and sales of the TD-20B exceeded 4700 machines during the period it was manufactured.

The TD-20B had a reputation as a well balanced and reliable tractor. During research for this article, the only gripes about the 56 www.contractormag.co.nz

machine that I have come across concern the short life of the undercarriage track rollers, a fault not unique to International Harvester.

Optional attachments included a cab with heater, optional size track shoes, relieved sprockets, track guards, engine hood doors and an ether starting aid for cold weather. Mention should also be made of the dedicated track type loader that International produced, using the TD20B as a basis.

This was the 250B, a dedicated loader from the ground up incorporating all of the Drott goodies that International could muster (International having done a deal with Drott in the early 1960s). The 250B was popular with contractors in housing developments and especially in demolition where the machine had few equals.

The TD-20B was finally replaced in 1970 by the further improved TD-20C which falls outside the scope of this story and will be covered in a later article.

The New Zealand connection All models of the earlier versions of the International TD-20

3

3. A not uncommon sight in the mid 1960s was a dozer still fitted with a cable blade. In this case, a Superior front-mounted unit. On the rear of the tractor is a Carco towing winch. Photo taken in Louisiana, USA. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

4. Ateco ripper equipped TD-20B “somewhere in New Zealand”. There are no other details with this photo other than it was taken in 1968 by the late Roger Wereta.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

B R I E F S P EC I F I CAT I O N S

4

International TD-20B were imported into New Zealand but records of how many and where they went are regrettably long gone with the demise of International Harvester.

As can be seen from the overall production figures the total that came into New Zealand cannot have been very high and the most likely example you are likely to come across will be a TD-20B.

For the model collector Ertl make a diecast model of the International TD-20C to 1:64 scale.

Although not the exact subject of this article, it is the only model of a TD-20 that has been produced to date.

The model is somewhat crude and has a straight hydraulic blade ROPS canopy and rubber tracks.

It should not be too hard to find an example if you want one as they regularly crop up at swap meets and on Ebay.

Be aware that the model has been released several times over the years, most recently in Desser markings.

Engine: International DT-429, 6-cylinder, turbocharged, inline diesel rated at 150 horsepower @ 2300 rpm Transmission:

I nternational 2-speed full powershift with hi-lo shift lever giving 4 forward and reverse speeds

Top speed:

5.2mph

Steering: Hydraulically boosted planetary type giving full power to the tracks at all times during turns Brakes:

Contracting band

Track frame: Isolated, pivot shaft type with pinned equalizer Roller: 6 bottom rollers, 2 carrier rollers per side Track shoe:

20” standard

Operating weight: 15 tons (bare)

SEPTEMBER 2016 57

CONTRACTOR INNOVATIONS

Komatsu’s news Dash 7 Talking about the soon-to-be-released Komatsu Dash 7, Komatsu national business manager (Quarries) Richard Feehely says the range will improve customer productivity and lower the cost of ownership.

“Reducing operating costs is front of mind for construction, material handling and quarry businesses and the Dash 7’s technology and efficiency react to market needs for cleaner, greener machines with exceptional performance.”

Producing more power and using less fuel, the six new wheel loaders in the Dash 7 range are powered by Komatsu’s Tier 4 Interim Engines, with emissions certified by EPA Tier 4 Interim and EU Stage 3B. Komatsu’s new engines combine next generation high-pressure common rail fuel injection (HPCR), Komatsu’s variable geometry turbocharger (KVGT), cooled exhaust gas recirculation technology and the Komatsu diesel particulate filter (KDPF) to reduced fuel consumption and emissions while delivering exceptional performance.

Komatsu’s latest SmartLoader Logic technology also plays a key role in cutting costs and maximising efficiency by constantly evaluating information on load and working conditions from sensors throughout the driveline and work equipment.

Other fuel-saving technology includes Komatsu auto idle shutdown, a dual mode engine power select system, variable displacement piston pumps and closed-centre load sensing hydraulics that prevent loss from wasted hydraulic fuel.

“While increasing productivity, the new range of wheel loaders takes a multi-tiered approach to reduce fuel consumption. The new range will see customers extract more from their investment,” Feehely says.

The Dash 7 range includes the latest version of Komatsu’s KOMTRAX Equipment Monitoring system, with owner peace of mind and lifecycle costs assured thanks to three-year/6000 hour premium warranty, three-year/2000 hour KOMplimentary scheduled maintenance and 24-hour parts support.

E-series evolution – groundbreaking new ADT Bell Equipment’s latest addition to the E-series Articulated Dump Truck (ADT) line-up is the B60E from CablePrice.

This new generation truck is a 4x4 with full articulation steering and oscillation joint, which keeps all four wheels on the ground and fully utilises the traction available, giving it more off-road capability than any other conventional rigid truck.

CablePrice says the B60E is ideally suited for bulk earthworks, quarries and mines that experience conditions that rigid dump trucks cannot safely cope with. Rain and excess water can greatly affect traction and whilst many rigid trucks do not have the capability to cope in these conditions, the B60E, with its all-wheel traction, can continue to work safely with no loss in production. Additionally, less ground maintenance at the load and dump sites, traditionally required to prevent rigid trucks from getting stuck, will save both time and money.

The nominal payload of the B60E is rated at 55 metric tonnes. Far larger than a conventional ADT bin, the flat-bottomed 35 cubic metre body resembles a rigid truck bin in its dimensions and geometry, which makes it fully compatible with existing loading equipment in mines and quarries.

Powered by the latest Mercedes Benz engine, the B60E continues the Bell tradition of offering the lowest cost per tonne machines on the market, with an economical drivetrain that delivers significantly lower fuel consumption than a traditional rigid truck.

Alongside the B60E, CablePrice also offer the B25E, B30E, B40E and B50E models.

58 www.contractormag.co.nz

INNOVATIONS CONTRACTOR

Local and quick supply Calyco provides ‘wear protection supplies’ and ground engaging tools to the mining, railway, port, power, iron and steel and cement/aggregate industries.

The NZ-based company supplies all kinds of bucket armour, dozer and ripper bits, wear resistant plates, coatings, linings, materials and products that resist wear and abrasion and provide protection to equipment used in these industries, custom-designing and building equipment (steel pipe and liners).

Products include conveyor belts and belt lagging, wear plate systems, wear resistant liners, rubber-backed ceramic mats, alumina ceramic rollers, industrial ceramic tiles, cast basalt tiles, standard and rapid set ceramic tile adhesives, epoxy paste wear resistant compounds and silicon carbide products.

Director and engineer Jeff Archer says that ‘local’ product manufacturing means fast turnaround, low lead/ shipping times for clients, allowing flexibility for forward planning, and helping to reduce inventory costs whilst freeing up cash flow.

“The quality of these products and the methods used, also provide major benefits in reducing shutdown frequencies and equipment downtime,” he says.

“We have seen great uptake in our products (especially ceramic tiles, rubber ceramic wear plates and epoxy systems) based on quality and price and many of these products are now extensively used and approved with BHP, Fortescue, Anglo American and various other sites.

“We are also a supplier to Downer EDI, Sedgemens, Bechtell for all major refurbishment and development projects in Australia and Transfield (now Broadspectrum) and NZ (now Bluescope) Steel here in New Zealand.”

For information: www.calyco.nz.

A reliable supply of portable compressed air Shotcrete Auckland recently invested in a Kaeser Mobilair 100 portable compressor, in order to generate a reliable supply of high quality compressed air required for the shotcrete process the company uses in spraying concrete.

From architectural and landscape constructions to ground support, roads, bridges and dams – shotcrete is a versatile process used to lay concrete for numerous applications.

Shotcrete Auckland is the largest shotcrete firm in the country with over 30 years of experience in the field and is certified by the American Shotcrete Association.

Shotcrete is a versatile process and the velocity with which the cement leaves the nozzle allows for the concrete to be compacted at the same time. Compressed air is an integral part of the shotcrete process, increasing the velocity at which the concrete leaves the nozzle. A reliable supply of high quality air is essential to achieving a high shotcrete velocity and good compaction. This ensures denser concrete that will be less permeable and have a greater compressive strength.

Part of the renowned Mobilair range of portable compressors from Kaeser, the Mobilair 100 provides exceptional power and versatility. Like all other portable compressors in the Mobilair range, the M 100 includes a Kaeser rotary screw compressor block equipped with energy-saving Sigma Profile rotors.

Meanwhile, Shotcrete Auckland says it has been very impressed with the Mobilair 100. “It is doing exactly what we require.”

The Mobilair M 100 is available with a 71.7kW drive motor, standard working pressures from 7 to 14 bar with free air deliveries from 6.4 to 10.2m3/min.

More information: www.kaeser.co.nz.

Accessing machine heights Equiptec’s Monkey All Terrain wheeled unit is designed to be used on uneven, bumpy surfaces and gravel yards and features 1200mm of height adjustment and can be set up in six seconds.

More information: www.equiptec. co.nz, contact sales@equiptec.co.nz, or 0800 84 00 00.

SEPTEMBER 2016 59

CONTRACTOR INNOVATIONS

The future of autonomous machinery The automotive industry isn’t the only one focused on autonomous machinery. Construction equipment manufacturers are likewise looking to an autonomous future, where heavy mobile plant will be controlled remotely and centrally, removing people from potentially hazardous environments.

“We’ve already seen the movement towards automated machinery occurring within the mining industry,” says Synergy Positioning Systems’ managing director Mike Milne.

“That this sort of solution will find mainstream adoption within other sectors of the industry is inevitable.

“Right now underground construction machinery and many dump trucks in open cast mining operations are controlled through GPS data. Increasingly we will see this become the norm, especially where road construction is concerned, with manufacturers eventually designing and building mobile plant specifically with this style of usage in mind.”

Now though, rather than industry change being led by the machinery manufacturers themselves, clever and efficient third-party provided technologies are increasing the usability and productivity of mobile plant as a stepping stone to the fullyautomated jobsite.

“The use of three-dimensional technology in earth moving has already begun,” says Mike.

“We’re seeing an increasingly rapid uptake for tools such as 3D machine control software for a variety of construction equipment. This sort of technology – which utilises GPS information to send accurate cut and fill project design data straight from the site office to the cab – has meant that teams are working faster and smarter.”

Both the accuracy of machine control technologies and its relative ease-of-use has also resulted in machinery being used more efficiently and for a widening pool of tasks. For example, 3D machine control systems have completely changed the way many companies are now deploying their bulldozers, says Mike.

“The bulldozer has always been a blunt instrument by its very nature. But as the spatial data being displayed for the driver gets more precise and as the interface gets easier to control, a big machine like a bulldozer becomes much nimbler and can work in a wider variety of environments.

“The same operator in the same machine is all-of-a-sudden

Mike Milne

doing so much more. And at the same time, the company with a large capital item is getting a better ROI from a machine that is being used more regularly on more projects.”

Mike also says that, with 3D machine control systems proving as simple as a smartphone to operate, he is seeing clients giving younger operators the opportunity to upskill. Whereas grading, has always been a specialised job, for example, machine control software which accurately controls blade angle allows for a potentially wider pool of inter-company talent to form.

“The technology is always evolving and we’re continually discovering new applications for automated software,” Mike concludes.

“The goal is to maximise the potential this software can deliver the industry, but of course with technology providers developing new solutions seemingly every few months, it’s an ever-changing landscape.

“But there is certainty in the fact that the jobsite of tomorrow is going to feature further automation, fewer machines that are capable of more, and less of a need for personnel to be working in potentially hazardous environments.

“Taken together I think that makes for a very positive future for our industry.”

Handy battery powered portable water pump Makinex, an Australian manufacturing company, has produced its new ‘Hose 2 Go’, which is a portable water tank and pump to use when water supply is not available or convenient.

In development for four years, the Hose 2 Go provides a constant flow of water that suppresses dust when cutting, core drilling and grinding concrete.

“It’s different to every other product on the market because it provides a constant water flow without the use of a pump, battery or electronics,” says Youngman Richardson & Co sales and marketing director, Ed Richardson.

60 www.contractormag.co.nz

“The Makinex ‘Hose 2 Go’ is so simple. Not only is it easy to use but it also has a conveniently placed handle with two carrying positions.”

No pump means greater reliability, no complicated electrics to break down, no battery to go flat and expensive replacements and no need to manually pump to get the water pressure you need.

Furthermore the Makinex ‘Hose 2 Go’ has a 14 litre capacity and can give up to 30 minutes of constant flowing water.

More information: Ph 09 443 2436, or 03 341 6923 for South Island enquiries.

INNOVATIONS CONTRACTOR

New steel importer stays on top One importer of fabricated structural steel says despite recent media stories questioning aspects of the industry, their new business continues to grow.

Challenge Steel, which had its genesis in the Christchurch earthquakes, says it has set a new benchmark when it comes to quality assurance and comprehensive product testing of imported fabricated steel.

Says its new chief executive and shareholder Suresh Nagaiya: “These products are not just passing through our hands. We inherently understand and manage the entire process from the steel mill to the final certification of our work and everything in between. That comprehensive project knowledge gives us a real advantage.”

Challenge Steel’s fabricated steel products are now being installed in significant public and private sector developments up and down the country, he says.

“Industry body Steel Construction New Zealand has recently authored papers proposing the ideal QA process and testing regime that imported product should follow. Well, Challenge Steel is already effectively doing what SCNZ proposes as best practice, if not more. So if more regulation came into place, it would affect our competitors much more than us. We’re already setting a very high quality benchmark voluntarily.

“We’ve brought together the best people to ensure we raise the quality bar while simultaneously lowering costs. Only when all our systems and people were in place did we then

start importing and installing fabricated structural steel this year. Subsequently by taking our time to get it right, we’re achieving a great outcome for our clients now and giving them every confidence they demand.”

The company was set up by Canterbury businessman Bert Govan through a relationship Suresh Nagaiya: “We’ve brought with the Shangdong Iron & Steel together the best people to ensure we raise the quality bar.”

Group (Shan Steel) – a wholly state-owned steel conglomerate, producing over 30 million tonnes each year, making it one of China’s largest steel makers.

Challenge Steel has its own people from New Zealand on the ground at Shan Steel’s fabrication factory checking at source the process, product and its adherence to our standards.

Samples then go to independent labs both in China and New Zealand for further testing and verification. Each steel product is also stamped with a unique code to ensure complete traceability.

“In addition, Shan Steel’s own testing and quality standards are very robust,” adds Nagaiya.

Challenge Steel has launched a new website: www.challengesteel.co.nz.

Connecting Global Competence

Save money — register online: www.bauma-china.com/register November 22–25, Shanghai

8TH INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY, BUILDING MATERIAL MACHINES, MINING MACHINES AND CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES Contact: Messe Reps. & Travel, info@messereps.co.nz, Tel. +64 9 521 9200

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SEPTEMBER 2016 61

CONTRACTOR CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND

CCNZ Updates Welcome to New Members • DITRAC, Auckland Branch • Wainwright & Co Stonemasons, Otago Branch • Hamilton Asphalts, Waikato Branch • Utilities Infrastructure NZ, Canterbury Westland Branch

Real Steel becomes Major Associate CCNZ would like to welcome Real Steel as a new Major Associate member. Real Steel says: “We’re proud to be a member of CCNZ and our excellent sales staff are looking forward to being part of their local branches.

“Real Steel is known for its expertise in high strength Swedish Steel. We’re all about designing the hardest and toughest steel products that work harder, last longer and reduce the cost of ownership.”

re-elected for a further term.

The outgoing President Dave Connell has acknowledged the contribution made by Bob Fulton, who stepped down from the Executive Council at the AGM. Bob has made a significant contribution and has been on the Executive Council since 2014 and prior to that was on the board of Roading New Zealand.

CCNZ’s Smart Contracting Conference breaks records

Contractors step forward for CCNZ Executive Council roles

The conference is over and we’ve had some great feedback on the different programme format used this year with the concurrent sessions and business streams. We had record numbers with over 500 people attending the Hirepool Construction Awards Dinner, over 450 conference participants and over 40 trade exhibition stands.

A highlight of this year’s conference was the sessions which drew on the knowledge and experience of our own members who provided short sharp presentations to other members on a range of subjects – a great example of sharing good practical knowledge and experience that has been used successfully in construction businesses.

Input on our conference advisory group from the Auckland Branch, with Stuart Robertson and Jarrad Reid, has been invaluable and we will certainly look at a similar collaborative model for next year’s conference.

Thank you to all our sponsors and expo stand holders. We hope you got some good networking sessions with old friends and clients and managed to generate new opportunities.

New President

CCNZ submissions

Brian Warren from Canterbury has been elected as President of CCNZ after Dave Connell from Waikato stepped down from the role after three years.

Brian has been Vice President for the past year and has been on CCNZ’s national executive committee since the merger of Roading NZ and the Contractors’ Federation in 2014.

Before that Brian was on the board of Roading NZ for nine years and a member of the merger committee which brought the Contractors’ Federation and Roading NZ together.

Over the past month CCNZ staff have been developing submissions and collating information on a range of issues including: • Road worker safety • Draft NZTA F/1 Specification for Earthwork Construction • Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2016 (the proposed rule) • Worker Health in Mining draft code of practice • Extractives Industry Worker Health Air Quality code

Joe Edwards CCNZ Life Member A highlight of CCNZ’s “Smart Contracting” Conference was the award of Life Membership status to Joe Edwards.

In making the award Dave Connell talked about how Joe strives for excellence, believes in a strong voice for industry and how he continues to put in countless hours of unpaid work on behalf of his fellow contractors. A detailed account of Joe’s industry service is carried in this copy of Contractor magazine.

New Vice President Colin Calteaux from Andrew Haulage in Otago was elected Vice President.

Two new Executive Councillors Tim Ford from Fulton Hogan and Brent Leach from Fletcher Construction subsidiary Brian Perry Civil, have both been elected to the national Executive Council of Civil Contractors New Zealand.

Bailey Gair from Gair Contracting in Hawkes Bay has been

National Awards results Congratulations to all our finalists and winners in the national awards – comprehensive coverage is provided in the Construction Excellence Awards 2016 booklet packaged with this copy of the magazine.

We give our sincere thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Hirepool, Z, and Connexis, for making these national awards possible. Also, all the judges who give their time and commitment for site visits and evaluation of submissions and who have the difficult task of picking out the finalists and winners.

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Global Survey

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Porters Equipment

Connexis 25

Heaney & Partners

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Synergy 27

Counties Ready Mix Concrete

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Hirepool 23

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Mimico 43

Youngman Richardson

IFC 39

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NEW ZEALAND’S CIVIL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

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Tough job at the coalface

NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 13 - No 3 | June - July 2016 | $8.95

The New Zealand Institute of Highway Technology

A new Hitachi ZX870LCH-3 excavator is proving its worth at a South Otago coal mine

Customer demand driving growth at Hirepool

Delivering valuable industry skills and training

NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 13 - No 4 | August - September 2016 | $8.95

Geared for growth Two new Hyundai loaders go to work in the Chatham Islands

In praise of old gear

A collection of well-loved classic machines in action

Opportunities from mine closures

Quarrying unique schist

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for West Coast coal?

Catering to Otago’s booming building trade

Q&M magazine 2016 award nominees

Demystifying quarrying CPD

Seven up and coming industry leaders profiled

INSIDE:

INSIDE:

In charge of transport – Fergus Gammie A Remarkable achievement in sealing at heights Pavement quality under NZTA review Supporting young dreams – racing sponsorship

A tomorrow’s leader – Hugh Johnstone Waikanae – a very very long bridge Havelock Nth relieved – a sewer in the making Buying low-cost steel – a wise guide

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SKATING ON THIN ICE?

Can councils work together? p20

Social media meets the Public Records Act p30

IMPROVE YOUR INTRANET NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE VOL 53 • AUGUST 2016 • $8.95

VOL 53 • JULY 2016 • $8.95

The power of plants p26

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RAIN RADAR

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Stormwater solutions

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Water sensitive design p34

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MAGIC OR MADNESS?

TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS

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Three councils share their stories p34

Estimating the size of flood events p40

A SHORE THING

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NEXT GENERATION COUNCILS Five local authorities to watch p24

NZ LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAGAZINE

QuarryNZ 2016 in pictures

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INCORPORATING

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RISK & INSURANCE

A guide to Professional Development requirements

A focus on efficiency Flood vulnerability The $26 billion question

2016 LGNZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS p16

SMART MOVES

Building resilience Stormwater conference Utilities of the future Gaining trade waste traction Safety strike for drones

Web & digital to the rescue p14

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Kerry Prendergast: Outstanding Contribution to Local Government

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// C O N S T R U C T I O N E X C AVAT O R S

The design of the new Hitachi ZX130-5, ZX135US-5 and ZX225USLC-5 excavators are inspired by one aim - Empowering your Vision

100616_Hitachi_ZX130

SPECIFICATIONS MAKE

MODEL

WEIGHT (kg)

WIDTH

BUCKET (m3)

DIG DEPTH (mm)

BREAKOUT (kgf)

POWER (kW@rpm)

FLOW (L/min)

Hitachi

ZX130-5

13,100

2490

0.50

5540

Hitachi

ZX135US-5

13,700

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5490

104 kN

73kW@2000

2x117

104 kN

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Hitachi

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24,300

2990

0.80

6620

158 kN

122kW@2000

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