Industrial Safety News: October 2021 - January 2022

Page 44

October 2021 - January 2022

ENVIRONMENT

A

ccording to Tony his new machine, developed entirely in New Zealand, has far less drag substantially reducing the tearing of the fill, with a fuel saving of up to 50 percent, and less environmental impact compared to commercially available compactors. Field trials have been so successful that he intends taking the machine to market by the end of 2021. It's a big step up for the CEO of family-owned Cameron Civil, a 44-machine strong company which Tony started with his wife Lynley, in 2002. Tony and Lynley bought the business from long-time Auckland contractor Allan Cameron, who remains a mentor and supplier of machinery to the company. Their daughter Katie made news in Auckland two years ago when she bought her own Komatsu D65 bulldozer and became, at 19, one of the first female earth moving contractors in New Zealand. Tony almost simultaneously bought a Komatsu D61PXi-23 dozer fitted with a fully factory integrated intelligent machine control [iMC] system to use initially, on a major project for the RNZAF's Whenuapi airbase, in West Auckland. According to Tony, the OEM iMC system enabled the bulldozer to achieve grader-quality trimming tolerances of 25mm, better than half that of aftermarket GPS solutions he had been using. The iMC system incorporates stroke sensing hydraulic cylinders with load sensing hydraulics which automatically adjust to enable transition from rough dozing to high-precision finish grading. "In many cases, we've 44 infrastructurenews.co.nz

In search of the perfect surface

Sponsored Article

Specialist New Zealand earth moving contractor Tony Wilson's relentless obsession with providing his clients with a completely level base on which to build has led him to even invent his own soil and earth compactor

been able to eliminate the grader phase of a final finish operation because the D61 has delivered the required quality," he said. As part of his pursuit of the perfect surface, Tony had been an early adopter of aftermarket trimming systems, achieving between 50mm and 70mm tolerance, enough to enable a grader's final finishing pass to be relatively simple. On each job, he established a flat Plane surfaceon which the cutting and trimming coordinates of his machines were checked daily to ensure they were optimised. It is a technique similar to setting-up successful racing cars to ensure all

corners of the vehicle are evenly balanced. "With the D61, we have a Komatsu technician come on-site to fine-tune the electronics specifically to requirements of the job, to ensure its providing the maximum result," he said. The Whenuapi airbase required ground preparation to a depth of 1.1 metres to construct 15,000 square metres of hard stand and taxiways. Cameron Civil achieved the complex task first time, and ahead of schedule. Cameron Civil is now trialing Komatsu's PC210LCi-10 excavator with Intelligent Machine Control, with the view to expanding its range of OEM-fitted precision

aids. "The iMC system on both the Komatsu dozer and excavator are semi-autonomous and don't require special operator skills to run it," Tony said. "We employ skilled operators for their general proficiency because our jobs will always benefit from having people with years of experience who know best how to employ the tools we use." Tony makes a point of spending time on his machines himself. "It's important to know what we're doing and hands on experience brings with it, a respect from the operators that you wouldn't otherwise necessarily get," he says.


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Articles inside

Kiwi Property kick starts build-to-rent in New Zealand

2min
pages 80-81

Wrong name, right product why build-to-rent is struggling

4min
pages 82-84

Facilities management with personal service

1min
pages 66-67

Where is housing most affordable in New Zealand?

6min
pages 68-69

New Zealand's housing crisis a breach of human rights

9min
pages 72-75

China builds apartment block in a day

1min
page 79

3D-printed housing

6min
pages 76-78

Site Safe Awards finalists announced

1min
page 65

The fight for common sense and a reasoned debate

3min
pages 60-64

Tax changes threaten rental market

4min
pages 70-71

The New Zealand Upgrade Programme cost blowout

10min
pages 56-59

Australian construction industry cries out for reform

4min
pages 44-45

Transmission Gully - what went wrong?

11min
pages 52-55

How scalable data centres help Mainfreight’s vision

2min
page 51

Latest lockdown puts ongoing strain on construction

6min
pages 39-40

In search of the perfect surface - contractor invents new earth compactor

2min
pages 46-47

Multi-purpose, safer, faster telehandlers increase productivity

3min
pages 42-43

AC Filter - an engineered solution protecting worker health

1min
page 41

Immigration policies hindering construction sector

6min
pages 48-50

Is standardised training the way forward?

2min
page 31

Priming your business for post-lockdown recovery

4min
pages 22-23

Surviving as a modern business

4min
pages 26-27

Homebrew 1080 poison hospitalises worker

2min
page 30

Safety app a crucial element in building site safety

2min
page 19

Tips and myths around dogs

2min
pages 20-21

Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation

3min
pages 28-29

Radio technology keeps workers safe and compliant

1min
page 18

Unlearning misguided muscle training

6min
pages 16-17

Bastion NZ launch Industrial glove range

1min
pages 10-11

Has your fuel gone off?

7min
pages 4-7

Industry leader in soft fall protection on construction sites

2min
page 15

Remote working putting organisations at risk

2min
page 12

Toxic fumigant banned

3min
pages 8-9

No better investment than chemical safety training

3min
page 3

Critical infrastructure vulnerable to hackers

5min
pages 13-14
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