It was a once in a century disaster and Auckland-based arboriculture company Treescape bore the brunt of what New Zealanders call a ‘weather bomb’
“The bomb hit at 2.30am. and when I arrived at our holding yard at dawn, I found it completely underwater,” Treescape’s national fleet manager Dion Wright said. Thirteen Hilux utilities, five trucks, two staff vehicles and more than $30,000 worth of chain saws and tree felling equipment were lost. “But, after carefully assessing the situation I waded through 1.5metre deep water and climbed up on our Komatsu WA100 wheel loader and it started first time,” Dion said. The wheel loader became the central recovery vehicle in an emergency shut down operation, safely ferrying electricians, plumbers, and mechanical staff in its bucket, above the floodwaters so they could safely secure the site. Treescape’s resources were in great demand. Whilst in the middle of Auckland’s Level 4 Covid-19
lockdown, Treescape was deemed as an essential service, which helped clear storm debris with the affected area in an operation which took several weeks. Komatsu immediately went to work to properly restore Treescape’s wheel loader so that it could play its role in the restoration. Like the other machinery in the yard, it had taken a big hit of high sediment contamination from the floodwaters.
Komatsu’s Auckland workshop manager Hamish Moore supported by his managing director Philip Pritchard, both also locked down, successfully sought permission from New Zealand’s Ministry of Business and Administration to bring in staff to fully clean and inspect the loader. Water had surrounded the front and rear differentials, the hydraulics, the engine and transmission. Urgent fluid samples were
sent to Komatsu’s KOWA (Komatsu Oil Wear Analysis) laboratory in Brisbane, filters and lubricants were replaced and electrical connections replaced. The WA100 was back on the storm relief job within two days. “It stood up really well, although we’re keeping a watching brief on it even now, months after the event, to be certain,” Hamish said. Treescape is one of the region’s largest green asset management companies, employing more than 600 people across New Zealand and Australia. It has more than 45 Komatsu wheel loaders and excavators at the core of an innovative program to equip the machines with a multitude of attachments to economically multi-task on each job. “We’re grateful to Komatsu for their swift intervention,” Dion Wright said. Its one less work around the company has to perform in what looks like becoming a protracted recovery. With mid-2022 now a target for the arrival of some of the new equipment. About Komatsu Komatsu develops and supplies technologies, equipment and services for the construction, mining, forklift, industrial and forestry markets. For a century, the company has been creating value for its customers through manufacturing and technology innovation, partnering with others to empower a sustainable future where people, business and the planet thrive together. Front-line industries worldwide use Komatsu solutions to develop modern infrastructure, extract fundamental minerals, maintain forests and create consumer products. The company's global service and distributor networks support customer operations to enhance safety and productivity while optimizing performance.
infrastructurenews.co.nz 71
ENVIRONMENT
Treescape weathers the storm
Sponsored Article
Yearbook 2022
