THE DEDICATED RESOURCE FOR THE CRANE INDUSTRY / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
NEXT GEN The innovation behind Manitowoc’s new generation of Grove all terrain cranes.
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FEATURES HEFA’s insights for financing in the construction boom
CICA Life Member Series: a oneon-one chat with Bob Parker
How Crane Services shifted from a crane hire to contracting firm
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IN THIS ISSUE 44
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16 CICA – Industry Report The latest updates from CICA. 18 The case for a better training model Why there is a need to train crane operators to futureproof the industry. 20 Walking through the new generation Manitowoc all terrains A look at Manitowoc’s new Grove all terrains. 24 Lifting financing standards Heavy Equipment Financing Australia provides advice for businessses in the construction boom. 26 The Top 100 Cranes List The leading crane operators in Australia and New Zealand and what services they have on offer. 29 Crane owners panel at the CICA conference Details of the Crane Owners Panel from the 2018 CICA conference. 36 CICA life member Bob Parker Read about the career of Bob Parker in the first in a series of articles based on interviews with CICA life members. 39 Nobles and BBRG wire rope distribution partnership winning new customers The partnership between Nobles and Bekaert Ropes has been embraced in the mobile, tower and port crane sectors. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
40 Farewell to an industry stalwart Mike Hanchard of Hanchard Cranes talks about his career and business, which closed late last year due to his retirement.
50 3D lift planning made simple A1A Software is offering business management tools specific to the needs of crane and construction equipment owners.
42 Transitioning from crane hire to crane contracting How Crane Services sought the expertise of GBA Projects to help transition them from a crane hire to a crane contracting business.
54 Interface of sling with a crane hook Stuart Edwards takes a look at the misconception that because you’re operating with a 50t hook and 50t capacity sling, you’re ready to lift 50t.
44 Jungle giant celebrates 20th birthday For 20 years, a Liebherr 91EC tower crane has been fundamental to a global, scientific network studying the world’s great rainforests.
56 Chiller lift with the latest technology How Universal Cranes removed and replaced a chiller unit from the 28th floor of a Brisbane hotel.
46 How effective are your fire suppressant systems? There is a perception that once a crane fire get started nothing can be done to stop them. Firestorm’s Kieran McHatton explains this isn’t the case. 48 Technology to reduce fuel costs and improve your FTC rebate Jim French from Teletrac Navman, looks at how telematics gives crane operators more options to maximise their fuel tax credits entitlements.
58 Celebrating 25 years with Liebherr Brendon Penn Crane Hire is built on the reliability of its fleet of Liebherr mobile cranes and the support it receives from the Liebherr team. 61 Lifting financial checks and balances Jeff Wilson from Finlease comments on the current financial climate following the Banking Royal Commission.
January 2019 CAL / 3
FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM
Published by:
TIME FOR REFLECTION WELCOME TO THE January/February issue of Cranes and Lifting Magazine. In this issue, we take time to reflect on the career of an individual who helped define the industry we see today, and determine the role CICA now plays. At a time when the world is changing so quickly, it is never ceases to amaze me that so much seems to stay the same. Bob Parker looks on his 40-plus years in the industry and the role he played in the creation of the industry association. The Royal Commission into the banking sector has seen the ‘Big Four’ dragged over the coals and, as a consequence, instructed a more conservative approach to ‘responsible lending’. We examine the impact the current financial climate is likely to have on the crane sector. The ramifications of technology continue to be felt in the industry daily, and in ways we could never have imagined. Telematics is normally associated with equipment monitoring, performance and remote diagnostics, not with maximising tax fuel credits. You’ll read how this works.
At a time when there is more work than we can cope with and so much more in the pipeline, the Crane Owners Panel discussion, during the November CICA conference, covered a number of challenges faced by the industry. We report on these. The ingenuity of crane businesses to continually engineer and execute complex lifts is a source of inspiration. Who would have thought that a tower crane would play a pivotal role in global rain forest conservation? We hope you enjoy the read and if you think you have a story to tell, you probably do, so please make contact. On behalf of the Prime Creative Media team I will take this opportunity to wish you well for the challenging year ahead. Enjoy the read.
11-15 Buckhurst St South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreativemedia.com.au Managing Director John Murphy John.Murphy@primecreative.com.au Chief Operating Officer Brad Buchanan Brad.Buchan@primecreative.com.au Publisher Christine Clancy E: christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Managing Editor Robbie Parkes E: robbie.parkes@primecreative.com.au Editor Simon Gould E: simon.gould@primecreative.com.au Journalist Jan Arreza E: jan.arreza@primecreative.com.au
Simon Gould Editor, Cranes and Lifting
Business Development Manager Nick Markessinis E: nick.markessinis@primecreative.com.au T: 0422 800 920 Client Success Manager Justine Nardone E: justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au Art Director Michelle Weston E: michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Design Blake Storey, Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty Subscriptions Gordon Watson T:03 9690 8766 E: gordon.watson@primecreative.com.au The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. © Copyright – No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.
4 / CAL January 2019
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INDUSTRY NEWS STRICTLY CRANES DISMANTLES RAIMONDI CRANE FOR ALAND Australian tower crane specialist Strictly Cranes used a 350t capacity mobile crane to dismantle a 100m-high Raimondi LR213 luffing jib crane belonging to developer-builder Aland. Strictly Cranes dismantled the luffer and 30m jib in one day. The mobile crane was then downsized the following day and used to load 16 trailers with the dismantled crane. The luffer was originally commissioned for two years, but Aland completed the project in 12 months. According to Raimondi, Aland used the LR213 because of its high freestanding height, which required minimal climbing and bracing of the crane to the building. For the dismantling of the crane Strictly Cranes supported the job site with six team members comprising a lead rigger, a lead technician, two riggers, a dogman, and an operations manager. Strictly Cranes also provided a Boscaro brick cage, a kibble, a man box, a first aid cage, heavy duty lifting chains for precast panels, general quarterly maintenance, and 24/7 call out for
MANITOWOC’S LARGEST POTAIN TOPLESS CRANE LAUNCHED Manitowoc officially launched a new Potain MCT 565 at Bauma China 2018, which is the manufacturer’s largest topless crane to date and features class-leading capacity and exceptional flexibility, with easy transportation and fast assembly. The company invited customers, dealers, end users and media to a specially-arranged event inside the Shanghai trade fair to present the crane. The day following the launch, a group of special guests were welcomed
immediate service needs throughout the project’s duration. The LR213 was purchased by Aland in 2017 and will now undergo on-ground mechanical and electrical maintenance assessments ahead of its next placement which took place later in 2018.
to the Manitowoc factory in nearby Zhangjiagang, where the MCT 565 was shown fully assembled, complete with its full 80m jib. Francois Rotat, product manager for Potain tower cranes, said the new model gives customers lower total cost of ownership and allows them to take on new projects. “The first topless cranes from our Zhangjiagang factory in China launched in 2012 and are now a huge success,” Rotat said. “As acceptance grows, it’s natural we extend the concept into new markets.
The Potain MCT 565 was launched at Bauma China 2018.
6 / CAL January 2019
A 350t capacity crane dismantled the luffing jib crane.
The MCT 565 offers the benefits of topless cranes on significantly larger projects. “Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries have ambitious construction programs and cranes like the Potain MCT 565 will help those regions meet their goals.” With the rising popularity of topless cranes, and the increasing use of heavier construction materials, Manitowoc expects strong demand for higher capacity models. The MCT 565 proved a strong attraction at Bauma China 2018, not only for its size, but also for the opportunities it presents. Its load moment of 550tm is a significant step up from the company’s existing topless range. The crane offers jib length configurations from 30m to 80m in 5m increments. At its 80m jib end, the MCT 565 can handle an impressive 4t. Despite its increased size, the new model stays true to the design characteristics of Potain topless cranes. It incorporates easy transport and erection combining with excellent on-site performance. Deliveries of the Potain MCT 565 will begin in early 2019. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
Munich, April 8th - 14th
Visit us at bauma 2019 Be part of bauma 2019 – where we showcase Liebherr’s latest advancements and prepare you for what lies ahead tomorrow. Visit the Liebherr stands and experience the newest industry developments and innovations first hand. Together. Now & Tomorrow. April 8th to 14th - Messe München Outdoor area, Stand 809-813 Liebherr components, Hall A4, Stand 326 Liebherr tools, Hall B5, Stand 439 Liebherr training, THINK BIG! ICM Foyer, Stand 308
www.cranesandlifting.com.au Find out more at www.liebherr-bauma.com
INDUSTRY NEWS CCAA figures find major projects are lifting demand for concrete.
DEMAND FOR CONCRETE EXPECTED TO RISE OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS – REPORT Major infrastructure projects underway in eastern Australia are expected to lift demand for concrete and related products, according to new figures from industry representative body Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA). CCAA CEO Ken Slattery said the construction of the new Western Sydney Airport at Badgery’s Creek was expected to lift demand for concrete by at least one per cent over the next five years. Melbourne’s Metro Rail Project was also highlighted as an infrastructure project with the potential to increase demand for concrete by another two per cent, according to Mr Slattery. This rise in demand also follows a record production year for Australia’s concrete, cement and aggregates industry with figures from the CCAA has finding more than 30 million cubic metres of pre-mixed concrete were produced across Australia in 2017. In 2015, the total amount of pre-mixed concrete produced across Australia was estimated to be 27 million cubic metres, which grew to 28.5 million cubic metres in 2016, according to figures commissioned from industry research company Macromonitor. The CCAA highlighted the concrete industry contributes more than $15 billion to the national economy each year, with more than 30,000 people are employed directly by the industry and 80,000 estimated to be employed in work related to the industry. Data released by the CCAA has found NSW construction projects are expected to consume an average of 9.5 million cubic metres of pre-mixed concrete a year between 2018 and 2022, with Victoria following at around 8 billion cubic metres and Queensland predicted to grow to reach 7.2 million cubic metres a year. “The boom in infrastructure projects such as WestConnex and NorthConnex in Sydney and the West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne, is good news for the heavy construction materials industry and for the more than 110,000 Australians who are employed directly or indirectly in the sector,” Mr Slattery said. “Demand for concrete is increasing rapidly at a time when more and more planners realise what architects and builders have known for a long time: no other material is as versatile, sustainable and cost effective.” 8 / CAL January 2019
LEEA NAMES NEW REPRESENTATIVE FOR AUSTRALIA AND NZ
Justin Boehm is the new LEEA representative in ANZ.
The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) have announced the appointment of Justin Boehm as the LEEA representative in Australia and New Zealand. LEEA is established across the globe as the leading representative body for all those involved in the lifting industry worldwide. It is the respected and authoritative representative body for its members who work in every aspect of the industry – from design, manufacture, refurbishment and repair, through to the hire, maintenance and use of lifting equipment. The Association has played a key role in this specialised field for over 70 years, from training and standards setting through to health and safety, the provision of technical and legal advice, and the development of examination and licensing systems. LEEA represents its members at the highest levels across a range of both public and private bodies, including various government departments, as well nationally and internationally recognised professional and technical institutions. Dr Ross Moloney, LEEA CEO, is proud to welcome Boehm to the association and sees his appointment as a vital step towards fulfilling LEEA’s goal of boosting the profile of its membership in Australia and NZ. Boehm joins LEEA from industry association organisation Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), where he was regional manager. Ai Group, along with its affiliates, represents 60,000 businesses and one million people. “I am tremendously excited to be taking on this role for such a respected and important association as LEEA and look forward to meeting our members across the lifting equipment industry,” Boehm said. “I am particularly keen to work closely with them in the promotion of excellence and to increase their influence across all end-user markets in both countries. “In addition to actively getting out into industry to engage with end-user markets and supply chains, I want to enhance the support members receive from LEEA. I will, of course, also be helping members to ensure their audits and action plans are up to date.” www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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Capacity: 90 t Main boom: 11 m – 51 m Maximum jib: 8.7 m – 21 m Maximum tip height: 75 m
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Maximum taxi counterweight: 10.2 t All counterweight needed to achieve full capacity fits on one standard 8 wheel trailer New comfortable driver and operator cabs enhance productivity Boom configurator mode offers the easiest setup and optimal configuration Bi-fold swingaway and boom extension enhances lifting over obstacles at greater heights Six-section MEGAFORM™ boom with TWIN-LOCK™ pinning system delivers greater lifting capacity at all radii
INDUSTRY NEWS CRANES AND LIFTING WEBSITE GOES LIVE Cranes and Lifting Magazine has gone digital – launching its brand new website.
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The new digital platform – www.cranesandlifting.com.au – complements Cranes and Lifting Magazine’s strong presence, growth and long history within the Australian and New Zealand crane sectors. All the latest news on new products, technology updates, projects, case studies, association news and more will be available online and in the new and easy-to-use platform, which is dedicated to keeping the industry informed and up to date on a daily basis. The website is accompanied by a dedicated weekly Cranes and Lifting eNewsletter, featuring the latest news making headlines each week, launched at the beginning of this year. To check out the website and sign up to receive the weekly eNewsletter, or enquire digital advertising opportunities on Cranes and Lifting’s digital platforms, head to www.cranesandlifting.com.au.
SARENS LAUNCHES LARGEST CRANE IN THE WORLD In terms of sheer size and capacity, the SGC-250 is the largest crane in the world. It has a maximum load moment of 250,000tM which allows lifting an astonishing 5000t. Even at a large radius of 100m, the crane is still capable of lifting 2000t Launched in November, the SGC-250 is the first of the 3rd generation of ringbased cranes at Sarens. It has a maximum load moment of 250,000tm which allows lifting an astonishing 5000t. Even at a large radius of 100m, the crane is still
The SGC-250 can lift 5000t. 10 / CAL January 2019
capable of lifting 2000t and, even when doing so, the ground pressure remains below 25T/m2. The extremely impressive metric is achieved through the high number of wheel bogies on the double ring beams and the spreader mats that the machine features. The main boom, which is now 118m, can be extended up to 160m and the jib can be extended up to 100m. This combination can reach an incredible height of about 250m or an equally astounding radius of 275m. This flexibility guarantees that Sarens is capable of building whatever is needed by
the client, all on a double ring design of no more than 48,5m, which constitutes the outer diameter. In addition, the crane can operate two hook blocks: one on the main boom and one on the jib. In this way, the crane can cover each spot on the jobsite while still offering the combination of strong capacities and fast operations. Besides power and flexibility, Sarens has put significant effort on safety and continuity. This can, for example, be seen on the highest performance level (PL E) and full redundancy system on the hoisting and slewing system, which is achieved by intelligently connecting and steering all 12 engines in six power packs. The most unique feature of the SGC250 is its ability to relocate, fully rigged on site, from one lifting position to another. This is a characteristic that not only has no precedent among the Sarens fleet of cranes, but constitutes a breakthrough for the entire global crane industry. The crane has two sets of wheels: one for slewing 360 degrees and one for travelling. The second set is hydraulically retractable and is pushed out whenever the crane needs to travel. The SGC-250 will shortly move to its first project in the UK, playing a key role in supporting the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – currently the UK’s largest and most complex civil engineering project. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
Stronger. Faster. Smarter. How the new Nobles is helping the Australian construction crane industry. Never before has it been easier to access world class products, to prevent project delays and ensure optimal lifting performance. As a proven and trusted supplier to the Australian mobile, tower and construction crane industry, Nobles stocks the world’s leading brands locally. But that’s just one area where we seek to add new value to you. Over the past 12 months, we have made significant changes to our sales, service, warehousing and distribution operations at all our locations Australia-wide to serve you better. We call this the ‘new Nobles’, but for you, this means a stronger, faster and smarter lifting & rigging supply chain for your business. Backed up by the global product strength of our principal suppliers, Bridon-Bekaert, pewag and Skylotec, combined with direct Asian-sourcing, Nobles now carries an even larger range of the world’s best crane ropes and critical highperformance lifting and height safety equipment. Certified and tested in our NATA laboratories to Australian Standards, Nobles products are proven to last and perform safely in fast paced and challenging construction and infrastructure projects.
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nobles.com.au/AustralianConstruction | 1300 711 559 NSW | NT | QLD | SA | VIC | WA www.cranesandlifting.com.au
Our customer and technical service speed is now second to none, with a 70-strong, highly trained technical services team to keep your lifting gear working. Plus, our online Tech Inspect system ensures your equipment is always compliant and critical documentation is rapidly at hand. Unlike similar asset management systems, Tech Inspect is updated in real-time and is available via any mobile device 24/7. You can also rely on our inhouse engineering expertise – unmatched in Australia with a team of 10 highly qualified and experienced specialist lifting & rigging engineers – who have solved some of the most difficult lifting challenges in the Australian construction and infrastructure market. And for the first time in the industry, Nobles is backing up its claims with a comprehensive service guarantee that we call our Customer Promise. So, take a look at the new Nobles and let us help make your mobile, tower or construction crane business stronger, faster and smarter, too.
KHL’S INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP
AROUND THE WORLD WITH KHL Cranes and Lifting has partnered with supplier of international construction information KHL to bring you news from around the world. BAUMA CHINA CELEBRATES RECORD ATTENDANCE
ALE has added four new towers to its fleet. More than 200,000 visitors attended Bauma China 2018.
A record 212,500 visitors attended the ninth Bauma China exhibition in Shanghai, an increase of 25 per cent on the 2016 show. A total of 3,350 exhibitors from 38 countries attended, an increase of 13% over 2016, with almost three quarters coming from China. Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München GmbH, said he was delighted with the result. “2018 was a special year. In the exceptional market environment in China this year, Bauma China demonstrated why it has every reason to be called the leading trade fair for the Asian construction machinery market. It set records in all areas.” Qi Jun, Chairman of China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) said the event was very successful. “It has made history in many aspects: the number of exhibitors, the exhibition space and the total volume of orders made on site. The exhibitors have especially benefited and felt the enthusiasm of users and their expectations for the future.” Some 94 per cent of the visitors were from Asia, with the top 10 countries being China, Korea, Russia, India, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. “This year’s show has larger scale and better quality. Our booth is very busy with a lot of customers from China and abroad,”a representative from XCMG said. Jonathan Stringham, Vice President Strategy, Marketing and Digitization of Bomag Germany, said their impression of Bauma China 2018 is very good. “We have had many customers visiting our booth, showing a high interest in our machines and technology. “Most of the customers were from China of course but we have also had visitors from South-East Asia and Russia. China already is a major market for Bomag and we expect to continue our growth here.” The next Bauma China will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from November 24 to 27, 2020. 12 / CAL January 2019
ALE EXPANDS MEGA JACK 300 FLEET UK-headquartered global heavy lift and transportation specialist ALE has expanded its 300t capacity Mega Jack 300 fleet with four new towers that will be available for civil projects throughout Europe. The Mega Jack 300 jacking system was launched in 2018 and ALE describes it as “a compact and versatile system that offers a superior solution to traditional climbing jacks, across a wide variety of applications”. The system was designed in-house by ALE’s R&D department with the aim of providing a cost-effective solution to jack-up heavy modules on sites where either space, or time to do the job, is restricted. 16 towers have already been used in Kuwait to jack-up hundreds of pipe rack modules over five metres high. The four new towers will be delivered to ALE’s UK branch where they will be used on a number of forthcoming bridge projects. They bring the total amount of towers in the Group’s global fleet to over 20. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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KHL’S INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP PVE IN DUBAI CREEK HARBOUR A Manitowoc 999 crawler crane owned by PVE Cranes is one of several cranes supplied by the Dutch specialist for a project in Dubai. The 250t capacity lattice boom crawler was mounted on a barge and rigged with a 30m main boom, runner jib, 100t hook block and a ball hook, explained Joost Bömer, PVE Cranes managing director. As one of several cranes (150 to 600 tonnes capacity) supplied by PVE for the Dubai Creek Harbour development project, it was mainly used to place concrete blocks weighing 50 to 80t to construct the new quay wall. PVE engineers also organised lift plans and marine load charts for the job. As a natural harbour, the Creek was historically a busy regional hub for trade, fishing and pearling – it was the original lifeline, from where Dubai began its expansion into the city we know today. Preserving both the cultural and environmental aspects of the site is at the forefront of the Dubai Creek Harbour development – integrating a smart, green city, while building on cultural heritage, said Bömer. Covering six million square metres, the development will include integrated and sustainable transport to connect people. The project’s scope of work involves the construction of marine works at Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai. The phase 1 marine works include the advance promenade, docklands, creekside park, harbour promenade and marina 1A precincts. The project comprises construction of approximately six kilometres of hybrid gravity concrete block and rock revetment quay wall at the docklands advanced promenade and Phase 1 (marine 1a and harbour point) precincts, respectively. The project is close to ongoing land-based developments which requires close co-ordination with a number of contractors and an approach that minimises interface risk, Bömer explained. The project covers six million square metres.
The ‘Happy Star’ cranes are being upgraded.
HUISMAN UPGRADES BIGLIFT’S HAPPY STAR Heavy lift shipping company BigLift commissioned Dutch specialist Huisman to upgrade two Huisman-built 900-tonne capacity heavy lift mast cranes onboard its heavy lift vessel ‘Happy Star‘ to capacities of 1,100t. Huisman has now completed the upgrade and said it gives the vessel capabilities unmatched in the world fleet of heavy lift vessels. The upgrade of both cranes was realised by the implementation of a 20 falls reeving modus (previously 16 falls) and modifications of the top of the boom and the main hoist block, explained Huisman. The 1,100t cranes retain the possibility to sheer back to the original 800t (14 falls) and 900t (16 falls) in order to maintain full flexibility. Also, the available fly jib can still be used. A new rope, equipped with a fast reeving socket, is used to reduce the conversion time considerably. Martijn Reissenweber, Director Huisman Services, said the upgrading of cranes is not only adding lifting capacity, it is also about implementing innovations and improving capabilities in order to support our clients in their current and future business. “Huisman and BigLift Shipping share a long history together in the design of heavy lift cranes and handling materials. Our cooperation started in 1984 with the delivery of the first Heavy Lift Mast Cranes for BigLift’s ‘Happy Buccaneer’ and BigLift has been a highly valued client ever since.” The recent upgrade was executed at the Huisman Service and Assembly location in Schiedam, the Netherlands.
MAMMOET OPENS HAMBURG OFFICE Dutch heavy lift specialist Mammoet is opening a new office in Hamburg. The company says this is part of its growth strategy and that the new location will allow it to expand and improve its offerings to the North German market. The new office will service a range of sectors, including ports and shipyards, chemical plants, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, onshore and offshore wind farms, as well as civil construction. “In order to recognise and implement our customers’ constantly growing requirements in the shipping and offshore wind sectors, it is important for us to be present in the field in Northern Germany,” explains René Biernacki, Commercial Manager at Mammoet Germany. “The Hamburg location will also give us optimal market penetration and cultivation in the local petrochemical market, with a stronger focus on the increasing challenges of the global logistics industry.” The new facility is located at Heidenkampsweg 73 in 20097 Hamburg. The opening ceremony took place on 13 December, 2018. 14 / CAL January 2019
www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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CICA INDUSTRY REPORT
FROM THE PRESIDENT THE FOCUS ON INDUSTRY improvements in the area training and competence is now at its greatest level within CICA. The CICA board is unified in supporting purpose driven initiatives in many areas, such as, a nationwide traineeship program, and the development of a standardised verification of competency (VOC) program accessible to all. But at times, some issues naturally evolve in industry as different regulators fail to deal with some of the more intricate and dynamic idiosyncrasies, which exist. One such area is in licensing, both High Risk and road access licensing, for use of Pick and Carry mobile cranes (PC’s). In particular, the road registered PC’s, and by these I am referring to Franna, Tidd, Humma and the remaining lost players in the market such as Linmac, Zoomlion and the Panda. Each of these are common in their design of a hydraulic articulated steering system, different to other road-based vehicles. Further, they differ in crane mode, as their dynamic nature is compensated through design by such mechanisms as derating the load chart when used on uneven ground, or once the crane is articulated greater than 5 degrees. According to the CICA CraneSafe database, PC’s account for approximately 40 per cent of annual inspections. On face value this is fine, but couple this with incident statistics and we gain some clarity of the problem. Although absolute statistics are hard to establish, through best estimation from insurance data, and crane hirer incident information, PC’s currently account for somewhere between 64% - 68% of all crane incidents. This disproportion has prompted a large focus on the PC market and placed enormous pressure on hirers to provide evidence to their clients that operators are trained and experienced adequately. 16 / CAL January 2019
The focus on PC safety has been so much so, some large tier one civil contractors and builders have banned the use of PC’s on their sites. Others have allowed their use, but demanded only those with the most modern operating systems, which detect uneven ground and adjust the load chart downward accordingly. These types of reactions in the market are absolutely justified because industry has no faith that the formal regulation process can deliver safe operator use in this sector. This is the reason why CICA, as the authority for the crane industry, has established a strong presence in multiple areas to improve safety in the PC hire market and to help our members regain the confidence of their clients. The first area to influence is training and traineeships. Anybody external to the crane industry is astounded that we have been unsuccessful in implementing a nationwide traineeship program. To date, we only have a small number of trainees in NSW, with a further intake commencing next year after a recent recruitment drive by the NSW CICA branch. A small contingent of Victorian trainees will start in 2019 with CICA achieving a grant through Incolink to hire a traineeship mentor/liaison officer to ensure quality is delivered while the program is in its infancy. This is a huge breakthrough for Victorian trainees in a state that hasn’t seen a mobile crane trainee since the late 1990s. We are more confident than ever at CICA that once we establish programs in both NSW and Victoria, following on in other states will occur quickly. CICA, along with other industry stakeholders, including the CFMEU and some volunteer crane owners have purposefully designed the traineeship in Victoria to require a non-slewing,
CICA president Tom Smith
CN High Risk Licence as part of the traineeship progression. This includes road use training after attaining a heavy rigid truck license. This means our qualified trainees of the future will follow the first structured program which specifically identifies the CN license, plus hours of practical learning, as an independent training module. This is absolutely overdue but pleasing to see for the future in our industry. The success of the traineeship is essential to build better skills for the future, but how do we deal with the present? A very large proportion of PC incidents occur with experienced operators who have held a High-Risk Licence for many years and have operated varying types of cranes throughout this time. The existence of the two-week ticket through the High-Risk Licensing system has created many skill voids in the industry and created a generation of skill gaps, which are potentially impossible to fix entirely. One of the greatest flaws in this licensing system directly impacts the use of PC’s. That is, a slewing crane endorsement, such as C6 (slewing cranes up to a 60 tonne MRC), is transferrable as a legal endorsement to operate any PC in the market. This technically means there is no legal requirement under the current High-Risk License structure to have ever seen a PC prior to attempting to operate one. If that’s not alarming enough for a health and safety regulator to issue a safety alert, then what is? An outdated standard involving an independent winch brake to www.cranesandlifting.com.au
CICA BOARD lift personnel perhaps? One reaction throughout the hire market to questionable competency is the demand on hirers to attain an independent VOC. The VOC, however, doesn’t by its nature demand that the assessor has any crane operating experience at all, rather it relies on the assessor holding a Certificate IV in Training and Assessing. Although this system evolved with the best intentions, it is our position at CICA that a peer assessed review of an operator on a specific crane model will deliver industry greater competence verification than the current VOC process. That is, experienced operators who have been initially familiarised by the manufacturer at point of delivery, are then in a position to peer review a second, third (and so on) operator for that specific machine model. This is what has formed the foundation of the fast emerging CrewSafe program designed by CICA. Through CrewSafe an operator is assessed by their peer. Each critical function of the machine allows video evidence to be uploaded on to the verification database. The program is make and model specific and stores this video evidence on a member login interface, which allows clients to view video of the operator actually performing and verifying their competence. There will still be those in the market who insist on a Certificate IV assessor determining the VOC but the assessor can gain access to the video evidence and on this basis should be able to concur the competence off the CrewSafe member login. We see this as important across all crane models but specifically in the PC market where client confidence in operator competence is low. This system will allow the client to view video evidence of an operator prior to them arriving on site, a solution CICA see as innovative and progressive in helping to solve an entrenched industry problem. Issues surrounding the safe use of PC’s are not isolated to the machine in crane mode. PC’s are coming under increasing www.cranesandlifting.com.au
scrutiny during road use. A Queensland coronial inquest in 2017 placed a heavy focus on PC road speeds and licensing. This prompted a working group with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) specifically on the issue of PC’s on the road. In this case, the coroner recommended capping PC road speeds at 60km/h, a position not supported by CICA due to a range of peripheral issues such a cap would create, including forcing PC’s off arterial roads and on to smaller roads in more densely populated areas. In mid-2018 the SPV1 Notice, for which PCs fall under, was amended to limit the PCs to 80km/h. At the time of this writing the working group on road use competency is kicking off the development of a PC training and assessment module. The soon to be launched Victorian trainee program also specifies training candidates for road use of PC’s, an area which has been void of a targeted learning program in the past. The old saying “if you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to get the same result” certainly exists for safety innovation in pick and carry mobile cranes. All of us at CICA are not prepared to follow a status quo, which has failed to deliver real industry safety improvements in this extremely important facet of our marketplace. We continue to work hard in the development of traineeships, we continue to invest time and resources in developing the CrewSafe program to create a better, more targeted and visible VOC program; and we continue to work closely with the NHVR and road regulators to find improvements in road safety, road access and driver training. Innovation and progressive industry programs will deliver improvement in pick and carry mobile crane safety, and at CICA, we are committed to invest the resources to deliver. Tom Smith CICA President Managing Director, McKay United 0439130567
Tom Smith – President Geoff Bevan – Vice President Andrew Esquilant – Director Danny Black – Director John Gillespie – Director Bart Sutherland – Director Marcus Ferrari – Director CICA OFFICE Brandon Hitch, Chief Executive Officer 03 8320 0444 Tracey Watson, Business Operations Manager (VIC/ TAS Secretariat) 03 8320 0411 Heidi Biuwale, CICA Administration Officer (NSW, QLD & NT Secretariat) 1300 887 277 John Humphries, VIC/TAS Liaison Officer 03 8320 0433 Alice Edwards, Project Engineer 03 8320 440 Patrick Cran, Plant & Operator Assessment Officer 0488 004 274 Damien Hense, Road Safety Liaison Officer 03 8320 0460 Taylah Allan, CraneSafe Administration Officer 03 8320 0455 Michelle Verkerk Marketing and Media Communications Officer 03 8320 0420 Unit 10, 18-22 Lexia Place, Mulgrave Vic 3170 (PO Box 136 Mount Waverley Vic 3149) Phone: 03 9501 0078 Fax: 03 9501 0083 Email: admin@cica.com.au Website: www.cica.com.au For information please visit our website or call the CICA office. January 2019 CAL / 17
CICA INDUSTRY REPORT
THE CASE FOR A BETTER TRAINING MODEL CICA provides an overview of why there is a need to train crane operators to futureproof the industry and the training available out there. THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR is a cornerstone to the Australian economy and crane operators are front-and-centre of major construction projects. Skills development in construction workers underpins this productivity. If workers are skilled, they are safer, more efficient and can mentor others. CICA held a trainee Information Evening which was held in the Novotel, Rooty Hill, NSW in late November. Presentations covered the need to train crane operators necessary for replacing an ageing workforce and to ‘futureproof ’ the crane industry. THE WHY? In the mid-2000s, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulators privatised the training and assessment of High-Risk Work Licenses. At the same time, the practice of using a log book to document work experience was abandoned. Whilst this was done with the purpose of making training accessible, it had unintended consequences resulting in High-Risk Work Licence courses of varying quality, no minimum course length, predictive testing, and minimal oversight of the training organisations. The construction industry is key to the Australian economy – it contributes to Australia’s economic output and the productivity of the construction industry is a crucial factor for meeting Australia’s infrastructure targets. Crane operators are front-and-centre of major construction projects. Skills development in construction workers underpins this productivity. If workers are skilled, they are safer, more efficient and can mentor others. Another issue that impacts the skill set of crane operators is the fact that 18 / CAL January 2019
the workforce is ageing with a large proportion of Crane Operator, Dogging and Rigging License holders retiring in the next 10 – 15 years. TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY To train crane operators necessary for replacing an ageing workforce and to ‘future-proof ’ the crane industry, a Traineeship model is favourable because it provides a responsive training program without sacrificing education quality. By combining the Certificate III in Crane Construction Operations with hands-on training on worksites and in the yard, the Trainee is equipped and empowered with skills in lift planning, business operations, crane scheduling and other skills that they can leverage off to forge an exceptional career. Technology makes it possible for the construction industry to be more productive with less. An exciting prospect for today’s Trainees is that they will see technology embed itself into the construction industry in ways that are inconceivable to many in the industry today. For technology to drive productivity, there will be a growing need for people who are skilled with this technology. Changes to prefabrication, materials, the use of virtual reality and robots in construction and crane operations are all going to require technological skills and literacy. THE NSW TRAINEESHIP INFORMATION EVENING More than fifty people attended the Trainee Information Evening in Rooty Hill, NSW. The number of people present reflected the tenacity of those in the crane industry – the prospective trainees had passed the first test in persistence just by getting there safely.
Andrew Esquilant opened the evening with his own testimony about his humble beginnings as a dogger in the Crane Industry, to now being the General Manager of Liebherr Australia Mobile Crane and Crawler Division. He challenged and encouraged prospective trainees to be proactive in seeking out opportunities. Danny Adair, as a representative of Two-Way Cranes, shared his experience and expanded on the great mentoring relationships he has with current and former trainees. Danny encouraged anyone who is prepared to work hard, to make the most of their excellent prospects in the crane industry. Corey Davies, one of Danny’s former trainees and former winner of the CICA Trainee of the Year Award, also spoke highly of his experiences. Greg O’Neill from TAFE, NSW gave an overview of what the Certificate III in Construction Crane Operations entails and Eric Milne from AiGroup spoke to the positives and requirements of on-the-job training. COLLABORATIVE EFFORT The Trainee Information Night was a collaborative effort, and similarly for crane operating skills to be developed and fostered in trainees – co-operation is required from many stakeholders. The crane industry needs to get behind this initiative by encouraging young people or people looking for a career change, to view this industry as an attractive career pathway. For more information about the Certificate III course, or in employing a trainee, please contact Heidi at CICA. For more information and to register, head to the CICA – The Crane Industry Council of Australia Facebook page www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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UP FRONT / MANITOWOC
WALKING THROUGH THE NEW GENERATION MANITOWOC ALL TERRAINS Manitowoc’s new generation Grove all terrains are stronger, lighter and feature an emissions compliant single engine. John Stewart walks Cranes and Lifting through the range and highlights how well it has been received. AS A CRANE manufacturer on the global stage Manitowoc has to ensure that new product releases comply with various and differing regulations found in the major markets. This seems to be what happened with it’s Grove all terrain line-up. John Stewart, VP and General Manager of the Manitowoc Australian operation, provides an insight into his company’s work on new products, the engineering involved and how the local market has The range has been well received by the market.
20 / CAL January 2019
received them. Crane manufacturers must comply with the wide range of European and American road regulations and emission standards to sell cranes. This includes Manitowoc and the Grove mobile crane products. These increasingly strict requirements has meant a redesign of the all terrain range seen in Australia. “To fit a new engine into an existing range might sound straight forward,
but it isn’t,” Stewart said. “Not all new, low emission engines fit into the cranes existing envelop which leads to major redesigns which can lead to a lull in terms of product releases. But in 2015, shipments of the GMK 5250L – a completely new five-axle 250t machine – began arriving in Australia. Today we have over 20 in the country.” The GMK5250L was the first of the new generation of cranes with the single engine and it allowed for a much stronger and lighter crane with an efficient engine. “At Manitowoc we like to think we take the lead with innovative technology and the Megatrak suspension system is a good example. It’s an independent suspension without a solid axle underneath. Independent suspension is a much better system, it’s lighter and you don’t have a dead weight hanging beneath the crane,” Stewart said. “We can add more weight where it is needed versus having the axle dead weight which allows for our frames to be deeper as we don’t have the differential moving up and down underneath the crane. Our frames can be deeper which means you have a stronger crane with less material. “We keep enhancing the Megatrak system by moving to ‘top steering’ and making weight saving measures so the cranes are getting more compact and lighter, but also stronger. The GMK5250L was the first big step in this direction.” Manitowoc also ‘wrap’ or bend chassis frames from one piece of plate versus welding six or seven pieces of plate together. This saves weight and also strengthens the frame, as every weld could www.cranesandlifting.com.au
be viewed as a possible weak link. The new designs had to take into account the Tier 4 interim as well as Tier 4 final engines but the engineers also had to plan for Tier 5, due in 2020, and ensure the engines will fit into the new design packages. “We use Mercedes engines almost exclusively in our all terrain range,” commented Stewart. “When you consider all the emissions technology for engines, you’d probably concede that Cummins is leading the way. That’s why a lot of the components in the Mercedes emissions package feature Cummins parts.” The GMK5250L, like all the new generation all terrains from Grove, features a single engine concept that uses one angle drive going through the centre of the cranes swivel and directly into the variable pumps. The Grove single engine design ensures the most efficient use of the engines power with only one angle
drive that reduces fuel consumption and noise. There is no oil flow or second drive sapping the performance of the crane functions. As a point of reference, competitive manufacturers’ one engine design see either a second angle drive with its additional mechanical linkages in the super or oil pumping through the swivel, so we feel our design is the quietest and most efficient,” Stewart said. The GMK4100L-1 succeeded the GMK 4100L model, a two-engine machine with 60 metres of boom but it was just too heavy on the road to make an impact in Australia. So, Manitowoc sold a ‘non L version’ with a 52m versus a 60m boom, which was successful, but, according to Stewart, it was in a very competitive segment. “It was a strong crane but most manufacturers had a 50m-plus boom on a four-axle 100t or 90t machine. When we launched the GMK4100L-1, a single
John Stewart.
engine machine on a lighter, stronger four-axle chassis, we again maximise the capacity with the frame,” Stewart said. “With the top steer Megatrak system you steer through the chassis frame and are maximizing the weight savings with the independent suspension.”
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UP FRONT / MANITOWOC
The original design allowed enough room beneath the chassis frame for steering arms. The new design repositions the steering to allow differentials to be mounted directly to the frames, providing a deeper, stronger frame with less weight. “In terms of weight, the European standard is 12t per axle, but realistically that’s difficult to achieve. The Europeans have been much more stringent with the enforcement of weights,” Stewart added. “So, starting with the GMK5250L, we reduced the target from 12t per axle to 11.8t per axle which has really helped dramatically in Australia. Now all the cranes are extremely road-able, the weights fit Australia very nicely. In fact, the last six or seven cranes have just driven onto the weighbridge and straight off again in less than a minute. Before, it would take 30-40 minutes to move weights around to get the weights right. “All the cranes are extremely easy to get on the road including the GMK4100L-1 which features 60m of boom. This model has been on the market since 2017 and we have over 25 cranes in the country.” The latest crane in the new generation of Grove all terrains is the five-axle GMK5150L. This is a direct replacement for the GMK5130L-2, and introduces a new class of crane at 150t. “The GMK5150-L is another brand new crane from the tyres up and improves capacity, has a 15 per cent to 20 per cent better load chart with the same counterweight, the single engine design and a little less overall gross vehicle weight. So we’re getting 150t capacity from the same package with 15 per cent to 20 per cent better load charts by maximising the weight saving and strength features,” Stewart said. “The GMK 5150L arrived in Australia last September and we now have over 25 cranes operating with customers or on the water. With the weight targets of 11.8 per axle, the machines have been well received even in Queensland, which was typically the hardest of states to get a boom over the front five-axle machine on the road. The GMK 6400 was the first modern big crane with the single engine in the industry and Manitowoc recognised 22 / CAL January 2019
that with the amount of engineering advantages involved and the efficiencies obtained from electronically controlled engines, having one engine was the way to go. This provided an opportunity to consolidate the extra weight savings and put it where it would do the most good. Making the structure of the crane much stronger was a real game changer. “Grove started the single engine conceptual idea back in 2009 and
launched the GMK 6400 in 2012. To be honest, we weren’t 100 per cent convinced that this concept would be accepted so we simultaneously launched the GMK 6300L, the smaller brother to the GMK6400 which featured a traditional two-engine configuration. But, the single engine concept was well received and worked perfectly and now we are extremely confident that all the future cranes are going to be single engine design.”
The latest crane in the range is the GMK5150L.
www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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INDUSTRY NEWS / HEAVY EQUIPMENT FINANCE
LIFTING FINANCING STANDARDS Despite the construction sector’s ‘mega boom cycle’, financial institutions are showing a reluctance to lend money in the face of the Royal Commission into the Banking sector. According to Mark Whitla, that’s the type of environment Heavy Equipment Financing Australia thrives on. WORKING AS A CREDIT analyst with BankWest & Westpac in the late 1990s, specifically lending to businesses in heavy industry, encouraged Mark Whitla to make a positive difference to each customer. “I’ve always been passionate about what I do and I like construction people. They are mostly honest, hard working and straight shooters looking for a company to manage the financing process,” he said. Whitla saw an opportunity to provide a service that benefited customers rather than the bank and in June 2000 started in the broking industry. He could see a gap in the market by providing excellent customer service and results, by tailoring financial packages to suit individual businesses, which he does so through his business Heavy Equipment Financing Australia (HEFA). “We’re relational rather than transactional. Everyone’s risk profile, business appetite and age are unique. We have an old fashioned approach to customer service and look to develop a transparent working relationship, get to know the customer’s business and the relationship strengthens over time. This allows us the ability to choose each financier for each specific financial requirement more accurately, delivering the best result for the customer. “We started HEFA with that mantra and to specifically target small to medium businesses in the construction and earthmoving equipment sectors. More recently, crane finance has become our strongest focus in terms of activity and secured business. Many companies deserve better finance solutions than those delivered by their current providers,” he said. 24 / CAL January 2019
Mark Whitla from Heavy Equipment Financing Australia.
One company that HEFA has been helping recently is Cosmo Cranes. Celebrating their 15th year, the Sydney based business is owned and managed by the Handley brothers, John and Josh. According to John Handley, the current construction boom is keeping the business busy and HEFA is helping to grow the fleet. “We operate a couple of businesses within the Cosmo Group, Cosmo Cranes with our tower crane and mobile cranes fleets, and Crane Decks Australia – our loading platform business,” Handley said. “Cosmo Cranes operates around 42 tower cranes which include Terex with some XCMGs and the new RECOM range, which we’re excited about. The mobile fleet includes Demag, Grove and franna cranes. Crane Decks Australia manages approximately 220 crane decks, and we’ve got a crew of about 90 guys. So, we’re an all round materials handling company.” According to Handley, the business predominantly focuses on the east
coast where all of their customers are enjoying continued growth. The tower crane fleet has been busy with the residential high-rise sector and is now busy with refurbishing hotels as well. The infrastructure sector is an area that Cosmo Cranes is focusing on with its mobile fleet. The company’s facilities are in Western Sydney where there’s a lot of infrastructure work planned, with the new airport coming on line at Badgerys Creek. “We’ve been working with HEFA for a while, they’ve financed a lot of our decks. We are also welcoming the arrival of our new Demag 300t crane in January, which is the first in the country” he said. “We have a good relationship with the team at Terex Cranes, and collectively with HEFA and BOQ Equipment Finance have secured a competitive and satisfactory result.” HEFA likes to support the use of smaller financiers like BOQ as an industry partner (where appropriate), rather than one of the “Big Four” ensures www.cranesandlifting.com.au
“In general terms, if you’ve got a customer that is buying a large crane, and you are creating a new market for that crane, you want to ensure the payment terms and ability for debt repayment are at a sustainable level.”
diversity in the banking sector. “Mark gets to know your business very well. He asks the questions that other people don’t ask, and therefore understands how the business runs. He can then paint a detailed picture for the finance companies, so he’s really good in that sense. He’s very reactive too – if there’s something that needs to happen he gets onto it straight away. He started on the crane decks and got to understand that business and now it’s fairly easy to get finance.” According to Handley, the 300t will be very busy once it arrives in the New Year. Cosmo cranes has a number of projects coming to an end with the tower cranes so primarily it has been bought to pull these down and it’s going to be busy doing so. Whitla comments on the importance of customer service.
HEFA has been working closely with Sydneybased business Cosmo Cranes. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
“Obviously, there are a number of large competitors out there including the banks who can deal on a direct basis. But we don’t think they service customers like we do. We take the time to listen to the client, visiting them on site or their premises (wherever that might be) and make things happen from there. “There’s definitely a spot in the market for HEFA, to provide quality service on an ongoing basis. Generally speaking, we think good quality service is going out of fashion, so that’s what we focus on and pitch to our customers,” he said. Cash flow or business liquidity varies from one customer to the next so structuring the finance and aligning the financial package to specific requirements is important. “In general terms, if you’ve got a customer that is buying a large crane, and you are creating a new market for that
crane, you want to ensure the payment terms and ability for debt repayment are at a sustainable level,” Whitla said. Crane hirers all vary and have a different liquidity and business profile. For a business with a small crane fleet it is paramount to ensure the finance structure and approval conditions suit the client’s cash flow requirements. It’s essential to understand each business and find out where the customer base is and examine industry trends. If there is strong cash flow now but they expect the conditions to slow in the future, a business should be factoring the debt amortisation accordingly. As a result of the Royal Commission in to the banking sector, finance is not easy to obtain. Lenders are being cautious, especially with large value single assets, so the I’s have to be dotted and T’s crossed with credit paperwork. Some financiers are also using the current environment as an excuse to coerce businesses to provide extra security and approval conditions. These can include hefty cash deposits, shorter finance structures, General Security Agreements and Loan Subordination Agreements. Customers should challenge and question these proposals wherever possible. Some transactions can be weeks in the preparation, requiring the most up to date financial information including asset value retention and the secondary market. HEFA works closely with accountants to get cash flow projections for the business, industry data regarding the value retention and the resale value of the crane. “We’re driven by customer satisfaction, and achieving the desired result with every transaction. Sometimes, new customers come to us after they’ve gone to their bank or another broker and the application has been declined or there’s been an unsatisfactory approval. So we can find ourselves literally behind the eight ball,” Whitla explains. “But, in most cases we can overcome historical knockbacks and get the deal done and when that is the case, we have a happy customer and another success story.” January 2019 CAL / 25
IN FOCUS / TOP 100
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THE TOP 100 CRANES LIST
26 / CAL January 2019
Mobile cranes
Max load of largest wheeled mobile crane
Crawlers
Max load of largest crawler crane
Tower cranes
Max load of largest tower crane
Truck-mounted cranes
Max load of largest truck-mounted crane
Dry hire
Wet hire
Hi Lift Cranes Ltd Hookup Crane Hire Hydralift Cranes Ian Roebuck Crane hire Ltd Independent Crane hire Pty Ltd Industrial Site Services Ltd International Cranes Pty Ltd Interstate Crane & Transport Hire Pty Ltd John Holland Komp Cranes
Tonnage of largest crane
Capital Cranes Central Cranes Century Cranes Coffs City Cranes Collins Lifting Ltd Cosmo Mobile Cranes CRANE LOGISTICS PTY LTD Crane Services Culham Engineering Co Ltd Daniel Smith Industries Ltd Debner Cranes Pty Ltd DJ Adair Crane Services Everwilling Cranes Pty Ltd Fleurieu Cranes Freo Group Fulton Hogan Gillespie Crane Services Gow’s Transport & Mobile Cranes Ham’s Crane Hire Hauraki Piling HEB Construction Ltd
Description of largest crane
ABC Crane Hire ALE Heavylift (Australia) Alfasi Hire All Over Rigging Andrade Holdings T/A Bentley Crane Hire Andrews Crane Hire Pty Ltd Atlas Cranes Northland Limited Australian Machinery Hire Biglift Cranes and Heavy Haulage Boddingtons Hire Boom Logistics Borger Crane Hire Botany Cranes Calder Stewart Plant Ltd CAPEL CRANE HIRE
WA QLD VIC NSW WA
Tadano ATF 130G-5 AL SK350 Liebherr LR1300 Liebherr 1090-4.2 Liebherr LTM 1500 8-1
130 5000 300 90 500
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130 750 140 90 500
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– 3600 300 4 275
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55 – – 3 50
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80 130 55 130 145 750 500 130 100 350
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5 – 80 – 80 750 600 100 250 –
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60 30 – – – 60 – – – 60
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130 250 250 110 90 220 220 400 220 750 220 300 300 400 750 220 350 200 100 65 280
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
3 250 250 110 90 220 220 400 220 170 220 300 300 400 500 40 400 200 100 – 35
Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes No – No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
3 4 100 110 – – – 100 – 750 300 – – – 750 250 350 – – 65 280
No No No Yes No – No No No No No – – Yes – No – No No No No
– – – – – – – – – – – – – 24 – – – – – – –
No Yes No Yes Yes – Yes Yes Yes No No – – Yes – No – Yes Yes Yes No
– 250 – 55 30 – 60 10 40 – – – – 55 – – – 55 100 10 –
No Yes Yes Yes No – Yes Yes No Yes No – – Yes – Yes – No No No Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes – Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes – – Yes – Yes – Yes Yes Yes Yes
NZ WA VIC NZ VIC NZ VIC WA
Liebherr Ltm 1080/1 Grove GMK5130-2 Tadano GR1450EX 130T 2010 Liebherr 145t Tadano Rough Terrain Liebherr LR750 Demag CC2800 Liebherr 130T Kobelco CKE 2500E Crawler Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 - ALL TERRAIN 2018 Liebherr LTM 1130 - 5.1 grove gmk5250l Liebherr LTM1250-6.1 TADANO, FAUN ATF Liebherr LTM 1090-4.1 Grove GMK5220 TEREX DEMAG AC220/5 Grove GMK6400 Liebherr LTM1220 Liebherr LR1750 Crawler Liebherr All Terrain Grove GMK6300L Liebherr LTM 1300-6.2 Grove GMK 6400 Manitowoc 750t Crawler Kobelco CKE2500 Liebherr LR 1350/1 LTM LIEBHERR ALL TERRAIN Demag 5 axel 100t Kobelco 7065 Crawler Hitachi Sumitomo SCX28002 Crawler Liebherr LTM1160-5.2 MAC25 Liebherr LTM1200-5.1 Liebherr LTM 1250 Liebherr LTM 1250-6.1 Tadano Grove All terrain Demag AC 200-1
160 25 200 250 250 30 130 200
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
160 25 200 250 250 25 250 200
Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
100 – 4 100 3 – 3 –
No No No No – No – No
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Yes No No Yes – Yes – No
30 – – 22 – 30 – –
No No Yes No – Yes – Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes – Yes – Yes
QLD VIC
Liebherr LR1400 Liebherr LTM 1055
400 55
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Cranes and Lifting reveals the leading crane operators in Australia and New Zealand and what services they have on offer.
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Max load of largest crawler crane
Tower cranes
Max load of largest tower crane
Truck-mounted cranes
Max load of largest truck-mounted crane
Dry hire
Wet hire
Yes Yes Yes
250 250 250
No Yes Yes
– 600 280
No – No
– – –
No – Yes
– – 85
Yes – Yes
Yes – Yes
100 95 100 600 80 100 1200
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
– 95 100 – 80 100 1200
– Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
– 3 13 – 80 – –
– Yes No – No No No
– 5 – – – – –
– No Yes – Yes Yes Yes
– – 4 – 28 60T 60
– No No – Yes No Yes
– Yes Yes – Yes Yes Yes
350 350 450 100 450 350 600 55 55 100 8 40 80
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
350 350 230 450 450 350 600 55 55 100 – 40 –
Yes Yes – Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No –
120 300 – 350 127 3 – – – 3 – – –
Yes No – No No No No No No No No No –
24 – – – – – – – – – – – –
No Yes – Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No –
– 16 – 60 – 55 600 55 – – 8 – –
Yes No – Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No –
No Yes – Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes –
NSW
Liebherr LTM 1130/5.1
130
Yes
130
No
–
No
–
Yes
130
No
Yes
WA NZ VIC NSW NSW VIC VIC ACT NSW VIC QLD SA VIC NZ NSW NSW
1600 Grove GMK6400 LTM 1450 8.1 Seneboggen 673 Liebherr LR 1300 SX Grove GMK 5220 Liebherr LTM1225 GMK6400 Terex CTL430 Liebherr LTM 250 -5.1 Liebherr LR 11350 Liebherr ltm 1130 5.1 Tadano Faun ATF 220G-5 Demag CC2800 Grove GMK 5130-1 Raimondi MRT294 topless tower crane Liebherr LTM-1300.6.1 Kobelco CKE2500 Liebherr LR1400/2 Terex Demag CC8800-1 Grove GMK6300L Manitowoc M16000 Grove GMK 6300 Liebherr LTM 1100-5.1 Grove GMK 5130-1 Grove All Terrain Demag All Terran Demag AC60/3L Terex Demag AC100
0 400 500 70 300 220 250 400 24 250 1350 130 220 600 130 18
No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
– 400 500 70 110 220 250 400 – 250 – 130 220 550 130 –
No Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No
– 250 – 70 300 – – 4 – – – – 4 600 – –
No No No No – No No Yes Yes No – No – Yes No Yes
– – – – – – – 24 24 – – – – 96 – 16
No No Yes Yes – No Yes Yes No Yes – Yes – Yes Yes No
– – 60 6 – – 250 50 – 35 – 50 – 45 85 –
No Yes Yes Yes – Yes Yes No No Yes – Yes – Yes No Yes
No Yes Yes Yes – Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes – Yes – Yes Yes Yes
300 250 400 1600 300 400 300 100 130 100 60 60 100
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
300 50 350 300 300 350 300 – 130 100 60 60 100
No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No
– 250 450 1600 – 400 – – – – – – –
– Yes No No No No No – – – No No No
– 32 – – – – – – – – – – –
– No Yes Yes No No No – – – Yes Yes Yes
– – 55 55 – – – – – – 15 16 60
– Yes No Yes No Yes No – – – No No Yes
– Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes – – – Yes Yes Yes
Kwik Logistics Lampson Cranes Lee Crane Hire Pty Ltd
WA NSW QLD
Leighs Construction Load 28 Cranes Macweld Crane Hire Pty Ltd Mammoet Australia Marinetec Engineering & Construction Matherson Crane Hire Max Crane and Equipment Hire (SA) Pty Ltd MCG Cranes McIntosh cranes McKay United Crane Hire McPhan Cranes & Transport Melrose Cranes & Rigging Pty Ltd Membreys transport & crane hire Metcalf Crane Services Pty Ltd MS ENGINEERING LTD Myaree Crane Hire Pty Ltd National Cranes & Engineering Network Waitaki Ltd Olympus Cranes Pty Ltd Pacific National Constructions Pty Ltd Performance Cranes & Rigging Pty Ltd Photon Offshore Pollock Cranes Premier Cranes & Rigging Preston Hire Project Dry Hire Pty Ltd Project Hire Pty Ltd Quinlan Cranes RAR Cranes Pty Ltd Reds Global Pty Ltd Rivex Crane Hire Pty Ltd Sarens Australia Pty Ltd Sharp Carriers & Cranes Pty Ltd Skylift Crane Services Pty Ltd Smith Crane & Construction Ltd Strait Up Cranes & Rigging Strictly Cranes (AUS) Pty Ltd
NZ SA SA WA NZ QLD SA
Sydney Cranes The Fletcher Construction Company Titan Cranes Ltd Tutt Bryant Two Way Cranes Universal Cranes Valley Cranes Pty Ltd WA Pickles (NSW) Pty Ltd Warringah Crane & Transport WesCranes Wildmans cranes Williams Crane Hire Williams cranes & Rigging Pty Ltd
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NSW NZ NZ NSW NSW QLD NSW NSW NSW NSW NSW SA QLD
Description of largest crane
250 2600 280
VIC NZ VIC NSW NSW VIC VIC NZ WA NSW NZ NSW NSW
GMK 5250L Lampson LTL-2600 Transi-lift Hitatchi Sumitomo SXC 2800-2 Demag AC100 Liebherr All terrain Liebherr All Terrain Demag CC2800 Grove GMK 4080/1 Demag AC 100/4L Liebherr LTM11200-9.1 (1200t mobile crane) Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 Demag AC 350-6 Grove GMK7450 Tadano ATF 100G-4 Grove GMK 7450 LTM 1350 Demag TC2800 GMK355 Terex Challenger 3160 Grove 5100 Palfinger 50002 Liebherr 1040-2 Kato All Terrain
State
Company name
*–: information not provided or available. While there are more than 100 crane operators throughout Australia and New Zealand, this year’s Top 100 Cranes list represents those businesses that elected to be part of the list and are featured in alphabetical order. Information has been provided, or collected to the best of our abilities and should not be relied on solely for purchasing decisions.
January 2019 CAL / 27
Experience the Progress.
Mobile cranes from Liebherr Top capacities in all lifting classes Long telescopic booms with variable working equipment High mobility and short assembly times Comprehensive comfort and safety features Worldwide customer support by manufacturer
Liebherr-Australia Pty. Ltd. Mobile Crane Division 1-15 James Erskine Drive Erskine Park, NSW 2759 Phone: (02) 9852 1800 E-mail: sales.las@liebherr.com www.facebook.com/LiebherrConstruction www.liebherr.com.au
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The CICA Crane Owners Panel featured a number of key industry figureheads.
CRANE OWNERS PANEL AT THE CICA CONFERENCE The Crane Owner Panel at the 2018 CICA conference gave valuable insight into the challenges the crane sector faces today. Cranes and Lifting was there to get all the details. ONE OF THE MOST popular and well attended sessions at the CICA conference was the Crane Owner Panel. Facilitated by Nick Morris, Boom Logistics the panel featured Danny Adair, Asharn, Paul Roche, Diamond Valley Mobile Crane Hire, Marcus Rigney, Load 28 Crane Hire, Malcolm Smith, Tutt Bryant, and Greg Lee, Lee Crane Hire. The panel covered a number of challenges facing the industry including the skills shortage, traineeships the life cycle of fleets.
we focused a little more on that I think it would help the industry.
NICK MORRIS: Do you feel the crane sector, whether mobile or fixed, is adequately represented in construction? If not, what can we do to change that?
NICK: Where the client has a year or more of work, it is now common for them to dry hire a crane. Is this affecting our routines and crane hire business?
MARCUS RIGNEY: In terms of resources, I think we are adequately supplied, but I also think we can do better. My comment is more from an association awareness point of view. In SA we have been working hard on improving awareness of what we do as association. We all work hard voluntarily inside our association, and I really want builders to understand some of the work that work. We did this with an industry day, providing a platform for us to open communication with our builders and it was very successful. As an association, if
MALCOLM SMITH: Everyone has a business model and we’ve had to adapt ours to changing markets over several years. Long-term dry hire can certainly mean less of a return on investment because you are actually earning a constant rate. It’s also been quite difficult to get that constant utilisation. The other major reason for dry hire is the flexibility it offers the customer. Flexibility of labour for example; they can bring in their own labour and employ them if it’s long term. The customer has the ability to use the labour to do other
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DANNY ADAIR: In general, I think we are doing a good job. Each state is communicating better and we are making a lot more inroads with government bodies. It is a hard task and there are a lot of people who have put a lot of time and effort in. NSW findings have been flowing into Queensland, and work done by the Queensland committee will flow back to NSW.
things onsite not just drive the cranes; flexibility to get out and drive other equipment, do other tasks on the job site. GREG LEE: Yes, similar comments to Malcolm. We’re getting a lot of clients wanting all the advantages of dry hire, but wanting us to supply our experienced operators and only pay a dry hire rate. They don’t realise how hard it is to take experienced operators out of your wet hire fleet to operate one of their cranes. We had one particular job where we supplied all the dry hire cranes and they wanted us to supply the operators and absolutely refused to use their own men. DANNY: In Sydney we’re seeing a fair amount of dry hire equipment coming into the market. They put four cranes on jobs with only three crane crews, so they save on one crew and then multi-skill the guys around the job. With the cost of labour, that’s only going to worsen. There are major infrastructure projects all over Sydney some might requiring 15 to 20 cranes. During a recent meeting there was talk about the infrastructure and need for up to 300 cranes in Sydney. We don’t have enough people. They’ll end up dry hiring gear, with people operating three or four bits of plant, and that’s going to cut their costs. January 2019 CAL / 29
INDUSTRY NEWS / CICA PANEL
A survey two years ago found the average Sydney crane company had labour costs at over 50 per cent of turnover, some up to 58 per cent, that’s just a slow death. Three crews operating four cranes on major projects is driving very aggressive site agreements which is driving a lower cost option. I hear it every day of the week, ‘Your labour is a bit costly’. ‘I’m happy with the crane price but what can you do on labour?’ It does affect our businesses. GREG: It’s becoming more difficult to attract decent people and competent operators; we’re having to put people on lifestyle rosters, which is certainly changing the way we do business. Remunerating crews is restrictive in some ways but there are other markets where you can pay someone what you think he’s worth as opposed to his classification. Providing these lifestyle agreements ties in with the total cost of employment, which affects the hourly rate you’re paying, versus their costs on site. One of the biggest problems we face is the skills shortage; we can’t get enough labour. PAUL ROCHE: Our business is a little different. Obviously there are some major infrastructure projects in Melbourne, and these are attracting good money. Some guys are earning really good money labouring on the rail projects, for example, so trying to keep them – and keep them happy – is difficult. MARCUS: Yes, we’re probably unusual as we have a lot of specialised equipment and specialised guys. Being niche provides us with the ability to charge a bit more in that respect and consequently we don’t see a very high turnover in our business. INTERNATIONAL VERSUS LOCAL NICK: There are several trainee programs in the wider construction industry, including the Major Skills Guarantee, which is pushing for local engagement. We’re seeing the renewables energy target driving wind farms and a lot of these new projects have the Major Skills Guarantee 30 / CAL January 2019
listed, which means a certain percentage of your work force must be trainees. Are these initiatives enough to see stronger employment, or are we going to see international expertise coming in for wind or tunnel boring machines (TBMs)? Clearly, there are projects requiring specialised equipment and specialist operators. Are we making the right progress in terms of training as opposed to importing international skill? DANNY: I think traineeships have to go forward; we don’t have a choice. Nationally, there’s a skill shortage and every company is currently putting on key people. Factor in the amount of older people retiring from the industry and we are going to be flat-out topping up the labour force. I believe that those people who bring in specialised gear are going to bring skilled people with them. If companies are going to bring in specialised equipment and people for TBMs, large cranes for wind farms, trainees will need to work with that scenario and maybe in a decade we won’t need imported labour. The Victorian guarantee is sitting at 10 per cent, so one in every 10 guys has to be a trainee on a project. That sets a pretty hard level to meet, particularly for a sub contractor or a mid or lower-tier builder. MALCOLM: In WA traineeships aren’t really the driving factor. I certainly take on board there is a labour shortage. With the major infrastructure happening on the east coast and another mining boom expected next year in WA, I’m not sure where the labour is going to come from. We’d normally look to our friends in New Zealand but don’t have workers to spare. In the past we saw FIFOs from QLD, NSW, and VIC into WA, but that’s no longer available because there’s now a shortage. Australian Industry Participation (AIP) is something the majors hang their hats on to comply with government, but at the end of the day it’s a bit of a farce. All these contracts are being awarded, worth billions of dollars, and what percentage is actually labour? Probably 85 per cent, the rest is in materials and
sub contractors. The government needs to supply legislation to change work safe and the way tickets are issued. There are traineeships for plumbers and electricians, so why can’t we have them in our industry? We just can’t seem to win that battle. GREG: The shortage of skilled labour is becoming a problem. We’ve trained a lot of people out of sectors that are struggling or closing down like meat works and those guys are still with us 14 years later. We’re also finding that guys get a ticket, we give him experience and we tell them we’ll pay this and after six or 12 months but they don’t work out and move on. There’s then a battle with the union, who say ‘They had a ticket and you should have been paying them as a qualified operator from day one’. We need something in place to cover that. If a trainee is signed up to a platform of monetary value there’s no wages claim. Over the past 12 months, I’ve been in conversations with other crane companies who want to see our own internal industry training. We need to offer traineeships at a fixed rate, so there isn’t a wages claim if they don’t work out. All the pre-warning notifications work the same way as other industries, and you can move them on. As an industry we need to do this properly; we’ve got two young guys one has completed his training and has a trade certificate. I keep telling the young guys if you come out with a trade certificate you’re a trades person. You don’t have a work cover ticket; you’ve got a trade certificate, which is a big selling point for you or the employer to push. DANNY: We’ve actually got a traineeship written into our agreement and the rates are locked in which negates the problem if they don’t work out or don’t like the job. It costs us money, but it’s a winwin. We send them out to train them, record their hours, and get feedback from more experienced guys they work with. We send them out quite regularly as a second dogman, but don’t charge them out; that way they get experience on the cranes and we make sure they are www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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competent. We’ve got two guys on the traineeship and it’s working really well. Is there more that the government authorities can do? Yes. If we can put these people through official traineeships and they come out the other end with a certificate, you know they are competent and that’s what the industry needs. Operators want, professionally trained people working with them, not someone who’s done a course for a week. NICK: Malcolm, you’ve spoken about WA projects being heavily regulated and this question is about manufacturing. We’ve seen some countries drive tariffs and regulations to keep fabricating within its borders. Australia doesn’t have quite the same restrictions. Ultimately, do you think we could do more if tariffs existed and there were incentives for the OEMs to develop their cranes or equipment here? Do we have the ability to develop leading designs locally, or is our market too small to drive competitive design? What improvements can we make and outside of that we are designing locally and building for the Australia market, what differences would we see in this equipment? MALCOLM: I’ve been in the industry for some time now, since the P&H days when P&H were manufactured in Australia, but they struggled to get the cranes registered on the road. The KATOs came in and had to have all the axles changed, same with TADANO. Really, Australia is just a drop in the ocean for the manufacturers. DANNY: There is equipment manufactured in Australia and they do a fair job. We can manufacture, we’ve got some very clever people in this country, but we’ve got to readjust our labour style and identify those people that want to work in manufacturing. NICK: Next topic is fuel consumption on all terrain cranes. Is the current product coming in designed for the distances you travel in your markets? Are we getting the right equipment for the job? 32 / CAL January 2019
DANNY: The roads in the countries of the manufacturers are different to our roads. It’s drier and temperatures are hotter, so we are going to burn more fuel. We have to pay more for the new generation cranes because they are Tier 4 final or Tier 5. There are plenty of tears when it’s coming out of your hip pocket. At the end of the day when you’ve got a 72t piece of machinery dragging some piece of metal behind it, you’ll be lucky to get 700 meters per litre. It’s a major cost we incur in Australia. Today’s equipment features automatic transmissions which means it doesn’t rev up and it doesn’t do this and that. Nearly every brand of crane you can drive manually will provide better fuel consumption. If you’ve got an old school operator who knows how to drive a piece of machinery, knock it back half a gear etc, his fuel consumption will be 20 per cent better. You can’t put that with an engine that is electronically programmed. We all have to look at fuel consumption, including the manufacturers, as it’s a huge cost. MARCUS: We’re a small operation and do a lot of local work so fuel consumption analysis is not a huge priority, but I can see what impact this would have on a company travelling long distances to get to site. We run a heavy haul business and we’re pulling 2000t to 3000t down a road, not always a public road, and we’re getting one km to one litre. I guess the other thing we don’t consider for our business is that the crawler cranes can need six, ten or event 20 truckloads of gear, so the cost of logistics can be heavy. It doesn’t help that Australia has different road rules in each State, which is another issue we have to deal with. NICK: Equipment life cycle. Each of you run equipment fleets; how do you plan the life cycle of your fleet and the make up and mix of old and new technology versus traditional equipment. MARCUS: You’ve got a lot of specialised glazing and rigging in your fleet as well. I think we apply the same principles in the business when it comes to mobile crane fleet. When you look at some of
this gear it’s very high risk and we had to put a model together in order to riskassess that equipment and to work out what to do with it through its life cycle. By putting a risk assessment around it, we implemented systems to measure the hours; systems in terms of preventative maintenance and non-destructive testing. We put that into a model and it spat out a number at the bottom. We put this in a risk scale and decided it was time to upgrade. NICK: Malcolm has a significant crawler fleet. Does the technology affect the crawler fleet like the all terrain fleet? How do you manage old versus new and manage your renewals program? MALCOLM: Everyone has a different business model. There’s certainly a market for second hand cranes and that’s one part of the equipment lifecycle. You need to look at what your running costs are on a day-to-day basis and what is the return on investment. How you want to attack the appreciation and the interest expense. Whether you want to go that hard early, or go for a five or 20-year life cycle. They’re obviously issues to look at. And then the biggest issue in the room, as we all know, the industry is getting busier and I don’t think the world is going to have a recession as we saw when Australia last had a boom. The rest of the world is going to demand equipment at the same time as us. It’s going to be equipment availability that’s probably going to drive life cycles and how you assess that. Then there’s changing from a 10-year inspection to an eight-year inspection and how this will affect your business. I think it’s a big positive that we can now look at that from a point of view of not adding ten years onto them but to have third parties come in and conduct engineering and cyclic loading that will bring it more in line with the OEMs. This will give you the ability to assess whether your equipment can be used for the next ten, 15, 20 years. These are decisions you need to make throughout the cycle of your business. PAUL: We’ve changed our business model a little bit as well. Over the last 18 months www.cranesandlifting.com.au
we’ve implemented a maintenance program and we’ve really been trying to keep on top of everything. We’ve got a bit of older gear that needs updating, but the maintenance program is a big thing for us – focusing on preventative maintenance to avoid having a major breakdown. We all know how much these cost when they are off the road. Obviously, the main inspection will change things as will keeping records and making sure the equipment passes. NICK: Time to replace/upgrade; what are the critical decisions for you as owners? What goes into your decision process? Brand loyalty? What do you look for when renewing your fleet? How important is after sales support? MARCUS: Brand loyalty is a personal thing I suppose, and there are varying opinions on this. I’m always interested in technology advancements, how and
where technology is moving in the industry. As we move forward I can see that there is going to be quite a jump in our industry as a result of technology. Service and support is critical; my business demands it and when I’m getting support I’m leaning that way. GREG: My business is a bit more remote than others and product support has always been a deciding factor for me. We’ve had to work closely with the manufacturers, we have a highly skilled maintenance team that works really. We’re not strictly one brand, I usually buy three or four of one unit so it cuts the training costs. Parts have always been our biggest problem. If a part has to be ordered from Europe, it has to be shipped and you can lose a lot of down time, that’s always been our biggest killer. But I’d say all the manufacturers we have here provide pretty good service.
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4 4 4
4
4 4 4
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MALCOLM: With a big crawler fleet, product support is important. If a machine is down, you’re not generating any revenue. I’m not sure how many have had contractor fights over terms and conditions. We have a paralegal firm working on them these days, we certainly do damages, consequential loss; all those great things that go with the risks of this business. Some are on major projects but it is filtering down into the smaller projects. From a loyalty point of view we certainly look at product support but probably from a different angle. We want our guys trained to same the level as the factory technicians. We have the premise that we can get out of the seat and start repairing the crane there and then. In remote WA we can’t wait for the OEM to tell you it will be three days before he can get a technician to you, so there’s nothing better than an operator being able to get out of the crane and start working on the problem.
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LIFE MEMBER BOB PARKER 2019 will see the 40th anniversary of the CICA conference. To help celebrate, Cranes and Lifting will be running a series of articles based on interviews with CICA Life Members. BOB PARKER’S career spanned 42 years before his retirement in 2000. He played a fundamental role in establishing the industry representative committee in Queensland and he a founding member of CICA. Cranes and Lifting talks with Bob about his extensive career. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE CRANE INDUSTRY AND WHEN? I started in the crane industry by working with a crane and rigging company, Maros Constructions, in 1958 – I was 19. I enjoyed it that much that I stayed with the industry and after working a few years at a practical level for that company I progressed to becoming an estimator and finally the manager of the Queensland operation. Maros Constructions was a NSW based company and we opened up the business here in Queensland, which I ended up managing. HOW WAS THE INDUSTRY BACK THEN AND HOW DID IT CHANGE DURING YOUR CAREER? The main thing I noticed in those days was the industry comprised mainly of smaller type family-owned companies,
Bob Parker’s career spanned 42 years. 36 / CAL January 2019
with only one big player being Brambles who in those days were know as CHEP and was the only true national company. Each of the major cities had one major family company including Marr Contracting in Sydney, Clark Cranes in Melbourne and Aitkin Cranes in Brisbane. HOW DID THE CRANE INDUSTRY VIEW ITSELF BACK THEN? WAS IT WELL ORGANISED AND PROFESSIONAL? It wasn’t well organised, nothing like it. It was highly competitive among the smaller companies and they fought viciously for the work that was around, and that applied to all the states that you could care to look at. This competitiveness led to the crane companies pushing their equipment to the limit and beyond to get the maximum out of it. There were not a lot of big cranes around and, being as competitive as it was, they were taking on work that they weren’t really geared up to accommodate. They just didn’t have the right sort of equipment. However, they took it on and got the job done, albeit, sometimes with disastrous results. WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT ISSUES TO DEAL WITH AND ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING ASPECTS OF YOUR TIME IN THE INDUSTRY? In the early part of the industry the unions were not really a problem, but in the latter part of my career after the 90s the unions became a increasingly difficult. The silly competition that went on between the companies in the various states was seen to be an unnecessary factor because they were tearing the
Bob Parker.
industry down rather than building it up. One of the most rewarding aspects of my career was the effort taken by a small amount of people to instigate some form of uniformity and broad based knowledge of what the industry was all about. This led to the formation of the various state-based associations and then ultimately their representation onto the national body being the National Crane Council of Australia (CICA). That was probably the first move taken to rationalise and help settle the industry down. It also encouraged people to discuss what the industry was really all about. Personally, I appreciated my opportunity to participate in that movement and to see the results that it generated – I felt better about it all the time. Another rewarding aspect of my time in the industry has been the amount of really good people that I have been fortunate to meet and work with. Many have been genuine friendships and www.cranesandlifting.com.au
some of these I have been lucky enough to take with me through my life. CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR ROLE IN SETTING UP THE QUEENSLAND BRANCH OF CICA? We set up the QLD branch in 1972 as a result of some visits from Bill Shaw from the Victorian association, which was the only branch that had any formalisation or structure apart from Western Australia. He came to Queensland and proposed the development of a committee that would work to establish representation in each state where there were no formal structures in place. This included South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. I became part of that committee in 1972 and the Queensland branch was finally formed in 1974. Progressively, the other states got their acts together and developed
their own organisations with a lot of support and information from Bill Shaw and the Victorian association. In my view, he was the leader of the push that made the whole thing happen. But, I had a very rewarding career in the industry organisation by being part of the formation of the Queensland branch and sitting on the committee. I don’t think I ever got off it. As a Queensland member I, for many years, became the delegate on the national body. This was known as a ‘working party’, which formalised, developed and implemented the 1979 conference. This saw the start of CICA. WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU HAVE MADE TO THE EARLY INDUSTRY? I think the most significant and the most effective change we did make was the coming together of the industry and
the formation of the organisations. One obvious issue I would like to have changed was the number of very serious accidents, injuries and loss of life that occurred because of cavalier attitudes. If one were able to change anything with a stroke of a pen, it would have been that. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEBODY COMING INTO TODAY’S CRANE INDUSTRY? I would say that the big thing that affects the industry is professionalism, particularly towards safety. Ensure you operate within the guidelines and processes of how things are supposed to be done, rather than taking acting individually. In other words, take good sound advice on how to safely run a business in what can be, if it’s not controlled properly, a really hazardous work place.
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January-February 2019 CAL / 37
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NOBLES RIGGING / INDUSTRY NEWS The firms announced their longterm distribution agreement in November 2017.
NOBLES AND BBRG WIRE ROPE DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP WINNING NEW CUSTOMERS The partnership between Nobles and high performance crane rope manufacturer Bridon-Bekaert Ropes has been quickly and positively embraced with strong growth experienced in the mobile, tower and port crane sectors. IT HAS BEEN JUST over one year since A. Noble & Son Limited (Nobles) and Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group Australia (BBRG) announced their new longterm national distribution agreement in November 2017. This agreement provided for Nobles to nationally distribute Bridon and WRI branded high-performance crane, industrial and mining ropes to Australian customers. Nobles and BBRG have already collaborated on many joint customer projects, partnered at the recent CICA conference, and presented and exhibited at the largest Australian mining conference IMARC, recently held in Melbourne. Nobles’ sales of BBRG ropes have soared due to an increase in Bridon wire rope stocks being held by Nobles in all mainland states across Australia. These increased stock levels, with now over 100,000 metres of highperformance Bridon wire rope across www.cranesandlifting.com.au
a vast breadth of types and sizes, have allowed orders to be processed and dispatched faster than ever before. Bridon-Bekaert VP Oceania Stuart Callender says the company has seen really positive results from its partnership with Nobles, with the growth of its high-performance ropes in Australia being driven by its collaboration with the Nobles team. “For example, the close work between Nobles and BBRG has substantially grown our sales into the mobile, tower and port crane sectors nationally,” he said. Nobles Managing Director, Guy Roberts, has enjoyed seeing this partnership go from strength to strength over the past year and as a result the products have been flying off the shelves. “Sales of the new range of Bridon wire rope have been increasing with each passing month,” Roberts says. “We have sold out steadily increasing
volumes of BBRG’s high performance wire rope and are on track to exceed our joint growth target for the next financial year. “Customers are appreciating the stronger performance attributes of BBRG wire rope, faster delivery that comes with new local stocking, combined with smarter advice from the combined technical resources of BBRG, the world’s largest wire rope manufacturer and Nobles, Australia’s leading lifting and rigging specialist.” Nobles is now stocking across its national network over 25,000 metres of stock of Bridon Dyform 34LR in sizes 16-32mm, over 15,000 metres of Dyform 34LR PI in sizes 14-34mm, over 55,000 meters of Dyform 8PI in sizes 10-32mm and over 5,000m of Dyform DSC8 in sizes 8-14mm, across a variety of constructions in both 1960 and 2160 grades. January 2019 CAL / 39
INDUSTRY NEWS / HANCHARD CRANES
FAREWELL TO AN INDUSTRY STALWART After 35 years in the industry, Australian owned and operated business Hanchard Cranes closed late last year due to the retirement of Mike Hanchard. Cranes and Lifting was fortunate to catch up with Mike before he was craned off into the sunset to enjoy his well-earned retirement. WHAT’S BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY OVER THE PAST 35 YEARS. It has been an interesting time watching the industry grow. One of the main changes has obviously been the advancement in technology and how the industry has responded to that. HOW DID YOU START OUT IN THE CRANE INDUSTRY? It all started when I applied for a position at Edi Hire, which was a division of Evans Deakin. When I started working there, I was very lucky to be taught by Ian Milne and Doug Burnside in my early days and
Hanchard Cranes has been in business for 35 years. 40 / CAL January 2019
WHAT AREAS OF LIFTING DID THE BUSINESS SPECIALISE IN? WHEN DID YOU LAUNCH YOUR OWN Anything that needed lifting, could BUSINESS? be done by Hanchard Crane Hire. Our I had my first business, TAC Hire fleet of mobile cranes included city, Services, for 12 years, from 1978 to franna, all terrain, mini and hydraulic 1990. Hanchard Cranes is my second truck cranes with capacities from 2.5 business, which opened in March 1997. tonnes to 220 tonnes. Hanchard Cranes The company started with myself, my also did more than lift – the business wife as the company secretary and our provided traffic control, permits and daughters working as the office manager reliable, on-time lifts. and in administration. The company started with a 45t Kato FORTY-SEVEN YEARS IS A LONG TIME Truck Crane and two dry hire 12t IN THE INDUSTRY HOW DO YOU FEEL frannas. ABOUT RETIREMENT AND CLOSING THE BUSINESS? It is a very emotional time for not only myself, but the whole family. This industry and the business has always been a major part of my life. It’s very sad to say goodbye to so many people over the years, who have helped to shaped the business into what it is today. later by Ron O’Sullivan at Brambles.
WE ARE EXPERIENCING A ONCE IN A GENERATION CONSTRUCTION ‘MEGA BOOM’ AND WITH PREDICTIONS THAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS COULD REQUIRE UP TO 300 CRANES IN NSW (ALONE) HOW IS THE INDUSTRY GOING TO COPE IN TERMS OF LABOUR? Construction activity in Australia is obviously very strong. The latest RLB Crane Index suggests that while the majority of cranes are located in Sydney and Melbourne, we’re also experiencing booms in cities such as Newcastle and Hobart. From my experience, the industry is going to struggle in terms of labour to meet demand. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
WITH UP TO 30 PER CENT OF THE WORKFORCE SET TO RETIRE FROM THE CRANE SECTOR IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO ENCOURAGE YOUTH INTO THE SECTOR? I am led to believe CICA and some of the manufacturers are addressing this problem at the moment. TODAY, YOU CAN EARN YOUR CRANE OPERATORS TICKET AFTER A DAY’S COURSE, WHAT ARE THE OBVIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THIS? Operating cranes is a complex and dangerous job, and there are countless serious injuries sustained across the country every year. It is so important people entering the industry have the necessary skills and capabilities to operate this machinery and I don’t think the day’s training course delivers this. Over the years we have been inundated with job applications from people who cannot even set up a crane correctly. I think this is a major issue in the industry that needs to be looked at. HOW THE INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED AND HIS PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE The industry has become very price driven and contracts are won based on price rather than experience and qualification. Technology will help reduce labour costs, however we are still transitioning into
that era. Labour is still required and, like any industry in Australia, it is a premium expense. HOW HAS TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE CRANE SECTOR? Technology has certainly had a huge effect on the industry. The machinery we work with is now more advanced than ever before. In my opinion, one of the major advancements has been improved safety mechanisms in machinery. HOW HAS THE APPROACH TO SAFETY CHANGED IN YOUR CAREER AND WHAT DIFFERENCE HAS IT MADE? Safety as a focus is incredibly high compared to when I started in the industry. While the focus on safety has increased, work place injuries have unfortunately not significantly decreased. I believe the reason we are seeing this is because time is of the essence when completing a project and this is having an effect on safety. CRANES CONTINUE TO MALFUNCTION? LOADS ARE DROPPED WITH CATASTROPHIC OUTCOMES (SOMETIMES)? HOW DO WE PREVENT THIS? I think the industry would benefit from drawing on old training systems and minimum hour quotas to be fulfilled
before operating a crane. WHERE DO YOU SEE THE CRANE SECTOR HEADED OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS? I’ve seen so many changes in the industry over the past 40-plus years and it is still changing rapidly – I couldn’t possibly predict where it will end up in the next 10 years but we will certainly be keeping an eye from the sidelines. HOW DID THE AUCTION GO? Fantastic, there were a lot of enquiries leading into the sale which turned into a very good result for the vendor. The buyers were happy, the vendor was happy and the staff all enjoyed the day. WAS THERE STRONG BIDDING ON THE EQUIPMENT? Some of the items made new prices, one asset which was sold late last year sold for an additional $400,000 this year through the auction. GOOD NUMBER IN ATTENDANCE? There was a large crowd on site which included well known personalities in the Australian crane industry. We also had a strong online buyer presence from around the country through the PicklesLIVE mobile bidding app (which connected them to the sale despite the terrible weather event which hit Sydney on the day).
An auction was held to sell the firm’s equipment, which proved successful. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2019 CAL / 41
IN FOCUS / CRANE SERVICES AUSTRALIA
TRANSITIONING FROM CRANE HIRE TO CRANE CONTRACTING South Australian crane hire company Crane Services sought the expertise of GBA Projects to help transition the business from a crane hire to a crane contracting business. TWO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN businesses came together 12 months ago to explore opportunities in the states burgeoning construction sector. Today, Crane Services and GBA Projects are expanding rapidly, building dynamic teams as well as a solid pipeline of projects. “Crane Services has gone from being a crane hire business charging a ‘depot to depot’ hourly rate and moved into contractor roles as a construction business and entering into ‘lump sum’ contracts, there’s a big difference,” Andrew Munckton, Business Development Manager, said. Two years ago, Crane Services acquired a specialist team and with a wealth of knowledge in specialist rigging, machinery movement and relocation they’ve proved to be a great asset for the business. “Initially, the team worked on minor projects, but these kept getting bigger and we saw an opportunity to become a full, turnkey service provider. So rather than just providing a crane we now offer a turn key and full service solution for the construction sector,” he said. Currently, Crane Services is working on a number of large construction packages in various capacities including the bridge and circular installation on the Northern Connector project, the Oaklands Crossing Grade Separation project for the Transport Projects Alliance and working with other contractors at Gateway South. The Oaklands Crossing project is a $174 million project being jointly funded by the Australian Government – $95 million, the State Government – 42 / CAL January 2019
$74 million and the City of Marion – $5 million. Crane Services is operating in varying capacities with a 400t Grove lifting the Super T’s and the pedestrian bridge and various sized frannas, 40t 80t and 100t doing varying work. Some of the complexities include interfacing with the public and working in a high traffic area and being a residential area there’s tight access. Crane Services has one the largest crane fleets in South Australia. “Each crane is fairly unique in their own way. A 100t crane, whether it’s a Grove, Tadano, Liebherr, has its own niche qualities and applications where they will be better suited,” Munckton said. “We have a large fleet which includes Grove, Liebherr, Tadano, Kato and other brands including Terex. We focus on the SA market with regional depots in Ceduna, Barrossa Valley and we are about to set up a depot in Whyalla. We see huge opportunities up through the Upper Spencer Gulf area. SA is a big growth opportunity for us with plenty of ongoing work throughout the state. According to Munckton, having the knowledge and support of GBA Projects has really helped the business navigate the contracts. The provision of scheduling, planning and general commercial advice, are areas that where it doesn’t have expertise, but with the help of GBA it is having successful outcomes. “We’ve engaged GBA to assist us with all our scheduling, so the more work we have the more complex the works programs becomes, with a lot more information and a lot more to
follow up on. GBA assist by keeping us on the front foot and ensuring we get everything right,” he said. GBA Projects Managing Director Matt Beros thinks the Crane Services situation is fairly unique. “You wouldn’t expect an equipment supplier to use contract administration, planning and scheduling services. But it’s worked out to be a beneficial relationship with good success stories,” he said. “Typically, GBA would be engaged prior to the tendering phase or even prior to the construction works because we need to get in up front to plan the work so it can be administered properly.” GBA Projects specialises in planning, scheduling project controls and contract administration. It’s a niche sub section of project management and for the last 34 years it has been dealing with delay, disruption and contract disputes when things go wrong. GBA has worked on major portfolios with companies like BHP, Santos and Sydney Water. “We find that if you don’t plan the work properly, you end up in dispute and the dispute can cost an arm and a leg to resolve. Having a business like GBA engaged up front with a specialist skill set, takes a lot of pressure off the project managers and construction managers allowing them to focus on the delivery,” Beros said. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET PLANNING AND SCHEDULING WRONG? At a recent conference for the Australian Institute of Project Management, KPMG provided a www.cranesandlifting.com.au
presentation on the results of a recent survey. Of the 7000 survey participants only 23 per cent of projects actually succeeded and of those projects that were evaluated, 30 per cent met the time budget and 36 per cent made budget. “When you look at those factors you’ve got to ask yourself why? I deal with the GC21 standard form of contract, which is a NSW Government form of contract. This contract doesn’t actually force a contractor to plan their work properly,” Beros said. GBA has had instances where it appears the schedule has been put together by a novice scheduler and the plan just doesn’t work. The estimate for remaining durations are completely incorrect and a position is quickly reached where the contract starts to fail and the programme is used as a commercial tool as opposed to a project management tool, which means the loss
The majority of joint ventures and larger consortiums actually fail internally because they separate their communications. of ability to track the progress of the works. The majority of joint ventures and larger consortiums actually fail internally because they separate their communications. One team provides the design, another the construct, another the oversight and management, it isn’t really governed by one form of project management and even if it is, the influence of the project management office doesn’t filter down to the lower levels of the management team. “You have a “Swiss cheese model” with an inability to plan, inability to manage, inability to govern and couple this with short time frames, your left to
overlap your design and construction works and end up not knowing the full design of your project until you finish designing it mid way through your construction,” Beros said. “Most construction claims occur off the back of having limited design information so projects haven’t been planned well in the first place. It’s a systemic failure that’s occurred for the past 34 years that we’ve been in business and no one has actually learnt anything. And when you consider that by 2023 New South Wales will be spending $16 billion per year on infrastructure, it’s worth asking how many more projects are going to go into dispute.”
GBA has worked on major portfolios with BHP and Santos. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2019 CAL / 43
IN FOCUS / LIEBHERR
JUNGLE GIANT CELEBRATES 20TH BIRTHDAY
The Liebherr 91EC is celebrating 20 years on the job.
For 20 years, a tower crane has been fundamental to a global, scientific network studying the world’s great rainforests. The Liebherr 91EC enables scientists to study everything from the forest floor to the tops of the canopy. AUSTRALIA’S LONGEST-STANDING crane celebrated its 20th birthday in November. While most cranes of this size spend their working lives in construction and industry, this 47-metre-high crane spends its days carrying researchers from the Daintree Rainforest floor to the canopy and above. Twenty years ago, a Liebherr 91 EC freestanding construction tower crane was built in the heart of Daintree Rainforest. The crane is central to the James Cook University’s Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO) at Cape Tribulation, as well as contributing to Australia’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme through the Terrestrial Environmental Research Network (TERN). The canopy crane offers researchers access to the entirety of the rainforest – from the ground to the atmosphere above the canopy. Adding to the soil and ground-water monitoring capabilities of DRO, the crane makes this a true critical zone observatory monitoring the mechanisms and functions of the ecosystem critical to life on earth – soil, 44 / CAL January 2019
biota and atmosphere. Skilled technicians provide precise control over the canopy crane’s personnel box, giving researchers access to every layer of the Daintree’s irregular canopy. Power and data connections are available for equipment installations. The research uses automated sensors and a wireless data network to closely monitor a hectare of rainforest.
Within the arc of the crane, all 680 trees with a DBH (diameter at breast height) greater than 100mm have been identified and tagged. This covers 82 species across 33 different families. The university has installed a range of monitoring instruments to track the fundamental movements of resources in the ecosystem. These include dendrometers to monitor tree growth,
The crane carries researchers above the Daintree rainforest.
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sap flow meters that measure movement of water and nutrients vertically in trees, soil moisture at a range of depths, bores for measuring the ground water level and recharge, a stream flow gauge, leaf litter traps that follow the fall of nutrients back to the surface, weather stations and cameras to track seasonal changes in ecosystem processes throughout the survey area. “Thanks to our operator’s skill and precision, researchers travelling in the crane’s personnel box are able to access every level of the forest,” JCU’s Dean of Research Professor Andrew Krockenberger said. “In recent years we’ve added automated sensors and a wireless data network, allowing researchers to closely monitor a hectare of rainforest, from the soil, up through the forest and to the atmosphere above. “In a major research project underway, Associate Professor Susan Laurance is creating a mini-drought, to investigate how trees in the wet tropics are likely to respond to longer, hotter, more extreme dry seasons that are expected as a result of climate change.” Professor Krockenberger said the crane and the DRO were part of a global network. “Our changing climate and the myriad other threats to natural ecosystems mean that it’s more important than ever to build on our understanding of how forests work, and how they might respond to changing conditions,” he said. “The Observatory is used extensively by local, interstate and international researchers in work that is adding significantly to our understanding of tropical rainforests.” Research conducted at the DRO has included studies of carbon and water fluxes, tree physiology and ecology, and vertebrate and invertebrate biodiversity. Community leaders and scientists celebrated the significant birthday at the crane site in November. “It’s a chance for us to thank everyone who has supported us in establishing and expanding the facility – first with the crane, and later the laboratories, teaching space and accommodation that have made this a world-class research facility and a spectacular classroom in the www.cranesandlifting.com.au
rainforest,” Professor Krockenberger said. “We are particularly pleased that Andrew Esquilant of Liebherr Australia is able to attend the celebrations and see one of their cranes doing work that its makers probably never imagined.” Not long after it was installed, the crane was struck by a Category 3 cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Rona severely battered the surrounding forest but the crane remained standing – and was soon being used by scientists who took advantage of the opportunity to study rainforest regeneration. Researchers access the personnel box at ground level. Movement of the personnel box to a specific position requires rotation of the entire jib in a horizontal plane until the jib is above the position desired. The trolley is then moved along the jib and the hook and personnel box are lowered to the desired position. The canopy crane is manoeuvred by a qualified tower crane operator using a custom-built remote control. The crane operator has total responsibility for the safe operation of the crane including monitoring occupant safety, load limits and weather conditions. The crane operator has the final say regarding whether it is safe to conduct crane operations. The personnel box can accommodate up to four people, including the crane operator, with a maximum working load limit of 300kg. All occupants are required to wear a fall arrest harness and lanyard, which is attached to purpose made anchor rings. A small shed is provided at the base of the crane for users to be fitted into their harnesses and to prepare required research equipment. Australia’s James Cook University is committed to creating a brighter future for life in the tropics and worldwide through graduates and discoveries that make a difference. The crane at the JCU DRO is putting scientists into the tropical treetops, opening up Australia’s forests to research and bringing the power of research and engagement to bear on the issues of great significance. With continued support from partners, industry can look forward with eager anticipation to the next 20 years of innovative research.
The crane is key for JCU’s work in the Daintree rainforest. January 2019 CAL / 45
IN FOCUS / FOGMAKER
HOW EFFECTIVE ARE YOUR FIRE SUPPRESSANT SYSTEMS? Crane accidents, especially crane fires can be making news headlines almost immediately in today’s digital age. There is a perception that once these fires get started nothing can be done to stop them. Firestorm’s Kieran McHatton explains this isn’t the case.
The Fogmaker system in action. 46 / CAL January 2019
IN MANY CASES, the risks and related control measures around crane operations are well known, but in terms of risk assessment, a crane fire isn’t necessarily front of mind. The ‘worst case scenario’ happened in Sydney six years ago, when a fire started on the machine deck of a diesel/ hydraulic luffing crane which caused the luff rope to fail allowing the jib to collapse onto the worksite below. Fortunately, there were no injuries as the worksite had been evacuated and the jib fell into the evacuated worksite rather than a populated area. Safety reports at the time confirmed that the same fire potential for fire applied to electric tower cranes. Providing protection against fire on mobile and transportable equipment is governed by Australian Standard (AS) 5062 -2016 and the objective of the standard is to formalise current good practice in reducing the incidence and severity of fires and to provide a consistent approach to fire risk reduction in order to safeguard life, property and the environment against fire associated with mobile and transportable equipment. Firestorm Fire Protection designs, installs and services fire suppression systems throughout Australia. The Firestorm Fire Protection Group comprises an integrated network of fire suppression solutions for a wide range of applications including cranes, mining and heavy industry, bus, construction, recycling, trucks, tunnelling and forestry sectors. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
Firestorm has been distributing the Swedish manufactured Fogmaker Water Mist Fire Protection System since 2010. According to Kieran McHatton, General Manager of Fogmaker Australia, the system is AS 5062-2016 approved and industry response to the system was quick and positive. “In the first 12 months of taking on the product we installed 600 systems,” he said. “We started in mining, and then moved to the public transport sector. Today, we have installed 9000 systems across Australia and NZ and 180,000 systems internationally.” McHatton comments that AS 50622016 is a risk based methodology and has certain fire testing component criteria. Not all systems comply to the standard. “There are two ways to look at the standard. Firstly, suppressant manufacturers have to put their systems through AS5062 to get approval and compliance. Secondly, the end user needs to follow the AS5062 risk based methodology to be part of that approval process,” he said. “So, the user owns the risk assessment and determines whether a fire system goes on the machines or not. There is a chain of responsibility on the machine owner, and they should be ensuring that a fire suppressant system is fit for purpose prior to purchase.” The Fogmaker system is a piston accumulator system using high-pressure
water mist. “Compared to conventional foam systems we are a more compact unit and use 1/10th of the agent to provide the same or better outcomes. Essentially, we fill the engine compartment with water mist and one litre of water creates 1,700 litres of steam,” he said. “Steam is an inert gas, and that extinguishes the fire and the evaporation process turns the water mist into steam and that’s the cooling effect. If there’s a fire in the engine compartment we cool it from 850C down to 75C within 15 seconds. That’s a drop in temperature of over 700C within 15 seconds – nothing cools like water mist. The system automatically detects a fire, so if the temperature in the engine compartment reaches 180C the system the system will automatically function. There’s no need for electrical power as the system functions without it. The Fogmaker system also provides pressure switches on the cylinders so we can advise the operator on a fault or an alarm condition. It can also provide ancillary controls which include shutting the engine down and providing voice announcements to instruct the operator in case of an evacuation. The Fogmaker system has been fitted to see a number of frannas and large harbour cranes. All the new Liebherr harbour cranes for Qube Ports in The system has an easy-to-use panel.
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Kieran McHatton from Firestorm.
Australia come with the Fogmaker system fitted as standard. Liebherr run all the cabling and Fogmaker manage the final fit at the assembly stage. “Firstly, we fill our detection tube with a liquid so we don’t get any leaks, this has been proven in the bus industry where we’ve installed more than 8000 systems. There’s no doubt that the system is robust and we don’t get faults, if it is activated, it’s because there’s been a thermal incident. “Secondly, our system is compact and because it’s a piston accumulator it can be installed at any angle. Thirdly, because there are so many different cylinder sizes in the range, we can fit our system to the smallest and largest crane. Construction equipment is getting more compact and the larger conventional systems no longer fit on these machines, that’s why there’s such a big move to Fogmaker,” he said. McHatton makes an interesting observation about environmental legislation and engine emissions. “Tier 4 engines now feature higher pressures and are running hotter to reduce emissions. They also feature diesel particulate filters, which add more heat to the engine compartment. More heat equals more pressure, equals more fire risk,” he said. “Previously, engines featured low pressure diesel and it’s hard to light a pool of diesel, but today’s engines atomise diesel so finely, we can ignite diesel at less than 100C. So there’s a lot more chance of fires starting and I don’t think anyone can really say ‘my machine doesn’t need a fire suppression system’.” January 2019 CAL / 47
IN FOCUS / TELETRAC NAVMAN
TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE FUEL COSTS AND IMPROVE YOUR FTC REBATE Jim French, Australasian Construction Solutions Specialist at Teletrac Navman, looks at the ways telematics is giving crane operators more options to maximise their fuel tax credits entitlements. MOST CRANE OPERATORS rely on timeconsuming and complicated calculations to maximise their fuel tax credits (FTC) entitlements and most simply don’t have the time or resources. Telematics can automatically measure and calculate FTC entitlements not only for fuel used on auxiliary equipment, but also for off-road travel and off-road idle, all of which are entitled to the highest FTC rate. Unprecedented commercial and public infrastructure projects are keeping mobile cranes busy. In fact, we’re witnessing one of the biggest construction booms in Australian history, with productivity expected to rise by three per cent each year. The mobile crane industry is flourishing and operators and hire specialists are set to reap incredible benefits. Mobile cranes are an essential part in many fleets and are used predominately in construction, however, they are still governed by Heavy Vehicle National Law. Because of this, many don’t see the potential return on investment when it comes to implementing technologies. Paired with stiff competition, the risk of cutting close to margins and eating into profits becomes a serious factor. With little wiggle room to spare, how can you keep costs down? By going to the bloodline of the engine and one of your biggest expenses – fuel, and tapping into the telematics that have helped construction companies thrive. PUT MONEY BACK IN YOUR POCKET Most crane operators claim fuel tax credits (FTC) at the lower rate applicable 48 / CAL January 2019
to heavy vehicles travelling on public roads. While recent changes in the law have allowed operators to use ATO safe harbour rates to apportion 5 per cent of fuel usage to operating “truck-mounted loader cranes”, there is no specific safe harbour entitlement for mobile cranes. Operators need to rely on time-consuming and complicated calculations to maximise their entitlements and most simply don’t have the time or resources. Telematics allows you to automatically measure and calculate FTC entitlements not only for fuel used on auxiliary equipment, but also for off-road travel and off-road idle, all of which are entitled to the highest FTC rate. Using this approach, many have seen results as high as 80 per cent of total fuel usage claimed at the higher off-road rate (roughly a 25 cents per litre increase from the “on-road” FTC rate). This data is automatically converted into a report, ready to hand to the ATO. When all mobile crane fuel is typically chalked up as being too difficult to claim, the savings this automatic approach offers are huge. All fuel used can be claimed at the full rate, putting money back in your pocket. “Mobile cranes are one of the most under-claimed vehicle types for FTC because they use a significant portion of fuel “off-road”, but that fuel can be difficult to measure. By using telematics and an FTC solution, businesses can achieve significant costs savings. In fact, many achieve ongoing savings which far outweigh the cost of the system,” Peter Perich, Director of PPM Tax & Legal, says.
TECHNOLOGY DOES THE HEAVY LIFTING Fleet management solutions are nothing new to industries like transport and construction. While cranes operate in unique ways like a truck, they can also reap many of the same benefits from smart use of technology. For example, office staff can share site maps for the job a mobile crane is hired for, and drivers can gain instant access to information on where a mobile crane is required and how to get there – something that can’t be achieved with basic navigation tools. When paired with an FTC solution, you can not only accurately track on-andoff-road use, but also reduce unnecessary fuel spend and pinpoint inefficiencies. It’s this kind of innovation that’s helping businesses achieve significant returns. By tracking fuel use by time, location and purpose, technology does the hard work for you, giving you a higher and more accurate FTC rebate, reduce the load on paperwork and improve operational efficiencies. A MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEM Claiming more accurate fuel tax rebates and reducing fuel costs is just one of the great benefits of technology. When telematics is installed in your equipment, you can better predict patterns and resolve issues before they arise. The technology provides you with information, such as engine hours completed at job sites and distance travelled. From this information, you know exactly how long new or future www.cranesandlifting.com.au
jobs will cost you. This makes pitching for new contracts easier as you have the assurance that you’ll work within your limits and reduce the pinch of tightening budgets. The key to success in any fleet is utilisation, and technology makes this an easier task. With location data, you can
paint a wider picture of how your cranes are used. By comparing usage of the routes taken to and from work sites, and exactly when cranes are operational on site, you can map out shorter, approved routes that use less fuel. Technology provides real-time facts to help you base your decisions on accurate information.
Increasing margins in a competitive industry is crucial and technology gives you that opportunity. Technology can help to reduce costs, provide bigger returns and shows how your cranes are being utilised, and at what times, to help you be more efficient and maximise your return.
Telematics can help crane operators in maximising their FTC entitlements.
www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2019 CAL / 49
IN FOCUS / A1A SOFTWARE
3D LIFT PLANNING MADE SIMPLE A1A Software got its start by developing the well-known lift planning program 3D Lift Plan. Now, it offers other business management tools specific to the needs of crane and construction equipment owners.
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SOME LIFT PLANNING tools provide incredible detail and accuracy but require extensive training to be able to use. 3D Lift Plan can be used by people with all levels of crane and rigging knowledge
Improvements to the platform include greater planning control for different lifting scenarios. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
and technology savviness. Basic level users, people whose job may be more sales oriented, for example, appreciate the Quick Lift Setup feature. Designed as a self-guided wizard, the tool asks the user to input specific data that automatically generates accurate jobsites and lift plans. A1A Software, developers of the tool, continues to improve the interface and features of 3D Lift Plan, making it easier for customers to use the crane lift planning program as a sales tool, for bid proposals, crane selection and setup, lift planning and documentation. “We have utilised WebGL technologies to enable the display of 3D content in Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge web browsers to improve the interface for customers no matter their preferred browser,” Tawnia Weiss, President of A1A Software, said. “This flexibility is important because 3D Lift Plan is a cloud-based program, eliminating the need to download and update software to individual computers,” she said. New features expand the options for users as they plan which type of crane pads or mats are best for the ground conditions. Ground bearing calculations can now be made for steel mats with an option for layering steel mats over timber for better distribution of outrigger loads. This is in addition to the previous ability to select wood mats or DICA’s SafetyTech or FiberMax engineered outrigger pads or crane pads. Likewise, printouts of the crane mats in a lift plan now display corresponding images of steel mats instead of wood when steel mats are selected as part of the plan. Other improvements provide users greater control of planning for unique lifting scenarios. Examples include the flexibility to: • Override the boom angle when using a load chart with fixed boom angles; • Establish one crane in setup mode while simultaneously putting other
cranes in normal operation mode for the creation of erection and dismantling plans; and • Knife-jack a lattice boom with luffer to verify procedures for lowering long lattice/luffer combos into stowed position. Finally, a new rigging configuration has been added to the standard options in the Advanced Rigging Design portion of the program. The new configuration features two spreader bars and four roll-blocks. When this configuration is selected, 3D Lift Plan will calculate the sling angles and tension. “Our programmers are continuously working to improve the features of 3D Lift Plan based on the feedback we receive from customers,” Weiss said. “You provide the weight and dimensions of the object you are lifting and the location and size of any obstructions on the jobsite. 3D Lift Plan will search the load charts for all your cranes to find the most economical crane configurations for the lift. Program features, load charts, and crane graphics are all updated on our server, so there is no need for you to install updates. 3D Lift Plan is a standalone application. No additional CAD program is required,” she said. “When comparing crane databases, it’s important that the available load charts represent the cranes in your fleet and provide an easy way to add in new models you acquire. Link-Belt, Manitowoc and Tadano Mantis each sponsor the data for their respective crane models in 3D Lift Plan. In addition, customers can request the addition of any crane, even those that are one-of- a-kind, custom cranes, such as a barge-mounted crane. 3D Lift Plan has at least 2500 models in a database that continues to grow all of the time. No other lift planning software has a database as large as we do. “A common mistake crane users make when planning lifts is to use January 2019 CAL / 51
IN FOCUS / A1A SOFTWARE
load chart data provided on the sales brochures rather than the full in-cab charts. All load chart data in 3D Lift Plan is based on the crane OEM’s full in-cab charts, which on some all-terrain cranes translates to thousands of pages of load charts. When purchasing a lift-planning tool, it’s important to know what the data is based on in order to assess the accuracy of the lift plan output,” she said. Three-dimensional graphics, the ability to import CAD drawings or Google Earth imagery, individual crane model graphics that represent each specific crane, the ability to add in rigging or environmental obstructions, are all features that make 3D Lift Plan highly detailed and accurate.
“We provide hundreds of custom 3D objects, enabling you to deliver a realistic rendering of your lift plan to the customer. Knowing the full range of force exerted through each outrigger or through the loading points on a crawler track has become a hot-button issue for crane owners,” Weiss said. “If a crane in our database does not include the full data to calculate ground bearing pressure then 3D Lift Plan provides a way for the users to enter the data on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the tool can show what the ground bearing pressure is if the crane is set up on steel or timber crane mats, and we are currently working toward incorporating the ability to calculate for cranes setup on engineered polymer crane mats.
“It is becoming increasingly common for detailed lift plans to be required as part of the bidding process. But lift plans must be presented in a way that non-crane professionals can understand. Look for lift planning tools that can generate a simulated lift. 3D Lift Plan automatically monitors the crane’s capacity while you change the boom angle, jib offset, load location, crane location, or lift radius,” she said. “Snapshots through the load’s travel path, printouts of the full plan, or URL links displaying the crane and rigging configuration, crane capacity, load details, notes, and your company information, are convenient ways you can use 3D Lift Plan to communicate with customers.”
3D Lift Plan has a range of features that make it highly detailed and accurate.
52 / CAL January 2019
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IN FOCUS / EDWARDS HEAVY LIFT
INTERFACE OF SLING WITH A CRANE HOOK Edwards Heavy Lift’s Stuart Edwards takes a look at the misconception that because you’re operating with a 50t hook and 50t capacity sling, you’re ready to lift 50t. He examines the relationship between the hook and sling and how they interact with each other at the point of the load bearing surface. THE DIAMETERS OF crane hooks are generally designed by the manufacturer with good contact areas to support slings. Most have a fairly large radius supporting surface at the top and a smaller rounding off diameter at the edge. After some preliminary research, opinions vary, but the most reliable information, according to enquiries so
far, the corner radius r1 as picture below must be used. The width b1, must not be used, although if you have further information relating to this, we’d love to hear from you. How does this apply to every day lifting? EXAMPLE: We wish to use four 52mm wire ropes
Stuart Edwards from Edwards Heavy Lift.
on a 100-tonne rams horn hook with a 60° included angle as per the rigging diagram below. The hook cross section dimensions are as per the photos. The direct loaded WLL of the wire rope sling is 33t. What is the capacity of this rigging arrangement? ANSWER: With the correct diameter end fittings, the SWL is 57t (any two legs take the load). However, the SWL for this configuration (calculated in accordance with AS1666.2) is actually 42.75t. Why is this so? The hook radius r1 = 36mm. To determine if the hook radius is suitable Since the hook diameter of 72mm (2 x 36mm) is less than 1.5 rope diameters (1.5 x 52mm = 78mm), the capacity should be derated by 25% = 42.75
Where an endless sling or soft eye of a sling interfaces with a fitting
A Ramshorn hook. 54 / CAL January 2019
i) t he supporting surface of the fitting shall have a diameter of not less than the rope diameter; and ii) w here the diameter of such a supporting surface is less than 1.5 rope diameters, the sling shall be derated by 25% in accordance with Item (m) of Clause 9. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
tonne which is not a suitable slinging arrangement for the 50t load., refer to AS1666.2 (Wire rope): NOTES: • Sling manufacturers and other standards may specify other minimum diameters and/or reduction factors. • Some manufacturers provide hooks with a sharper radius r1 than the standard. • Do not force eyes over hardware. Make sure that the width of hook or diameter of shackle is no bigger than 1/2 the length of the eye. • The same concept applies to other slings such as synthetic round slings
‘soft slings’ but these have different minimum radius and/or deration factors. OTHER SOLUTIONS: • Alternative hooks that have more rounded profile • Connect to shackles / other hardware with large enough diameter rather than directly to the hook • Use wire rope slings with thimble eyes (may require connection as per option above)
a
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CRANES IN ACTION / UNIVERSAL CRANES
CHILLER LIFT WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY How Universal Cranes removed and replaced a chiller unit from the 28th floor of a Brisbane hotel using innovative suspended load management technology, a custom-built half container and a Liebherr LTM1350. AT THE 2018 CICA Lift of the Year Awards, a Universal Cranes project was announced as the winner of the People’s Choice Award in the Innovation of the Year category. The challenging project involved removing and replacing a chiller unit on the 28th floor of a large CBD hotel in Brisbane. The solution included custom rigging, a purpose-built half container and the latest smart spreader bar technology for a precise, safe and efficient lift delivered alongside precision rigging and logistics. “Universal Cranes provided a total project solution from engineering a custom rigging and lift plan, to planning and permitting coordination, through to supply of the crane and ancillary equipment and the qualified operators to conduct the lift,” Mick Messer, Sales and Crane Supervisor at Universal Cranes, said. The replacement was to be carried out via a main window on level 28, which was also to be removed and replaced on the day of the lift. The chiller unit was 3.2m long, 1.3m wide, 1.3m high and weighed in at 5t. “There were major challenges presented by this project,” Messer said. “Narrow access through the façade of the hotel required precise maneuvering of the load. The unit weighed approximately 5t and was 28 floors above ground level at a height of 90m above a busy CBD intersection, requiring the lift to be conducted within a strict timeframe, minimising traffic disruption.” This meant the lifts needed to be scheduled on a weekend, requiring the part closure of Adelaide Street. With a 56 / CAL January 2019
limited closure time, thorough planning and execution of the lifts was critical. “The existing chiller unit was skated into a purpose-built half container that was lifted into position using our Liebherr LTM1350,” Messer said. “After securing the chiller unit inside the container, it was then lifted down onto Adelaide Street and unloaded. The new units were then lifted up and skated into position. The load was lifted in through the window with the help of the Verton R-Series spreader – the world’s first remote-controlled electromechanical load-management system.” Universal Cranes engineered the rigging and lift solution incorporating the R-Series spreader developed by the Verton Group, which uses ROVER (Remotely Operated Variable Effort Rotator) to overcome the need for human held taglines to control free-swinging or suspended loads. Verton Group’s R-series is designed to dramatically boost productivity, efficiency and safety in industries that use cranes and hoists. This world-first technology is designed to revolutionise suspended load-management for many industries including mining, oil and gas, transport and construction. The R-series can dramatically reduce accidents by ensuring no human contact is required for managing suspended loads. In its simplest form, the R-series is a single pair of gyroscopic modules and one handheld remote controller. The unit is attached to the load and its orientation is controlled using the remote. Being www.cranesandlifting.com.au
remotely controlled, the R-Series improves safety outcomes by removing riggers from the lift zone. Moving heavy loads using cranes or hoists is a high-risk activity with industry research showing proximity to a load, let alone actual contact, accounts for 80 per cent of crane-related fatalities. “One of the major challenges of this lift was the narrow access through the window of the hotel. At approximately 90m from ground, controlling the rotation of the load would be difficult,
but with the user-friendly interface of the R-Series, the loads were able to be lifted from and delivered to precise GPS coordinates,” Messer said. This technology, when combined with the Universal Cranes locking system for the container lifters provided precision rotation of the load at the 90m lift height. The locking system was designed to eliminate the risk of the lifters becoming accidentally detached. “Universal Cranes is proud of its innovative engineering solutions and we
always seek out the latest technologies and methods to continuously improve solutions for our clients,” Messer said. “This project allowed us to engineer and execute an ‘industry-first’ using our Liebherr LTM1350, custom-built half container and Verton’s technology to respond to the challenges of this project. “At Universal Cranes we view smart technology and automation capabilities as an opportunity to improve the way we do things, including our safety outcomes.” The project involved removing and replacing a chiller unit on the 28th floor of a building.
www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2019 CAL / 57
CRANES IN ACTION / BRENDON PENN CRANE HIRE
Liebherrs manage well in the hot and dry conditions.
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS WITH LIEBHERR Brendon Penn Crane Hire services the resources sector in remote areas of Western Australia. The business is built on the reliability of its fleet of Liebherr mobile cranes and the support it receives from the Liebherr team. IN MARCH 2018, Brendon Penn Plant Hire (BPCH) celebrated its 25th birthday. A privately owned family business, run by Brendon and Kristina Penn, BPCH has been built on the back of servicing the gold, nickel and lithium mining industries in the North Eastern Goldfield in the greater Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia. “Twenty-five years ago we started out with a 12t franna and we now have five all terrain cranes plus the latest addition, the Liebherr LTF 1060-4.1 truck crane. It’s a 60t capacity Liebherr crane installed on a Mercedes truck chassis and the first of its type in Australia. It’s an excellent addition. So we’ve got six slewing cranes plus 20t, 22t and 25t frannas,” BPCH Managing Director Brendon Penn said. The LTF combines the best of 58 / CAL January 2019
Brendon Penn with the new LTF 1060.
Liebherr crane technology with the best truck technology from Europe. The LTF1060 is perfect for customers who have long distances to travel. The lower truck chassis
provides the most fuel efficient and lowest maintenance option for a high mileage vehicle due to a standard truck driveline and suspension as opposed to an all www.cranesandlifting.com.au
terrain crane. The standard truck cab provides excellent comfort over long distances for the operator as well. The Liebherr upper has a telematic boom, which provides significantly more capacity than a standard truck crane with a power boom. “Generally speaking, we work in a 600km radius of our facility so it’s not uncommon for us to do plenty of KMs with the cranes. The LTF is well suited for long distance travel for what are sometimes short on site requirements,” Penn said/ “We float the frannas if we have to travel some distance otherwise we drive the cranes,” he said. “In terms of fuel economy, the Liebherrs are doing around 1.4kms per litre, and the LTF around 2kms per litre. Fuel is a fair cost for us but its charged and not detrimental to the business, it is what it is,” he said. “It’s hot, dry and dusty out here, but the Liebherrs have proven to be very reliable. One of our biggest issues
revolves around the tyres and the heat. Throughout the hot summer days we have to manage what time we send the cranes, winter isn’t a problem, but in summer we try and travel early morning so we can get to site before it gets too hot.” Penn comments on the support the business gets from Liebherr. “In terms of product support and back up, we’re very happy Liebherr, they are and have been excellent in every aspect. With regards to access to information, parts, support from the team at Rockingham, Perth, we is second to none, they are really good,” he said. “Our business is built on customer loyalty, which the Liebherr team understands, and the Perth team is fundamental to keeping our fleet moving and supporting the demands of the mining sector.” “We work quite remotely so we need reliable equipment, and Liebherr is really reliable. Very rarely have we let the client down with equipment failure,
in fact, I don’t think it’s ever happened. We’ve always been able to meet the customers requirements. You can’t fault the product support from Liebherr.” BPCH places special emphasis on bringing youth into, and through the business. “We’ve got a good mix of staff and at the moment we’re running approximately 12 including an inhouse mechanic. We’re really big on training and we’ve got older guys working with and mentoring a number of guys that are in their early 20’s,” Penn said. “Two of these manage and operate the 160t Liebherr and counter weight truck so that’s a fair responsibility. “We put a lot of effort into training the younger generation which takes time and money and we can go through a few a couple before we find the right ones. But we’ve been having quite a bit of success with training and the younger guys are applying themselves with the right attitude.”
LTF 1060-4.1 truck crane. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2019 CAL / 59
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As a result of the construction boom, there are more cranes on the skyline than ever.
LIFTING FINANCIAL CHECKS AND BALANCES Jeff Wilson from Finlease comments on the current financial climate following the Banking Royal Commission and challenges that come with the tightening of lending practices. ONE OF THE MAIN focuses from the Banking Royal Commission surrounded responsible lending which has led to the banks asking a lot more questions. In the past, lenders concentrated on the company financials but today, most banks are drilling down further to ensure repayments can be met. The Banking Royal Commission has seen the big four banks tightening their lending practices so much so that crane businesses applying for finance or business loans may find it more of a challenge than previously. With 24 plus years’ experience in this sector, and a well known identity in the crane sector, Jeff Wilson from Finlease explains how the tightening of funds might impact the industry and it’s ability to service the predicted levels of construction work in the medium term. “The Banking Royal Commission has certainly tightened up the amount of loans but it’s still possible to get finance. It’s just that the application process now involves an extra two or three steps for the finance to be approved,” Wilson said. “This more arduous application process isn’t a result of the banks viewing the crane sector as over heating, there are no fundamental concerns there, it’s more about banks exercising greater due diligence. “With the Banking Royal Commission, there’s been a big push about responsible lending and they are having to ask a lot more questions. In the past, lenders concentrated on the company financials ensuring it could afford the repayments. Today, most banks are drilling down further wanting
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Many crane businesses are looking at a major pipeline of work as a result of the current construction ‘mega boom’, there are more cranes on the skyline than ever before so from a financial point of view what are the pitfalls and concerns. to understand how much the directors need for personal living for example. “In my opinion, this is overkill and a knee-jerk reaction to the commission but they need to be showing that they are exercising responsible banking/ lending. So the banks are asking two three or four more questions to better understand the financial position of the business as well as the directors’ personal positions,” he said. Many crane businesses are looking at a major pipeline of work as a result of the current construction ‘mega boom’, there are more cranes on the skyline than ever before so from a financial point of view what are the pitfalls and concerns. Can the industry go too big too hard too quickly? “To my way of thinking, it’s a matter of making sure that you are gearing your funding in line with what you see as your potential work. If you are looking to buy a machine and you’ve got work for the next three years, you may want to match your funding with that work,” Wilson said. January 2019 CAL / 61
FINANCE & INSURANCE / FINLEASE
With the crane fleets expanding and being renewed to manage the current demand from the construction sector, Wilson doesn’t see a problem when the cycle finally slows. “If you borrow over five to seven years and at the three years the work stops, you’re still stuck with the repayments on the machine. Today it’s more about making sure you understand what your future looks like and funding your purchase accordingly.” Wilson comments on industry sectors like the renewable energy sector, especially wind farms, that are absorbing ‘top end’ cranes in never seen before numbers and how vulnerable the sector might be to changes in government policy or market pressures, for example. “I don’t think the sector is massively exposed, because a lot of these major projects, involving big cranes, have such a long lead time and are being managed by ‘international players’,” he said. “Generally speaking, there aren’t a lot of Australian companies owning big cranes, traditionally they are brought in for specific projects and leave when the project is completed. This is until Max Cranes recently purchased the new Liebherr LTM 11200-9.2 1200t machine the largest crane in Australia was 750t. “My understanding is that there
are another three to five cranes being operated by international players, specifically in the renewable sector. Once these projects are complete these companies will head home taking these cranes with them. My gut feel is that the smaller to medium sized crane companies are not looking to buying big cranes because they are not working on these major projects,” he said. With state and federal funded infrastructure projects, and continued demand for high-rise residential construction, up and down the east coast, and Westerns Australia’s re-emerging mineral and resources boom predicted to kick in this year, Wilson provides his perspective on how the crane industry is going to cope. “When you look at the statistics, each state government is still ramping up it’s spending on infrastructure so we haven’t reached a peak of government spending at this point in time so its hard to see an end in sight,” he said. “In NSW, the general consensus is that there is somewhere between five to eight years of work ahead, in Victoria four to Banks are making the crane sector jump through more hoops than ever before.
62 / CAL January 2019
Jeff Wilson.
seven years and South Australia the same. “Western Australia is coming back hard. The mines have gone from construction, three years ago, to production and this led to the down turn. But after three years, the equipment including conveyor belts, big dozers and crushers need servicing and this creates a lot of maintenance work of which cranes are used. “Also, the WA government has been collecting royalties as production has continued and the state coffers are well aligned, allowing the government to start spending and they’ve recently announced details of a couple of significant projects,” he said. “Everyone in the Northern Territory is saying it’s a bit doom and gloom at the moment and that’s just because all of the projects that were on are coming to the end of construction process.” With the crane fleets expanding and being renewed to manage the current demand from the construction sector, Wilson doesn’t see a problem when the cycle finally slows. “I don’t think this current construction boom will be followed by a massive crash. You will see a number of companies looking to scale back and, in so doing, they will be looking to sell their older equipment overseas where there is strong demand for well maintained Australian equipment from emerging economies likes of India.” www.cranesandlifting.com.au
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