Bridge building with telescopic crawler

BUILDING BRIDGES WITH NEW TADANO HYDRAULIC TELE CRAWLER

Bridge building specialist, NelMac recently took delivery of the first Tadano 35t telescopic crawler to be delivered in the country. Industry pioneer, Nelson McIntosh was clear on what the business required and impressed at how many boxes the Tadano GTC 350 ticked.

THE McINTOCH FAMILY IS SYNONYMOUS

with bridge building in New South Wales and Victoria. If you have driven the Hume Highway or the Princes Highway between Sydney and Melbourne, you will have driven over or under a combined total of 46 bridges designed and constructed by the family business, NelMac Pty Ltd.

NelMac, which has its operations in Yackandandah, in north west Victoria was founded in 1970 and has a proud and strong history of providing innovative and high-quality solutions within the bridge construction industry. Nelson McIntosh has been around bridge building for as long as he can remember.

“My father was building timber bridges before World War two. After the war a few concrete bridges started to get built and we decided we would change our focus and concentrate on building concrete bridges. In 1970 my father became ill, and I started Nelmac Pty Ltd, and we have been going strong since then.

“I have always been hands on with the business and to this day, I have my suitcase packed and it sits in the back of my car ready for when I am called out to urgently view a project or deal with an issue on site,” he said.

McIntosh explains where the NelMac business fits into the bridge building sector and why his business has been so successful over a long period of time.

“We find some construction companies call tenders for the works where the designs have already been done but for other projects, they call tenders for design and construct. We do

With a maximum boom length of 27.2m the GTC-350 features a three-section, full-power, telescoping boom system that consists of one double-acting hydraulic cylinder with load holding valves and extension and retraction cables.

both, but we prefer design and construct projects because as we can design to suit the resources at our disposal and we probably have a better idea of what is required,” he said.

“The business has been very successful over the years. For example, when you are driving the Hume Highway from Sydney to Melbourne you drive over or under 24 of my bridges and if you drive the Princes Highway from Sydney to Melbourne there are 22 of my bridges,’ he said.

McIntosh discusses the secret to his success. He remains hands on in the business and has managed to maintain his position as an innovator in the market despite there being so many large, international players in the bridge building sector.

“From where I sit, you have to see changes coming and you have to be ahead of the pack. If you see a new system or a new design emerging you need to embrace. If you don’t, you will lose ground and lost ground is extremely difficult to make up.

“Over my time in the industry, I’ve seen a number of major players come and go. To me, it seems the Federal and State Governments fall into the hands of the big builders. They create the works for the big players who market their businesses with ‘Big is Beautiful’.

“These major contracts are given to the big players and their project managers and they then contract a series of sub-contractors to do the job. The skills are just not in these big organisations. The sad thing about the Australian market is we are losing our skills. We are either losing the skills overseas or just not attracting the right calibre of professional into the industry in the first place,” he said.

The NelMac plant in Yackandandah continues to be the subject of constant investment and development confirms McIntosh.

“Having our business in regional north-west Victoria means we are slightly removed from the Sydney and Melbourne construction sectors. So, as a business, we need to be able to do everything ourselves. Over the years we have developed a business policy which sees our precast plant manufacture our precast piles, our beams and we have our own cranes to drive the piles and to place the beams.

“We also have our own steel fabricating business where we can fabricate all the steel-work we require including hand rails and we have all our own steel fixers and form workers. This means we very rarely need to use subcontractors other than the likes of Readymix concrete or the reinforced steel suppliers,” he said.

McIntosh discusses the cranes he has in the organisation and the reason behind the purchase of the new Tadano GTC 350.

“We run a couple of 18t capacity Hitachis for the lighter work on the smaller bridges and the smaller piling work. We also run a couple of 50t and 80t crawlers. We knew we needed a crane that worked in between these capacities and up until now, all of cranes have been pin jib cranes. This was another important factor in deciding on the Tadano GTC 350.

“Each time you move a pin jib crane, you have to remove the jib, disassemble the crane and then reassemble it on another site. With the smaller projects, which might only involve a week’s work, it means you can lose up to two days with the mobilising and demobilising of the cranes,” he said.

“With the new Tadano telescopic crawler, we can walk it off the truck and within half an hour it can be working. We can then put it back on the next truck and shift it to the next job. My understanding is this is the first Tadano GTC 350 in Australia which makes it exciting for us,” said McIntosh.

The Tadano GTC-350 is a teleboom crawler crane that’s powerful and versatile. It brings the features and benefits of the GTC-Series to the smaller size class of hydraulic telescopic boom crawler cranes offered by Tadano.

With a maximum lifting capacity 35t@3m, the GTC-350 features a three section full power telescoping boom system that consists of one double-acting hydraulic cylinder with load holding valves and extension and retraction cables. The max. boom length is 27.2 m. The swing is a gear motor driving a planetary gear reducer with a shaft-mounted pinion, external gear shear ball slew bearing bolted to the superstructure and the car body allows

the superstructure to rotate 360°.

The GTC-350 is designed for easier transport and quick set-up without compromising stability or lifting capacity, and hosts both symmetric and asymmetric track positions with the award winning OPTI-WIDTH™ technology.

Built with Cummins diesel engines and state-of-the-art hydraulics the GTC350 is designed to get the job done. For better job site management Tadano has incorporated telematics capabilities using machine data logging and monitoring system with HELLO-NET, accessible via the Internet.

Standard is a load moment indicator and anti-two block system with graphic displays and audio-visual warning and control lever lockout. It provides an electronic display of boom angle, length, radius, tip height, relative load moment, max. Permissible laid, load indication, and warning of impending two-block condition. The GTC telescopic boom crawler cranes series come with

“With the new Tadano telescopic crawler, we can walk it off the truck and within half an hour it can be working. We can then put it back on the next truck and shift it to the next job. My understanding is this is the first Tadano GTC 350 in Australia which makes it exciting for us.”

OPTI-WIDTH, an asymmetrical track positioning system which gives the crane significant lifting capacity enhancements when compared to those for symmetrical tracks, and is available on the entire range, from GTC350 to the GTC1800

The frame is an all-steel, welded structure, precision machined to accept attachment of the boom and swing components. Two welded steel side frames are paired with a track group. The side frames extend and retract hydraulically and are controlled from the cab. Equipped with a turbocharged Cummins QSB4.5 engine, this crane is dependable and long-lasting.

The GTC-350 has a main winch and (optional) auxiliary winch, with a planetary geared single-speed winch that includes a hydraulic motor, multidisc internal brake, and counterbalance valve. A drum rotation indicator is included.

The hydraulic system uses a hydraulic pump, one high pressure, variable axial piston pump with load sense, and power limiting control for crane functions. One gear pump for cooling function

The operator’s cab is a fully-enclosed, air-conditioned all-steel modular cab with a lockable swinging door, acoustical lining, anti-slip floor, and tinted safety glass.

Rearview cameras are appropriately located as are three remote control work lights. There is a two-way armrest mounted hydraulic joysticks control swing, main winch, auxiliary winch. and boom hoist. Hydraulic foot pedals control the travel, boom extends, and swing service brake functions.

At just 3m wide, and 2.4m wide when packed up for transport, the GTC350 is easily transportable between sites.

“The GTC-350 is going to suit our organisation perfectly and we will have plenty of work for it. The crane is an ideal size for us to float around, we can put it on our own float and take it to any of our projects. The size also means we are not restricted to day light travelling and we can travel at night. This makes a huge difference to the timing and the logistics for these projects,” said McIntosh.

“We ordered and bought the crane in advance of a number of tenders which are just out now. There are a number of small single lane bridge replacements and culverts up in the areas where the fires raged through. These types of projects are ideal for the new Tadano.

With the ability to walk with a load at up to 4º, the GTC350 can easily go where others can’t.

“If it has to walk in two or three kilometres to get to the site, it is designed to do this. It’ll do the job and walk back out again. We’ve put the cart before the horse by buying the crane, but you have to be confident of winning the work and having the right crane at your disposal when you do win it.

“We have been very happy with the way the Tadano has worked with us throughout the sales and delivery process. Matt Fussell, Tadano Sales Manager Vic/Tas and Mick Mader Tadano’s Workshop Leading Hand, Victoria worked closely with my son David and the finance team to ensure everything happened seamlessly. The fact the crane was in stock in the Tadano Brisbane yard, was the real clincher for us. To be able to order a crane and collect within a couple of days was a real bonus,” said McIntosh.

Tadano’s Matt Fussell and Mick Mader handover the Tadano GTC 350 to NelMac’s Nelson McIntosh.