IN FOCUS / LIEBHERR USED CRANES
MELROSE EVOLUTION PASSES SYDNEY METRO TEST Melrose Cranes and Rigging successfully deploys new LTM 1500 for major lifts at Sydenham Station in Sydney.
SYDNEY METRO is Australia’s biggest public transport project. By 2024, Sydney will have 32 metro railway stations and a 66km standalone metro railway system – the biggest urban rail project in Australian history. The heaviest canopy section went over the lift shafts at a 35m radius and it weighed almost 25 tonnes.
38 / CAL March 2020
The NSW Government is delivering a $300 plus million contract for major railway work at Sydenham as part of Sydney Metro, including the upgrade of Sydenham Station. The Sydenham Metro Upgrade contract was awarded to John Holland Pty Ltd and Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd. Melrose Cranes and Rigging deployed its newly arrived Liebherr LTM 15008.1 all terrain to lift into place major canopies for the new station. Senior project manager, Dave Weldon was responsible for the project. “The project is called the SSJ which is the Sydenham Station upgrade. It’s a massive project with major works being carried out throughout the station including the aqueduct, there’s also a lot of rail infrastructure being changed, new signal systems, power lines being relocated, it would be one of the larger projects going around at the moment,” Weldon said. “To date, Melrose has managed the lifts relating to the station works which started about 18 months ago when the piling first started. Since then we’ve installed lift shafts and large precast panels and we’ve had various cranes involved for the different elements of the project. The 500t was deployed over the Christmas period to lift a series of canopies into place. There were several major issues to be considered including the fact the crane would be operating directly under the flight path of Sydney Airport. Also, the station had to remain operational for trains which meant planning had to be meticulous with time frames incredibly tight. Planning for the lifts began in mid 2019 when Weldon met with the SSJ team and came up with a plan to build the canopies in large modules. Initially, the design was for the canopies to be www.cranesandlifting.com.au
