Andromeda Industries

SAFER AND STRONGER SLINGS FROM ANDROMEDA

Andromeda Industries is an established innovator in the Australian wire rope industry. Andromeda is the only manufacturer of fl at woven manufacturer of fl at woven steel slings in Australia. Andromedas Industries business development manager Scott Taylor explained more.

The Deano sling is designed to equalise loads on high-capacity ramshorn hooks. high-capacity ramshorn hooks.

“AS A BUSINESS, OUR CORE FOCUS IS

the design and manufacture of plaited the design and manufacture of plaited and woven steel cables as well as terminal fi ttings for these cables. Our products are used extensively in the lifting and rigging industry and they have been for 60 years,” said Taylor.

“Over the last 12 months, we have been involved with some of the bigger infrastructure projects on the east coast of Australia, including a signifi cant amount of project work on the Cross River Rail Project in Brisbane, the Metro project in Melbourne, and we have been heavily involved in the Project Energy Connect interconnector powerline project running between Robertson in South Australia and Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, where our slings were used for pulling conductor cable.

“Our ability to manufacture our Superfl ex wire rope and a range of fi ttings in house at our six hectare Moonbi facility has allowed us to supply a varied range of specialised slings through our network of distributors, which include Bullivants, Nobles, and Bunzl Safety,” he said.

The Andromeda Industries’ range of products includes Superfl ex, a plaited 12-strand wire rope as opposed to a conventional wire rope with a six- or eight-strand round strand.

“We take the round-stranded cable and plait it into what becomes our Superfl ex wire tope.” said Taylor.

“This process makes it a highly fl exible, more robust, and easier to handle wire rope for making slings. The plaited design makes it ideal for choking around smooth surfaces, and for lifting anything you can imagine wire rope gets used for.

“Our Superfl ex cable starts at 10mm and goes through to 96mm. We buy cable from 2.5mm to 24mm as our feed stock and this gets plaited into a three by four plait, which gives us our 12-strand Superfl ex fi nished product.

The reason it is so fl exible is because it incorporates 912 individual wires woven into the wire rope. A standard six by 36, which is what

would normally be used for a sling, is Nobles, and Bunzl Safety,” he said. manufactured from 216 wires.” Eighteen months ago, Andromeda Industries founder Raymond McLaren commissioned a new plaiting machine. The new horizontal plaiting machine was fully designed and constructed onsite at Moonbi by Raymond and his dedicated staff. “Prior to the installation of this machine, our Superfl ex product used to stop at a 40mm diameter, but we are now able to make slings up to 96mm in diameter. This diameter has a breaking strain of 434 tonnes and a working load of 84 tonnes in a single leg direct confi guration. “With the greater diameter, we are able to manufacture a couple of different styles of slings, including our double ended strop, which can then take the working load up to 168 tonnes. We would be the only organisation in Australia capable of manufacturing a cable like this,” said Taylor. Recently, Andromeda Industries worked closely with John Holland on

Andromeda Industries worked closely with John Holland on the Level Crossing Upgrade Project in Melbourne. The Deano sling enabled the safe lifting of tunnel boring machine parts.

a major projects, providing custom- made slings explained Taylor.

“We worked closely with John Holland on the Level Crossing Upgrade Project in Melbourne. They were looking for some slings to lift and rotate the Bridge Piers. We Supplied 48mm diameter [Twelve-0] Superfl ex strops at the required length with a cast thimble in the sling to protect the rope from wear,” he said.

“John Holland designed the lifting trunnion on the pier to suit our thimble. This is an example of how being a local supplier of a high quality product allows us to work with customers and suppliers alike to achieve positive outcomes.

“Throughout the year we have also worked with Cross River Rail in Brisbane, The Metro Tunnel Project in Melbourne and Sydney. Through our distribution partners we have been able to work together to supply some very specialised slings. In many cases these have been time sensitive jobs,” he said.

For each of these projects, Andromeda Industries supplied one of their own unique product designs called the Deano sling. These slings are designed to equalise loads on highcapacity ramshorn hooks. The Deano sling is one of Andromeda’s double ended strops with a cast thimble fi tted onto the sling body to reduce damage and wear. By running the eyes of the sling over the ramshorn hook the need for the use of two separate slings on the hook is eliminated and ensures the load is centred under the ramshorn.

“The projects used our slings to enable the safe lifting of tunnel boring machine parts. The Melbourne project showed the versatility of the Deano by using it as a two leg sling lifting off a single point hook. These are a unique product designed and manufactured onsite at our Moonbi factory,” said Taylor.

Andromeda Industries is National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited and also a full member of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA). When Androemda Industries manufactures a sling, it comes fully tested and certifi ed to the relevant Australian standards.

“We take the round-stranded cable and plait it into what becomes our Superfl ex wire rope.”