Cranes and Lifting - May/June 2020

THE DEDICATED RESOURCE FOR THE CRANE INDUSTRY / MAY/JUNE 2020

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IN THIS ISSUE

23

8 Up Front Titan Cranes (NZ) deploys a new 500t Liebherr crawler for major project in Christchurch.

12 CICA’s president report Examining the economic impact as state and federal government fast track major projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

15 CICA QLD chairman’s report CICA QLD chair takes a look at the next 12 months, highlighting the positives and challenges ahead.

18 CICA Trainee Program CICA South Australian Trainee of the Year discusses the benefits of bringing youth into the industry.

20 CICA Member profile Mark Gilbert from WGA, heavy lift engineering specialists, was recently recognised for his contributions to the industry.

22 CICA Tech Corner The CICA Technical committee examines the role articulated pick and carry cranes play in many industries and how they can achieve a high level of safety.

30 Longest boom on five axles A New Zealand crane hire business recently took delivery of a Grove featuring the longest boom on five axles. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

30

34 Baden Support Services Initiatives that are designed to minimise customer down time.

48

36 Franna first at ConExpo Franna displayed an AT 22 at ConExpo for the first time and we examine the success of the venture.

40 Demag crawlers in focus With crawler cranes making a significant resurgence in popularity, we put the spotlight on the Demag range.

44 Philosophy behind TIDD success TRT discusses the engineering and manufacturing philosophy behind the success of the TIDD pick and carry range.

46 Link Belt launch new crawler Baden Davis Crane Connection discusses the launch of a new Link Belt crawler model.

48 CBD lift from Boom Logistics Boom Logistics recently completed a “Melbourne first lift” with its new Liebherr LTM 1750.

50 Shuttlelift is on the way Pace Cranes discusses the recent inroads made by the Shuttlelift product.

52 Software for mobility Working remotely or “on the go” is made easier with a business

software system designed specifically for the crane sector.

54 Two Way Tally’s progress An update on Two Way Tally, the trainee guide dog puppy, who is well into her training program.

56 Web tool for powerline safety The recently launched lookupandlive.com.au – an online safety planning tool designed to save lives in the Queensland crane sector.

57 New Apps for 3D lift plans A1A Software releases a number of new mobile Apps making 3D planning “on the move” a simpler process.

May 2020 CAL / 3

FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM Published by:

WELCOME TO THE MAY/JUNE 2020 ISSUE THE MEASURES PUT IN place by authorities to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting all of us on a daily basis and the construction sector is no exception.

Recent weeks have seen private construction work come to a near standstill. Commercial building has fallen to its lowest level in almost seven years with apartment and commercial construction work suffering the biggest hits.

However, the construction industry is a significant contributor to the economy, producing 9 per cent of Australia’s GDP and providing employment to approximately 10 per cent of the population.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel with industry groups urging governments to fast-track infrastructure projects to create jobs and support Australia’s ailing economy and construction sector.

“Our membership is predominantly small businesses and having cranes on job sites is imperative to their survival.

Fast tracking planned projects is a way of maintaining upcoming works in the

pipeline,” said Brandon Hitch, CEO of CICA. The Civil Contractors Federation and Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) have been pressing governments to bring forward “shovel-ready” projects to support the construction sector.

The UDIA highlighted the $7 billion rail line to Sydney’s new airport at Badgery’s Creek, a $2bn extension to the Pacific Highway, and Perth’s $4.1bn Metronet rail project as possibilities to bring forward, as well as urban renewal projects at Melbourne’s Fisherman’s Bend and Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Michael McCormack wrote to state governments in March asking them to identify suitable projects to bring forward. Governments are also being encouraged to clear the backlog waiting for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – requesting they make a decision on applications lodged before July 1, 2019, by July 1, 2020.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, National Construction Division and Master Builders Australia have joined forces to help ensure the construction industry remains strong during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The team at Cranes and Lifting understands how uncertain these times are, but we work hard to communicate the best of what our industry has to offer, and the contents of this issue are no different. We hope you enjoy the read and wish you a safe passage through these difficult and unchartered waters.

Simon Gould Editor, Cranes and Lifting 4 / CAL May 2020

11-15 Buckhurst St South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreativemedia.com.au CEO John Murphy E: john.murphy@primecreative.com.au Chief Operating Officer Zelda Tupicoff E: zelda.tupicoff@primecreative.com.au Publisher Christine Clancy E: christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Group Managing Editor (Northern) Syed Shah E: syed.shah@primecreative.com.au Editor Simon Gould E: simon.gould@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Brad Marshall E: brad.marshall@primecreative.com.au T: 0403 993 443 Client Success Manager Justine Nardone E: justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager Michelle Weston E: michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Art Director Blake Storey Design Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty, Jo De Bono Subscriptions Frank Rapone T:03 9690 8766 E: frank.rapone@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.

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

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INDUSTRY NEWS INTERNATIONAL LEARNINGS BENEFIT THE AUSTRALIAN CRANE INDUSTRY The International Crane Stakeholder Assembly (ICSA) is a meeting of seven member associations from around the world, representing the crane and rigging industry and crane manufacturers.

The goal of the ICSA is to facilitate information sharing and meaningful dialogue between crane industry stakeholders on safety, technical, and regulatory issues of concern to the international crane industry.

Meetings are held annually at the relevant international trade show and in 2020 this was during ConExpo, held in Las Vegas 10-14 March 2020.

In March, the ICSA finalised its fourth position paper, “Mobile Crane Ground Preparation for Wind Farm Construction”. This document will provide valuable information on ground preparation for safe use of cranes on wind farms for crane

MELBOURNE INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES UNDERWAY Early work has begun on expanding the capacity of two of Melbourne’s busiest freeways, with geotechnical drilling underway on the Sydney Road to Edgars Road section of the M80 Ring Road and the second stage of the Monash Freeway Upgrade.

The $518 million upgrade to the M80 is the fifth section to be

The upgrade will improve intersections with the Hume Freeway, the future North East Link, the Princes and West Gate Freeways and the future West Gate Tunnel.

6 / CAL May 2020

companies and constructors of wind farms. CICA had the privilege of being the secretariat of the working group for this position paper. All ICSA papers are available for download without charge on the ICSA website.

ICSA is a unique forum for CICA to learn how other Associations are working through industry issues internationally, much like the NRG provides a sharing forum locally in Australia. CICA will host the ICSA for the 3rd time in 2021 at the postponed National Conference in Perth.

Unfortunately, numbers at ConExpo were down due to emerging business and travel concerns surrounding the

COVID-19 pandemic. CICA had two representatives present, Ben Pieyre and Brandon Hitch. Andrew Esquilant and Danny Black were apologies due to ConExpo shortening the show by one day.

The information and networking gained by attending the ICSA is always worthwhile and CICA would like to thank the American associations – American Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and Specialised Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) for hosting the meetings and sponsoring the social evening in Las Vegas this year.

For more information about ICSA, go to: www.icsa-crane.org

ICSA assembly met during ConExpo.

improved as part of the upgrade of the entire Ring Road, which extends from Brooklyn in the city’s west to Greensborough in the north east.

Geotechnical investigations and inspections of the project site will shape the final designs of the M80 Upgrade ahead of major construction starting mid-year.

New lanes will be added on the fourkilometre stretch between Sydney and Edgars roads, and entry and exit ramps will be built to improve safety and remove weaving.

The upgrade will improve intersections with the Hume Freeway, the future North East Link, the Princes and West Gate Freeways and the future West Gate Tunnel.

Major construction on stage two of the $1.4 billion Monash Freeway is expected to slash almost 10 minutes off a morning peak hour trip between Pakenham and the city.

The Monash will be expanded from eight to ten lanes between Springvale Road and EastLink, and from four to six lanes between Clyde Road and Cardinia Road. Better connections will be created at Beaconsfield, and link to an upgraded and extended O’Shea Road that will feature two extra lanes in each direction.

The upgrade will also create a new outbound entry to the Monash Freeway at Police Road and a modified outbound Jacksons Road entry to EastLink, making it easier and safer to access the Monash and EastLink.

Smart transport technology and new overhead gantries will be installed on both the Monash and M80 to give motorists live traffic information and better lane management during incidents.

The Monash Freeway upgrade is expected to be complete in 2022, while work on the M80 is due for completion by early 2023. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

[Go-Anzen-Ni!] Go-Anzen-Ni! is Japanese for Safety First!

Safety has always been the first and foremost of Tadano’s Core Values, which guide us in every decision we make. We want to thank our customers and everyone else who are doing their part to keep the world safe and running during these difficult times. For those of you that are out there working, Tadano stands behind you. We will do everything in our power to support you and help you help others. #StrongerTogether #GoAnzenNi #SafetyFirst

Richard, Service Technician

Š Tadano Ltd. 2020. Tadano and Demag are trademarks of or licensed by Tadano Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

Anne, Crane Rental Company Owner Mark, Crane Operator

UP FRONT / LIEBHERR CRAWLERS AND TITAN CRANES (NZ)

HELPING TO BUILD CHRISTCHURCH’S FUTURE Liebherr recently delivered a 500t crawler crane to leading New Zealand crane hire business, Titan Cranes (New Zealand) for a major role in a Christchurch rebuild project.

TITAN CRANES (NZ) is a multigenerational crane business with origins dating back to the mid 1960’s. Today, it remains a privately-owned business.

Cranes and Lifting recently spoke to Titan Cranes Bruce Whiley, marketing and Vaughan Clark, general manager, about the reasons behind the recent purchase of a Liebherr LR1500, 500t capacity crawler crane.

Over the past 50 plus years, Titan Cranes (NZ) has seen numerous and different stages to its evolution as it has kept pace with the changing demands of the construction industry and crane sector.

General and taxi crane hire work remains an important part of the business, project work is also an integral part of its operations. Over the years the Titan name has been highly visible on many of New Zealand’s major projects.

Today, Titan Cranes (NZ) runs a fleet of 56 cranes and employs around 100 staff, says Vaughan Clark.

“Traditionally, the fleet has just been 8 / CAL May 2020

mobile cranes but in the last four or five years we’ve been moving back into crawler cranes having sold them all off previously.

“We had a small fleet of crawler cranes, but the market changed in terms of what it was demanding and quite simply we really didn’t need them, they were basically sitting around doing nothing, so we sold them,” he said.

Then about five years ago, Clark noticed there was another change in the market. Titan Cranes had a customer that was tendering a project at Wellington International Airport, when they approached him looking for a large tower crane. In a few minutes it was determined that a 400t crawler crane with a luffing fly was the right tool for the job.

“Initially, we investigated leasing the Liebherr 400t crawler but decided to purchase it and set about finding one that had every accessory and fly option along with a main boom of 112m.

Before we could get it to the airport

project, it was sent to another job and it’s been organically generating work ever since. The crawler business is now at the point where we have four crawlers that we own, all Liebherrs, and two that we lease,” said Clark.

Titan Cranes (NZ) crawlers start with a Liebherr LTR 1100, a 100t capacity telescopic crawler crane with a 52m telescopic boom which features a maximum host height of 83m and radius of 60m. The next crawler up is the LR 1250, a 250t capacity crane with a maximum boom height of 148m and a maximum radius of 95m. This is followed by the LR1400/2.

The LR 1400/2 crawler crane features include a multi-functional boom system, simple, fast crane set-up and low-cost transport of the crane components. Its variable derrick System with hydraulic control delivers enormous load capacities. The LR 1400/2 features a maximum capacity 400t, a maximum hoist height of 164m and maximum radius of 120m. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

The Liebherr LR 1500 crawler crane delivers outstanding load capacities over its entire operating range.

The LR 1500 crawler crane delivers outstanding load capacities over its entire operating range. It is extremely compact in design enhancing its transportability and the overall concept for operational simplicity. With a maximum load capacity of 500t the LR 1500 has a staggering maximum hoist height of 169.4m and a maximum radius of 144m.

According to Clark the crawler fleet is well utilised most of the time. He also confirmed the performance of the Liebherr crawlers led to the purchase of the LR 1500.

“All the crawlers are out on site. The LR 1250t is on a job until the end of the year and we never really see the LTR 1100, it’s working all the time because it’s such a versatile crane. The 250t and 400t are both extremely reliable machines.

We have been very happy with their performance which has been a major reason behind the purchase of the LR 1500. The 400t and 500t are both spec-ed with every option that we could have, meaning they have fixed fly, luffing fly www.cranesandlifting.com.au

A key feature for Titan Cranes (NZ) is the mobilisation and transportation of the LR 1500 crawler.

and super lifts,” he said.

“We bought 400t and 500t crawlers with specific projects in mind but specced them to work in other industries, in particular the infrastructure sector. The additional specifications were factory fitted to make them even more versatile cranes which are not limited to the general construction environment.

“One of the key features for us was the mobilisation and transportation of these crawlers. We looked at larger machines and other brands but really the component weights for transport and sizes was the deciding factor, particularly with the 500t,” he said.

Operators spend all day every day in cranes and their acceptance of the Liebherr crawlers has been a key reason for their success says Clark.

“The operators love the crawlers especially the latest addition. We’ve got a few operators that are now trained on the 500t and every single one of them loves to operate it. The relationship with the Liebherr team is really good. The sales team work really hard and the service and support team is fantastic; they are on right top of their game and they are only a phone call away,” he said.

According to Tom Curran, sales manager mobile and crawler cranes, May 2020 CAL / 9

UP FRONT / LIEBHERR CRAWLERS AND TITAN CRANES (NZ)

Liebherr New Zealand, his team understands the requirements of a valued customer like Titan Cranes NZ. “For the Liebherr NZ crane team, this crane represents strong confidence in the Liebherr support teams to deliver the necessary aftersales support to Titan Cranes (NZ).

“The crane is state of the art for its product class and we are confident it will prove itself in operation.

Titan Cranes is a valued customer with a long association with Liebherr products and staff. We understand and appreciate the commitment Titan affords our NZ team,” said Curran.

The LR1500 is currently working on the Metro Sports Facility in New Zealand.

It is one of the key rebuild projects after the devastating earthquakes that the New Zealand government and Christchurch

The crane represents strong confidence in the Liebherr support teams to deliver the necessary aftersales support to Titan Cranes (NZ).

City Council are funding to help revitalise the city.

The NZ$221 million project has been awarded to CIMIC Group company CPB Contractors by Ōtākaro Ltd to deliver the Christchurch Metro Sports Facility, the largest aquatic and indoor recreation and community venue in New Zealand.

The three-building facility will cater to local and international events, with construction including a 10-lane competition pool with seating for 1,000 spectators, swim leisure area, nine indoor netball and basketball courts and a show court with retractable

seating for 2,500 spectators.

According to Clark, the project is going to see a number of cranes on the site.

“There will be potentially up to 10 cranes on that site over the next year.

We’ve got a Jaso tower crane on site with 85m of boom swinging around. We’ve got the LR 1500 there and the 400t will be joining it shortly. There’s also a 25t rough terrain and then a host of smaller cranes will be going on site including a 25t Franna which we’ve just purchased.

As it develops, there will be mobiles coming and going so it’s going to be a

The Liebherr LR1500 is currently working on the Metro Sports Facility – an NZ$221million rebuild project funded by New Zealand government and Christchurch City Council.

10 / CAL May 2020

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

very busy site,” said Clark.

Titan also operates a sister company which is the importer and distributor for the Kato and Franna crane ranges. Clark discusses the mix of Titan Cranes (NZ) mobile fleet.

“As well as the 50 plus cranes in the fleet, we operate around 70 support vehicles which means some serious logistical planning most of the time. We work in all industries but mainly in infrastructure and construction and we have fingerprints all over oil and gas as well. We are operating across four geographical locations.

“The mobile fleet is split between Liebherr, Demag and Kato. The all terrain fleet is split just about 50/50 between Liebherr and Demag and the truck cranes are 100 per cent Kato. We operate smaller Kato city cranes and the larger ones are Demag.

“The smallest mobile is a 10t machine and the fleet increases in capacity to a pair of 350t cranes, one is a Liebherr, the other a Demag. The operators are really happy with the Liebherr all terrains. I don’t think I’ve found anyone who doesn’t like them to be honest, that’s apart from a Demag salesman,” he said.

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CICA PRESIDENT’S REPORT INDUSTRY NEWS / PRESIDENT’S REPORT

WEATHERING THE STORM What kind of economic impacts will there be as a result of state and federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic?

WE ARE WITNESSING rapid change daily through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of us, including our team at CICA, have modified our working arrangements by contributing remotely from home, and through a much lower reliance on travel, time in the office and the use of “zoom” rather than “in person” meetings.

The big question for our industry is whether the economic impacts immediately felt due to reactions by both domestic and international governments to the pandemic will disappear as quickly as they arrived, or linger, causing long term implications to our businesses. I feel the answer will be a combination, depending on your market niche, your internal business structure and your ability to adapt.

We are noticing a very fine line between those member businesses whose trade is heavily impacted, or only marginally impacted by government trade restrictions. Those with a market niche heavily skewed toward large government funded infrastructure projects, to this date, have noticed a marginal decline in demand. Some impact is noticeable in smaller construction projects but for the most part, construction as a group is pushing through as best as it can, in part attributable to industry and employee groups working together to lobby government against restrictions in this sector. In the industrial sector, those reliant on imported inputs have cut production rapidly and cut maintenance spending budgets to match.

At the opposite extreme, those members supplying the entertainment and stage building sector had all foreseeable work cancelled overnight causing an immediate impact to planned workflow.

The underlying issue confronting us all, regardless of whether we operate a 12 / CAL May 2020

hire business or market our goods and services to crane hirers, is the extreme level of uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government’s position remains “at least six months” before we can attempt a path back to normality.

Our internal business structure will play a vital part in how we can adapt to the current trading environment. Our two greatest inputs, labour expenses and the cost of capital need to be carefully managed, particularly if your business is trading in a niche market most heavily impacted by restrictions. One major part of this, the value of our machinery, is very much front and centre in the “uncertain” category. Machinery values underpin the very foundation of small/medium equipment hire businesses as most privateers will build machinery equity, then acquire and grow the equipment pool to minimise tax exposure rather than hold large cash reserves. In the current environment, this structure is risky, particularly for those more highly geared as they face exposure to “asset deflation”, the business killer for any capital-intensive enterprise.

So why would asset deflation become such an immediate risk? Unfortunately, the answer is entirely out of our control and lies fundamentally with international currency movements coupled with how our local banks and lenders react.

For our own currency, the Australian Dollar always shows volatility against the US dollar during international uncertainty. We have now witnessed 18year lows over the preceding weeks. This can be an issue for us purchasing business supplies out of nations trading in US dollars, obviously such as China. To the most part though, our major machinery purchases are out of Europe, particularly our All-Terrain cranes, and as such, we are

CICA president Tom Smith.

most interested in the Australian Dollar relative to the Euro. Over the last 12 months, this has been fairly stable, around the .61 mark. We witnessed a rapid decline in mid-March reaching a floor as low as .51. This kind of volatility is devastating to hire businesses maintaining confidence in ordering new equipment.

The volatility of funding equipment during times of currencies bouncing between extremes makes planning very difficult, particularly in our businesses which are all highly capital intensive and of mainly imported equipment. This makes taking up government investment allowance subsidies, such as the $150,000 immediate tax deduction on new acquisitions, a decision to consider very carefully, unless of course, you choose to buy Australian, in Australian dollars.

So, this leaves us with our ability to adapt. Regardless of how your business is structured, during these times of extreme uncertainty which has generated equally low levels of confidence, we must adapt to protect ourselves against devastating economic impacts out of our control. So please, carefully consider your management of two most very crucial business parameters whilst market volatility is at an extreme; being your asset values relative to finance costs, and your expenditure on labour relative to your generation of revenue. It has been pleasing to note many local lenders, including the major banks have been forthcoming with support packages for business, definitely something worth considering talking to your relationship www.cranesandlifting.com.au

manager about during this time to help manage your finance costs and monthly commitments. Equally as pleasing is the announcement of the Jobkeeper package by the Federal government, again certainly worth considering and may help protect against rising costs of idle labour.

CICA is very keen to see our members successfully navigate through this particularly unusual, and at times, difficult period and there are many resources available to CICA Members.

CICA Assist is available to help you understand workplace relations and obligations. There are webinars being made available on the CICA YouTube channel and don’t forget a program like CrewSafe provides opportunities to upskill during quieter times.

Outside of the immediate rigours that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, I would like to reflect on the contributions made by all volunteers across CICA nationwide, particularly during the National Volunteering Week between 18th to 24th May. Volunteering is an essential part of our association. The very foundation of CICA and the state branches were formed solely through volunteering and it is those who now hold the mantle who continue this very important function.

In recent editions of this publication, those volunteers elevated to ‘Hall of Fame’ status have been specifically acknowledged. These individual volunteers have displayed exceptional levels of dedication over many years to CICA and the board again thanks them for their contributions. Furthermore, we would like to extend our gratitude to the many hundreds of branch level volunteers who continue to build momentum for improvements in our industry every week.

Unfortunately, these efforts will not be on display this year. Due to the uncertainty we currently face, CICA has been forced to postpone our national conference in Perth to be held now one year later in 2021. I’m sure when the opportunity allows, and we do meet again, we will make up for

any lost ground.

In the meantime, I wish you all the very best, I hope you and your families do all that you can to stay safe and healthy.

CICA BOARD Tom Smith – President Geoff Bevan – Vice President Andrew Esquilant – Director Danny Black – Director John Gillespie – Director Bart Sutherland – Director Marcus Ferrari – Director Ben Pieyre – Director David Solomon – Director CICA OFFICE Brandon Hitch Chief Executive Officer 03 8320 0444 0428 228 048 ceo@cica.com.au Heidi Hervay CICA Administration Officer (NSW, QLD, NT, VIC & TAS Secretariat) 0403 717 626 heidi@cica.com.au John Humphries VIC/TAS Liaison Officer 03 8320 0433 0439 556 867 john@cica.com.au Alice Edwards, Project Engineer 03 8320 0440 alice@cica.com.au Patrick Cran Plant & Operator Assessment Officer 0488 004 274 pat@cranesafe.com.au

Tom Smith CICA President Managing Director – McKay United 0439 130 567

Damien Hense Road Safety Liaison Officer 03 8320 0460 0488 007 575 damien@cica.com.au Andy Chambers Crane Traineeship Coordinator 03 8320 0420 0477 577 667 andy@cica.com.au Julie Turner CICA Executive Assistant / Office Manager Direct: 03 8320 0411 Email: julie@cica.com.au Ashleigh Gould CICA Administration Officer – CraneSafe And CrewSafe Direct: 03 8320 0466 Email: ashleigh@cranesafe.com.au Michelle Verkerk Marketing and Media Communications Officer 0410 003 759 michelle@cica.com.au

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.

May 2020 CAL / 13

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CICA CHAIR REPORT

CICA QUEENSLAND CHAIRMAN REPORT CICA Queensland chairman, Steve Gonano, speaks about the the opportunities and challenges facing the Queensland branch of CICA. GONANO HAS BEEN the chairman of CICA Queensland for four years and over that period he’s learnt a terrific amount about the role of CICA in the greater crane community and confirms his role as chairman has been as challenging as expected.

“In Queensland, we seem to go through a bit of a lull certainly in terms of the attendance at our meetings, they weren’t well attended, and things were probably a little bit flat. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to generate a more interest in the meetings and in CICA QLD in general. The committee has been a little bit more motivated and there’s definitely more momentum now around various initiatives.

“As a committee, we are definitely getting more done and the membership appears to be more engaged. For this to have happened, we tweaked the format of meetings somewhat and a major objective for this year to get more bums on seats,” he said.

In Queensland, there are a lot of crane businesses that aren’t members of CICA, and therefore unaware of what we do, or the benefits we can offer says Gonano. One major objective for this year is to target this group, make contact with them and get them involved.

“The numbers are quite high, we estimate there are approximately 300 operations which are not involved with CICA, so it’s important we target this element of the market. There are a lot of smaller operations in and around South East Queensland. Currently we have just over 130 members in CICA QLD so there’s plenty of potential to grow our membership,” said Gonano.

“I started in the industry 24 years ago and there were probably a dozen crane www.cranesandlifting.com.au

companies in, and around Brisbane back then. Today, we’ve still got three or four bigger operators and there are a few reasonably sized businesses, but now, we see an increase of smaller companies running between one and five cranes.

“This is the sector of the market we are going to target and hopefully generate interest in what we are doing. It will take work, but the committee is certainly on board. If our membership is more representative, it will be good for CICA as an association. It will mean crane businesses are better informed and we will have more leverage when we approach regulators and industry groups in the construction sector,” said Gonano.

CICA QLD is facing a couple of major challenges this year, one is the number of structures on the state roads which members are either not allowed to travel over or structures that operators need to endure a lengthy permit process to obtain a ‘single trip’ permit for. These are what are called ‘do not cross’ or ‘single trip structures’.

“The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Queensland is now assessing structures on a continuous basis and access over these structures can be changed for operators on a bi-monthly basis. These structures are often on key routes, so cranes are forced off main roads and into suburban areas, which is an issue we are struggling to deal with.

The second major issue for operators in SEQ involves the issue of permits for crane operators to travel in the Brisbane City Council jurisdiction. As far as Gonano is concerned, this is probably going to be a big nut for CICA QLD to crack.

“The permit turnaround times from Brisbane City Council are challenging for crane owners, and I can see access

Steve Gonano, CICA Queensland chairman.

to the city is going to consume a huge percentage of our time this year. Many local councils across the state have really stepped up in recent times with regard to crane access and have led the way forward when it comes to providing operators with a workable, long term permit process. We will continue to work with the BCC to achieve similar outcomes in the city.

“Access was an issue I inherited as the vice-chair and our committee came up with a plan to pay a consultant to work with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) to get councils on board with the SPV1 notice,” he said.

“When CICA started this process, NHVR had a handful of councils who had agreed to let SPV1 cranes on their roads. Within 12 months of CICA getting involved we had 36 councils on board. Now every local government in Queensland has provided some form of permit free access for these cranes. That was a massive win for crane owners in Queensland.

“The program worked so well we kept our guy on and he’s been working on getting access for four and five axle all terrain cranes and we’ve got more than 30 councils across the state that have May 2020 CAL / 15

CICA CHAIR REPORT

agreed, in principle, to let us run on those council roads with only a few minor restrictions. Just to give you an idea, in my local council, which represents about 450,000 residents, we have access to run on every road bar about eight roads and structures which is excellent. It’s this type of work CICA QLD has been conducting across the state and we’ve seen councils agree to this level of access. It’s been a huge project and it’s certainly put us ahead of some of the other states in terms of access,” said Gonano.

The launch of the CICA Outrigger App has been another positive. It was an idea Gonano had a couple of years ago and he suggested CICA QLD should investigate the development of the App. The QLD committee jumped on board and were an important part of the content and testing of the product.

“Ground pressure calculations more often than not, needs to happen when the crane on a site because that when

the operator determines where he will be setting the crane up. Although the formula for calculating the ground bearing pressure is taught as part of the operators assessment, it would rarely be used and in most cases forgotten.

“The App takes the formula out of a book on the shelf in the office and puts it in the hands of a crane operator on a site, on the day he’s about to set the crane up.

“It’s a simple enough idea, it’s not rocket science but to my knowledge, it’s never been done before. It gives operators the ability to do the calculations there and then, they can send these back to the office or they can give them to the client.

If nothing else, it means they’ve taken every step that they can to ensure the setup of that crane is safe,” he said.

There have been around 700 downloads of the App so far and that’s across the country. There has also been some interest in the App from Canada and operators in New Zealand.

CICA QLD also managed to negotiate the lifting of the Easter and Christmas travel curfews at the end of last year.

“This is a restriction that was put in place to get cranes off the highways during the Easter and Christmas periods. The restriction was a major issue for operators that have clients with facilities based on roads and highways who wanted to perform ‘shut down’ or maintenance work over these periods.

The only way we could service them would be to bring equipment to the site before the shut and leave it there, whether we used it or not, and then retrieve it after the shut when we were allowed back on the road,” said Gonano.

“We lobbied the Main Roads Department over a period of around three years, and we finally got them to fix the curfew and that’s a big win for us.

New South Wales did a similar thing and had success a couple of years before us,” he said.

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CICA TRAINEE PROGRAM

CICA SOUTH AUSTRALIAN TRAINEE OF THE YEAR Cranes and Lifting spoke to Jackson Arbuckle about his reasons for getting into the crane industry and what he likes about his job.

JACKSON ARBUCKLE from Max Cranes was recently recognised as the CICA South Australian Trainee of the Year.

“I have just begun my fourth year in the crane industry having joined Max Cranes straight out of school aged 17. Before joining Max Cranes, I didn’t know much about construction or the crane industry.

I wasn’t one of those kids that wanted to stop and watch a construction site.

“I saw the advertisement for the traineeship with Max Cranes. I thought why not, it would be something different, so I went for the interview and I was lucky enough to get the job,’ said Arbuckle.

Arbuckle goes on to confirm what his early impressions of the crane industry were.

“The guys were very welcoming and despite the obvious age difference they made me feel comfortable from the beginning. They’ve been happy to teach me everything they know and having been around a lot longer than I have, it’s

been really good of them to pass on all the information, their experience and knowledge to me,” Arbuckle said.

Attending TAFE has also been an important element of Jackson’s traineeship. He has been attending Training Hire and Construction Industry Training Centre (CITC) courses.

“I started these courses about six months into my traineeship. They first sent me out to get my Dogmans ticket and I’ve gradually worked towards more tickets including ‘Basic Rigging’, ‘Confined Space Training’ and ‘Working at Heights’. At the moment, I hold the Basic Rigger CN Ticket which is my Pick and Carry ticket.

“My first year was in the yard learning about the cranes and the business and since then I have been mainly out on site with jobs. A lot of these have been with the major steel manufacturer just across the road,” said Arbuckle.

Today, Arbuckle works on the different types of cranes based at the Whyalla Depot

Jackson Arbuckle, Max Cranes, CICA South Australian Trainee of the Year 18 / CAL May 2020

which start with a 20t Pick and Carry and go through to 200t slewing cranes.

“I really love the work. I enjoy working in a team environment and I enjoy learning from the older guys. All things considered, I can see myself staying in the industry for a long time and I’d probably like to make it my career. For now, I’m happy to be doing what I do, there’s still lots to learn but ultimately, I’d like to progress up and become an operator of the larger cranes, and Max Cranes have some large ones in its fleet,” said Arbuckle.

Jackson understands the reluctance of some crane companies to take on youngsters in a trainee program, but he thinks there are plenty of others like him that would thrive in the industry.

“Obviously it is a risk having young people around such large pieces of heavy machinery. You need that older group of fellas who can teach the young ones what to do and how to do it well. From my perspective, it’s about constantly being vigilant about safety and understanding what that machine could do if you take any risks,” he said.

“When I’m onsite, I’ve been taught to be constantly aware of the environment and the surrounds on site and understanding what’s going on. You’ve got to be on the ball all the time, you’ve got to look for things that could happen, not just things when they’ve happened.

There’s a big difference.

“I’m really enjoying working with Max Cranes, they’ve been brilliant with me. I couldn’t be happier with the way they treat me. I’m pretty sure they are looking for more trainees, because they’ve been happy with how I’ve progressed,” said Arbuckle. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

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CICA MEMBER PROFILE

RECOGNISING HEAVY LIFTING EXCELLENCE With over 35 years of experience across diverse industry sectors, Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec (WGA) has developed an award-winning engineering and project management team offering a wide range of consulting services.

MARK GILBERT, founder and director of Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec (WGA) was recently recognised by the South Australian branch of CICA for his outstanding contribution to industry.

After building oil platforms in the North Sea, Gilbert returned to Australia in the early 80’s and set up Aztec Analysis with business partner Geoff Wallbridge.

Aztec Analysis specialised in heavy lifting, haulage and loadout which built on Gilbert’s specialist skills and experience. A second business, Wallbridge and Gilbert, provided more general consultancy services and in time the two businesses combined to form WGA. Gilbert and Wallbridge started the business together with a part time draftsman. Today, WGA is a multidisciplined consulting engineering firm represented across Australia and employing over 350 people.

WGA provides consultancy services to the various industry sectors including civil, structural, electrical, mechanical,

heavy lifting and heavy haulage, temporary works, geotechnical and almost every form of engineering design, says Gilbert.

“We also offer services specifically designed for the lifting sector. We are crane experts; we are crane designers and we are heavy lift designers; we often review and provide third party certification for clients.

“We provide client certification on big lifting operations which can be up to several thousand tonnes, but there is no limit really. We are one of the few, if not the only, specialist, independent company in Australia. There are a number of people with knowledge, but they tend to work within crane companies and are therefore not truly independent. We are independent consultants,” said Gilbert.

WGA services are generally required when a client is faced with the prospect of moving a massive piece of plant for example, says Gilbert.

“Most often, it’s the owner of the plant who will come to us and say we have to WGA are crane experts, crane and heavy lift designers.

20 / CAL May 2020

Mark Gilbert has been awarded an OAM and the CICA Outstanding Achievement Award.

remove a furnace weighing 600t from the top of this building and how on earth are we going to do it?

“We then investigate what resources are available. Because Australia is such a big country, the crane you want for the job could be thousands of kilometres away, so you have to be resourceful. We always tailor the lift to the available equipment and resources and that is really the art of it. The client obviously wants the lift completed safely, we all do, so we plan it meticulously and we draw up every aspect of it. Through risk analysis we take the risk out of heavy lifting for the client. We also supervise the crane operator during the lift,” said Gilbert.

There are many variations of this scenario as well, says Gilbert. WGA might be approached by a crane hire business with a client wanting a major job done.

“In this situation, we have a number of tools at our disposal that aren’t available to crane hire companies. The difference is we’re engineers, so we design, and we analyse, we draw and we analyse the lifted object, we design the lifting lugs and the lifting beams, we offer the entire service. We are not saying the bigger crane companies can’t provide these services, but most clients like the fact we offer a broader service and then we can certify the entire design,” he said.

Rodger Weste, WGA, manager industrial says the certification is key for a lot of clientele to ensure they can certify their engineering when working on high risk projects.

“The certification we provide is a key www.cranesandlifting.com.au

service to link the crane companies and the project owners to provide a safe, effective and transparent outcome which we provide all over the country.

“A recent example of this would be Multiplex, Collins Arch Project in Melbourne’s CBD. We provided a lot of the lift studies and certifications for this project’s key foundation lifts. This included combining up to five different cranes (mobile and tower) on site with multiple different capacities and multi crane lifts to ensure the building’s precast sections, which weighed up to 40t, could be lifted and installed safely,” he said.

“These lifts were often offset going in at large radiuses off a street in the heart of the Melbourne CBD which is quite a difficult task. Access was limited and only available from two sides of the square, you can imagine the amount of work involved in preparing a project like that.

That’s just one recent project, we would have provided certifications for 1000’s of projects over the years,” said Weste.

According to Gilbert, Tier One contractors invariably require a thirdparty review of any lift study that might have risk attached to it. That provides an independent opinion to give them more certainty and confidence.

“We often conduct the third-party reviews. The crane company might develop the lift study and we conduct the third-party reviews to test and validate it. With the actual lift our role can vary.

More often than not we will supervise the lift, so we take the lift from concept to completion,” he said.

Gilbert’s life commitment to the industry is recognised by CICA and he says WGA does a lot of work that is endorsed

by CICA including signing off on major crane inspections, commonly referred to as the 10 Year Inspection.

“10 years is not necessarily 10 calendar years for a crane, it is 10 working years.

We help our clients interpret the work history of the crane and piece together and advise them on when they really need to spend a huge amount of money on a major inspection. Often, we can extend the life of the crane quite substantially. We have approximately 12 specialist engineers www.cranesandlifting.com.au

around the country providing this service to numerous companies,” he said.

Gilbert was recognised by CICA for his contribution to the industry.

“I was a joint recipient of the CICA Outstanding Achievement Award with Mark Kuhn from Max Cranes. We were recognised for a lifetime contribution to the industry, which was a wonderful award, a great honour.

“I was also awarded an OAM was an even greater honour. The nice thing about the OAM is you are nominated by your peers, so I think my efforts in the crane industry have been recognised by some who went to the effort to nominate me, which was excellent and touching,” he said.

“As an observation, the construction industry is moving towards the modular construction process where larger sections of infrastructure projects are being built requiring fewer but much heavier lifts with greater lift spans and radiuses.

“Generally speaking, the crane companies in the industry are positioning themselves well to cope with this change and development.

“If I have made a contribution over the last 20 years to the crane industry, it’s been to raise the level of documentation in engineering and lift studies. I think we have a safer industry than we had 20 years ago.

“Today, every crane company takes a more detailed and rational approach to planning their lifts and lifts have been transformed in 20 years. I don’t think there’s a limit to what we can cope with, we can keep up with the construction industry trends with no problem,” said Gilbert.

Weste confirmed details relating to Gilbert’s commitment to CICA and the industry in general.

“I’ve been involved in CICA for about 12 years and when we were looking through the records and archives trying to find detail about Mark’s record, we couldn’t find a year when he wasn’t on the committee, and we looked as far back as the records went. His Outstanding Achievement Award is absolutely right, and he’s certainly been a part of the

Crane companies develop the lift study which WGA third-party review, test and validate.

association for a very long time,” he said.

“Yes, I thinks that’s about right, I think I would have joined around 2000,” said Gilbert.

“In fact, I joined when I read about the association in Cranes and Lifting magazine, it was called Construction Monthly back then. I actually entered The Lift of The Year Award because we had a good lift which I felt would have a chance.

“I received all the documentation, put a lot of work into the entry and submitted it. I then received a call from Rob Way who is one of the elder statesmen of the industry and he said, ‘I want to come and see you about your lifts.’

“He said ‘your entry is fantastic, but you are disqualified because you are not a member of the South Australian Crane Association, as it was back then. I said ‘well I’ve read all the documentation and found nothing that says I have to belong to the association.

“He said, ‘we’re going to give you a special honourable mention and would you mind joining? I said I’d be happy to and that’s how I joined the Crane Association and Rob and I became a lifelong friends,” said Gilbert.

“In those early days we won a number of the Lift Awards because we took a rational and an engineering approach to lifting. Now everyone does it that way and we take a little bit of credit for that,” he said.

May 2020 CAL / 21

CICA TECH CORNER

MANAGING THE MEASURABLES Effective analysis of the articulated crane operating data can give an indication of how the crane has been used, based on that, effective measures can then put in place for improvements.

By CICA technical committee member, Jon Koval. indication of the behaviour of the crane operator and whether a crane is being used within its designed load spectrum class. There are many common actions relating to pick and carry cranes which in themselves are not necessarily dangerous behaviours. Some of these are: - Overload due to end of luff ram stroke reached; - Operating outside a crane’s rated capacity; - Exceeding a crane’s pick and carry maximum allowed speed; - Articulating with the load near the rated capacity; - Attempting high capacity lifts with significant side slope; - Attempting lifts when crane is in travel mode;

- Driving with the boom not stowed properly; - Parking the hook block against the boom tip.

On-board LMI systems provide many safety features in the form of warnings or motion limiters which if ignored or overridden can result in the crane being used outside the manufacturers safe use guidelines. It may not be possible to analyse a single event taken out of context of other crane parameters to determine if the operator was working in an unsafe manner.

LUFFING RAM END OF STROKE Luffing rams on pick and carry cranes will eventually reach end of stroke if an operator continues luffing. Reaching the end of stroke will create a pressure

Figure 1

300.0

70.0

250.0

60.0 50.0

200.0

40.0 150.0 30.0 100.0

20.0

50.0 0.0 1:48:00 RATED CAPACITY %

10.0

1:55:12

2:02:24 BOOM ANGLE

Load and Boom Angle

Luffing RAM End of Stroke

Rated Capacitry %

ARTICULATING PICK and carry cranes are ubiquitous in Australia. Since their inception in 1980 they have proliferated in the thousands and have become a valued workhorse in many industries.

The name “pick and carry” suggests an indication of how these cranes are used and the utilitarian nature of the cranes. Thus, pick and carry cranes find themselves being used in a wide variety of applications, high frequency of use and with widely varying loads.

The articulating pick and carry crane has unique characteristics that differentiate it from slewing cranes and as a result a skilled slewing crane operator can unwittingly find himself in a potentially dangerous situation when using a pick and carry crane.

Most modern cranes are equipped with data loggers which store critical parameters relating to the crane’s use and rated capacity. Increasingly cranes are being equipped with remote monitoring systems, also known as telematics. Data log analysis has historically been used together with crane condition inspections as a means of investigating crane incidents after the fact. Routine data log analysis can identify potentially dangerous crane use and corrective measures then put in place before an incident occurs. However, there is a time-lapse between the incident and the analysis.

Telematics provides near real-time data which can greatly shorten the time between the activity and corrective measures.

While data loggers and telematics systems can provide reams of data, the analysis of the data can be challenging.

Monitoring crane movements through data analysis can give an

0.0 2:09:36 LOAD METRIC TONNES

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

22 / CAL May 2020

USE OF OVERRIDE TO INCREASE CAPACITY

stowage and highway mode selection sequence is followed, then there shouldn’t be any ca overload / override data log records generated. Some may believe following the incorrect s an issue, however it is imperative to understand that pick and carry load charts are valid on crane is configured for lifting operations. Because pick and carry cranes don’t have outrigge suspension must be locked so that it can achieve its rated capacity according to its load cha suspension is unlocked then there may not be a published load chart and lifting is prohibite records for a travel mode attempt with the boom not stowed is best viewed in tabular form below the operator attempted to switch to Highway mode but due to the boom angle being degrees the LMI warned that Highway mode is inhibited and to stow the boom as evidence 2. The operator then switched back to crane mode (Mode 0), lowered the boom, then ente mode successfully.

Figure 3

spike in the luffing cylinder which the LMI could interpretLuffing as an overload RAMifEnd the pressure 300.0 is high enough. This is often referred to as a “false overload”.

It is straightforward for a person to 250.0 look at the data pertaining to an endof-stroke overload and quickly ascertain 200.0 this to be a “false overload” due to zero load leading up to the overload and then the boom angle reaching 63 150.0 degrees concurrent with the overload spike however there can be tens of 100.0 thousands of rows of data to sort through. This is an example where the overload50.0 event can be identified by a software application but flagged as endof-stroke condition.

0.0

a lift that went straight into overload,

Time Stamp Angle (d) Travel mode 17/09/2019 22:37:30 11.4 0 17/09/2019 22:37:35 11.4 0 17/09/2019 22:37:50 11.1 1 70.0 17/09/2019 22:37:50 11.1 2 17/09/2019 22:37:55 11.1 2 17/09/2019 22:37:57 11.1 2 17/09/2019 22:38:01 11.1 0 Lift Related 60.0 Data 17/09/2019 22:38:03 10.1 0 17/09/2019 22:38:03 9.1data log files:0 The following information can be automatically generated from 17/09/2019 22:38:06 8.1 0 50.0 17/09/2019 22:38:10 7.0 1 Max 17/09/2019 22:38:15 Overload Summary Max %RC Time Duration Chart7.0 CWT Falls 1 Load 120.7 3/10/2019 5:55:06 20 Duty 1 1 4 20.3 40.0 123.3 10/10/2019 8:15:33 530 Duty 1 1 4 1.6 DATA423.7 LOG ANALYSIS 31/10/2019 23:36:11 1 Duty 1 0 4 3.0

operator then used the override of Stroke

function to increase his capacity by increasing his boom angle.

Current Load (t) 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 0.044 RC 0.044 Flag M 16.8 R 0.7 N 0.7 N

Rated Capacitry %

Load and Boom Angle

PREPARING THE CRANE FOR ROAD TRAVEL When preparing a crane for travel it is imperative that any load is removed, and the boom stowed properly. records for a travel mode attempt with amounts of data available it is desirable automatically determine wheth Preparation must be done boom not stowed is besttoviewed in 30.0beforeDue to the largethe Max further ToolsChart are available that will Load analyse RC weeksFlag and m Override Summary events Maxthat %RC require Time investigation.

Duration CWT Falls(see M switching the crane into a highway tabular format.

In the case above and summarize Overload,23:27:37 Override, Bridging, and 12.5 18/09/2019 2 DutyTwo-Blocking 1 1 4events.0.5Data available 4.3 N will mode of operation. If the correctmanufacturers. figure 3), the operator attempted to 20.0 113.6 23/10/2019 21:06:03 13 Duty 1 1 4 8.4 7.2 N 87.9 23/10/2019 21:06:35 10 Duty 1 1 4 stowage and highway mode selection switch toLogs Highway mode but due to 8.3 9.4 N Metadata in Data 19.0 Contained 9/10/2019 21:09:25 4 Duty 1 1 4 0.1 0.7 N sequence is followed, then the boom angle3beingDuty above 10.0there 41.1 23/10/2019 23:40:50 1 1 10 degrees 4 0.3 0.7 N Metadata is binary data contained in a file that provides additional data regarding key aspe 18.1 23/10/2019 23:41:05 3 Duty 1 1 4 0.1 0.7 N shouldn’t be any cabin warningsEach or log the LMI warned that Highway mode file may contain the following data (manufacturer specific).

This data can uniquely 58.0 23/10/2019 23:50:48 19 Duty 1 1 4 0.4 0.7 N crane by make, model, and serial number, software versions, load charts present in the overload/override data log is inhibited 0.0 records 53.4 23/10/2019 23:51:50 and10to stow Duty 1the 1boom 4 as 0.4 0.7 N cran available with some LMI system is site and operator ID systems.

1:48:00 1:55:12 2:02:24 2:09:36 generated. Some may believe following evidenced

by Crane theMode Mode 2. The operator Modes C Flags N Crane Mode Time Frame From 17/09/2019 21:44:20 USE OF OVERRIDE TO INCREASE the incorrect sequence isn’t an issue, then back Tswitched Travel Modeto crane mode R RAM Limit (UTC+09:30) ADL To 22/11/2019 16:39:46 B Boom Not Stowed Travel Mode BOOM ANGLE METRIC TONNES Days CAPACITY RATED CAPACITY % however it LOAD is imperative to understand (Mode 0),65lowered the boom, then T Crane Information RCI R101010 It is common to lift a heavy load and that pick and carry load charts are valid entered Highway mode successfully.

SW RCI V10.14.7 Rep 5.1 Events have the LMI detect an overload. only when the crane Two-Blocking is configured for Lchrt Loadchart Version 1.0 WA 1000000 block is standard procedure for pick and carry cranes there can be Accepted practice is to ground the load lifting operations. Because two-blocking the hookDATA LOG ANALYSIS MAKE and Carry of ATB events few weeks. Pick The following crane example had 478 two-blocking eve by hoisting down, then repositioning carry cranes don’tover aDue USE OF OVERRIDE TO INCREASE CAPACITY Because pick and hundreds MODELto the AT large amounts of data a period of 8 weeks, most of which SN were no-load 123456 two-blocking events indicating that the two-block the crane to achieve a higher capacity have outriggers the suspension must be available it is desirable to automatically Customerthe boom 0000 tip. A few representative examples follow: used to “park” the hook block against It is common to lift a heavy load and have the LMI detect an overload.

Accepted practice is to ground the Site and performing the lift again. However, locked so that it can achieve its rated determine0000whether there are events that Operator ID 0000 loadtakes by hoisting then repositioning the crane to achieve a higher capacity andrequire performing the lift this time, it down, is much easier to capacity according to its load charts. further investigation.

Tools again.

However this takes time, to use override istounlocked, decrease radius are andavailable thus increasing use override to decrease radius andit is muchIfeasier the crane suspension that willthe analyse weeks Max ATB History Max %RC Time Duration Chart CWT Falls Load RC Flag thus capacity.

The then may went not bestraight a published load and months of367data and 5.5 17/09/2019 22:38:38 then 1 summarise 0 4 0.6 9.6 N ratedincreasing capacity. the Therated following is an example of there a lift that into overload, operator usedDuty 2.7 18/09/2019 0:46:53 197 Duty 1 0 4 0.3 11.2 N following (see figure 2) is an example of chart and lifting is prohibited.

Data log Overload, Override, Bridging, and Twothe override function to increase his capacity by increasing his boom angle. 1.6 18/09/2019 0:52:28 64 Duty 1 0 4 0.2 10.1 N 10.6 18/09/2019 18:21:18 176 Data Dutyavailable 1 0 4 0.2 1.6 N Blocking events. will vary 40.8 24/10/2019 14:02:30 336 Duty 1 0 4 2.6 6.4 N between manufacturers.

32.5 24/10/2019 14:08:36 4 Duty 1 0 4 2.4 7.3 N Figure 2

120.0

24/10/2019 14:09:17 24/10/2019 19:56:56

426 183

Duty 1 Duty 1

0 0

4 4

2.8 0.0

6.4 0.0

N N

CRANE UTILISATION Crane utilisation is important not only Crane 20.0Utilisation from a commercial perspective but Crane utilisation is important not only a commercial but also as a safety issue so t also asfrom a safety issue soperspective that a crane is not 18.0

crane is not used outside its designed load spectrum. The load spectrum can be automatically gen from 16.0data log records with selectable thresholds.

100.0

Figure 4

14.0 12.0

60.0

10.0 8.0

40.0

6.0

20.0

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

RATED CAPACITY %

LOAD

70

4.0

60

2.0

40

0.0 0.0 17:43:52 17:44:10 17:44:27 17:44:44 17:45:01 17:45:19 17:45:36 ANGLE

Lift Counters

OVERRIDE

Hoist 1 1 1 1 1

Threshold RC% > 5.0% RC% > 50.0% RC% > 100.0% RC% > 110.0% Total

Count 54 45 6 11 116

Hoist 1: Lift Counters

50 Count

80.0

Load, Override

Rated Capacity % Boom Angle

Override Used to Increase Capacity

44.4 0.0

30 20 10 0

rc% > 5.0% rc% > 50.0% rc% > 100.0% rc% > 110.0% RC%

May 2020 CAL / 23

Crane utilisation reports can be automatically generated from data log records. Utilisation reports

CICA TECH CORNER

Lift Related Data The following information can be automatically generated from data log files:

used outside its designed load spectrum.

Figure 6 Max The load spectrum can be automatically Overload Summary Max %RC Time Duration Chart CWT Falls Load RC Flag Mode generated from data log records with 120.7 3/10/2019 5:55:06 20 Duty 1 1 4 20.3 16.8 R C 123.3 10/10/2019 8:15:33 530 Duty 1 1 4 1.6 0.7 N B selectable thresholds.

423.7 31/10/2019 23:36:11 1 Duty 1 0 4 3.0 0.7 N T Crane utilisation Lift Related Data reports can be Max automatically generated from data log Override Summary Max %RC Time Duration Chart CWT Falls Load RC Flag Mode records.

Utilisation reports can can provide 12.5 18/09/2019 23:27:37 2 files: Duty 1 1 4 0.5 4.3 N C The following information be automatically generated from data log 113.6 23/10/2019 21:06:03 13 Duty 1 1 4 8.4 7.2 N C data which allows for educated decision 87.9 23/10/2019 21:06:35 10 Duty 1 1 4 8.3 9.4 N C Max making – 19.0 9/10/2019 21:09:25 4 Duty 1 1 4 0.1 0.7 N T Overload Max %RCon the Time Duration Chart23:40:50CWT 3 FallsDuty 1 Load - Do we Summary have the correct crane 41.1 23/10/2019 1 4 RC 0.3 Flag 0.7 Mode N T 18.1 23/10/2019 23:41:05 1 4 120.7 3/10/2019 5:55:06 20 Duty 1 1 3 4 Duty 1 20.3 16.8 0.1 R 0.7 N C T worksite?

58.0 23/10/2019 23:50:48 19 Duty 1 1 4 0.4 0.7 N T - Is the crane being overworked?

123.3 10/10/2019 8:15:33 530 Duty 23:51:50 1 1 10 4 Duty 1 1.61 53.4 23/10/2019 4 0.7 0.4 N 0.7 NB T - Is the Rated Capacity too low for the 423.7 31/10/2019 23:36:11 1 Duty 1 0 4 3.0 0.7 N T Modes C Crane Mode Flags N Crane Mode worksite?

T Travel Mode R RAM Limit - Alternatively, is the Rated Capacity more B Boom Not Stowed T Travel Mode Max than itSummary needs to be? Are competitive? Time Override Maxwe %RC Duration Chart CWT Falls Load RC Flag Mode Utilisation data is best12.5 presented18/09/2019 in a 23:27:37 Events 2 Duty 1 1 4 0.5 4.3 N C Two-Blocking graphical format (see figure 4) which 23/10/2019 shows 113.6 21:06:03 13 Duty 1 1 4 8.4 7.2 N Because two-blocking the hook block is standard procedure for pick and carry cranes there canC be at a glance if the crane is 87.9 under or over 23/10/2019 21:06:35 10 over a few Duty 1 The1following 4 crane example 8.3 9.4 N Cevents over hundreds of ATB events weeks. had 478 two-blocking utilised both in regard to time performing a period of 8 weeks, most of which were no-load two-blocking - Reducing the time lapse between eventwas events indicating that the two-blocking 19.0 9/10/2019 21:09:25 4 Duty 1 1 4 0.1 0.7 N T Pick and carry cranes play a vital role in lifting activity and rated capacity. and action from weeks to minutes; used to “park” the hook examples follow: T 41.1 23/10/2019 23:40:50 3 block against Dutythe 1 boom 1 tip. A few 4 representative 0.3 0.7 N - Data storage in months and years many industries and when used within 23/10/2019 23:41:05 3 Duty 1 4 N T instead 0.1 of days; 0.7 manufactures guidelines can achieve 1 TWO-BLOCKING EVENTS 18.1 58.0 23/10/2019 23:50:48 19 Duty 1 1 4 0.4 0.7 N T Max independent of - Off-crane data storage a high level of safety. Routine review Because two-blocking the hook block is ATB History Max %RC Time1 Duration 4 Chart CWT Falls0.7 Load N RC Flag 53.4 23/10/2019 23:51:50 10 Duty 1 0.4 T Mode LMI data logs; of crane use is important not only as standard procedure for pick and carry 5.5

17/09/2019 22:38:38

367

Duty 1

0

4

0.6

9.6

N

C

2.7 18/09/2019 197 - DDuty 0 4to multiple 0.3 11.2users N via C ata1 available a safe use monitoring tool but 0:46:53 also cranes there can be hundreds of ATB 1.6 18/09/2019 0:52:28 64 Duty 1 0 4 0.2 10.1 N C Modes Cfor commercial Crane Mode Flags N Crane Mode website log-in accounts; application.

Data log events over a few weeks. The following 10.6 18/09/2019 18:21:18 176 Duty 1 0 4 0.2 1.6 N C 40.8 Mode 24/10/2019 14:02:30 336 - M Duty 4 RAM2.6 6.4 far less N C ore1 data due analysis can be useful crane example had 478 two-blocking Tdownload and Travel R0 available Limitto 32.5 24/10/2019 14:08:36 4 Duty 1 0 4 2.4 7.3 N C database resource restrictions. but perhaps sometimes an impractical events over a period of eight weeks, most B Boom T0 44.4 Not Stowed 24/10/2019 14:09:17 426 Duty 1 4 Travel 2.8Mode 6.4 N C usefulNsafe use of which were no-load two-blocking events approach to crane 0.0 use monitoring.

24/10/2019 19:56:56 183 Note: DutyCrane 1 0 data 4analysis 0.0 is a0.0 C monitoring tool which can also provide an There are drawbacks such as limited indicating that the two-blocking was indication of how much of a cranes-designed dataUtilisation logging memory in LMIs, labour used to “park” the hook block against the Crane Two-Blocking Events working period has been used per AS 2550.1intensive data download and analysis, boom tip. A few representative examples Crane utilisation is important not only from a commercial perspective but also as a safety issue so that a 2011 cranes hoists and winches - safe use machine down-time, and time lapse following the ATB History table is not used outside its designed load spectrum.

The loadcranes spectrum there can be automatically Because two-blocking the hook blockcrane is standard procedure for pick and -carry can be generated general requirements. DWP data log review between events, analysis, and corrective (see figure 5) from data log records with selectable thresholds. hundreds of ATB events over a few weeks. following crane exampleishad two-blocking over not a478 replacement for a majorevents assessment actions.The The table (see figure 6)shows LIFT RELATED DATA by a competent engineer but it can provide information on the lift data that can be Lift Counters Hoist Threshold Count a period of 8 weeks, most of which were no-load two-blocking events indicating that the two-blocking was RC%estimation > 5.0% 54 real time of remaining The table above shows information an in near automatically generated including: 1 1 RC%examples > 50.0% 45 used to “park” the hook block against the boom tip.

A few representative follow: on the lift data that can be time before a major6 assessment is required.

1 RC% > 100.0% 1 RC% > 110.0% 11 automatically generated.

1

Total

Figure 5

ATB History

24 / CAL May 2020 Crane Utilisation

Max %RC 5.5 2.7 1.6 10.6 40.8 32.5 44.4 0.0

Time 17/09/2019 22:38:38 18/09/2019 0:46:53 18/09/2019 0:52:28 18/09/2019 18:21:18 24/10/2019 14:02:30 24/10/2019 14:08:36 24/10/2019 14:09:17 24/10/2019 19:56:56

Duration 367 197 64 176 336 4 426 183

Chart Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1 Duty 1

CWT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Falls 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

116

Max Load 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 2.6 2.4 2.8 0.0

RC 9.6 11.2 10.1 1.6 6.4 7.3 6.4 0.0

Flag N N N N N N N N

Mode C C C C C C C C

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IN FOCUS / VIC MOBILE CRANE INDUSTRY TRAINEESHIP

2020 VIC MOBILE CRANE INDUSTRY TRAINEESHIP The VIC Mobile Crane Industry Traineeship is recognised as the gold standard method of delivering practical, technical and safety training to industry entrants.

The eight 2019 trainees took part in a demonstration of their teamwork and the skills they had acquired over their first 12 months.

ON 14 FEBRUARY 2020 the Victorian Mobile Crane Industry Traineeship Steering Committee held an Orientation and Open Day event at the CFMEU Training Facility. This event was attended by key stakeholders and was made possible by the valuable sponsorship support from Incolink, Liebherr, Tadano/Demag and the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

OPEN DAY Anne Duggan from the CFMEU Training Facility opened the day with a speech emphasising how CICA and the CFMEU are committed to ensuring Victoria’s Mobile Crane Traineeship is of a high quality and capable of delivering the learning outcomes the trainees need to be successful learners and workers.

Andy Chambers explained the benefits www.cranesandlifting.com.au

of the 2-year traineeship and how he works closely with crane companies to implement a program that will have the biggest impact on future growth and safety within the mobile crane industry.

Andy also explained the importance and practice of logging and entering learning outcomes and experience, to record the progress of training in logbooks.

CRANE AND RIGGING DEMONSTRATION The eight 2019 trainees took part in a demonstration of their teamwork and the skills they had acquired over their first 12 months. The group was split into two and each group carried out two scenarios of lifts and rigging, so the trainees had the opportunity to showcase their technical skills and how they implement safety measures in this highrisk work environment.

WOMEN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY Out of the ten new February 2020 trainees, four are women. These numbers highlight that the industry is an attractive option for women to achieve their career dreams and offers tremendous opportunities for all.

VICTORIAN CRANE COMPANIES PARTICIPATING FOR 2020 • P & D Rigging & Crane Hire • Quinlan Cranes P/L • Advance Cranes & Rigging • Associated Rigging Australia • Hydralift Cranes • Independent Cranes • Johnson Young Cranes • McKay United Cranes • Metcalf Crane Services • Rigweld Crane Hire • Sergi Crane May 2020 CAL / 27

IN FOCUS / VIC MOBILE CRANE INDUSTRY TRAINEESHIP

TRAINEESHIP AND FUTURE GROWTH In February 2019 eight trainees commenced the 2-year Traineeship. In February 2020, 10 new trainees came on board and it appears at this stage that another 10 trainees will be commencing in July 2020. The growth in numbers indicates that industry is embracing the traineeship and the methodical and intensive training that many in the industry have been calling for. While the traineeship is still relatively new, the safety and competence of these trainees will have lifelong benefits for them individually and the industry as a whole.

The trainees demonstrated their teamwork skills with lifting and rigging scenarios to the 2020 trainees.

NEW LOGO AND VIDEO The new logo for the traineeship was launched at the Open Day and gives the Victorian traineeship an independent identity. This branding will be used to promote the traineeship to the Victorian

mobile crane industry, as it is only with their support that this traineeship remains viable. This video prepared by Trades Hall gives an overview of the program and is available for viewing at

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https://youtu.be/Gi1RtFAWf0c If anyone you know is interested in learning more about the Victorian Mobile Crane Traineeship, contact Andy Chambers on 0477 577 667.

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IN FOCUS / GROVE ALL TERRAINS

LONGEST BOOM FOR LONG WHITE CLOUD New Zealand crane hire business takes delivery of a Grove GMK5250XL-1 featuring the longest boom on five axles.

MARTY ASHTON, Ashton Crane Hire, also known as “Noodles’” to local cranies, knows all about Grove all terrains, he’s spent 20 plus years working with and on them, and now Groves are the basis of his crane fleet.

Before starting his own business Ashton Crane Hire four years ago, Ashton had spent 17 years working with Groves.

“I started as a junior just helping out around the yard. I got a dogman’s ticket and began setting up cranes, I was pretty

much just being a young fella in the crane industry, helping out and learning.

In time, I progressed and ran my own precast team and we were erecting precast concrete panels and jobs like that. Then I started jumping in the cranes. I started off in a little seven tonne crane and then onto a 10 tonne and worked my way up the crane sizes to a 220 tonner. That’s the way we did it back then, you couldn’t just jump onto a big crane,” he said.

“The crane business is all I’ve known

and, after 17 years, I thought to myself ‘It’s time to give it a go and start out on my own’. I bought a 50t crane and hired it back to other crane hire businesses. I obviously knew a lot of people and I had a few connections after all the years in the industry and I was fairly confident I’d do OK and do my own thing with the one crane. The truth is the business took off quickly and the demand led to more cranes and now I’ve just taken delivery of my sixth crane,” said Ashton.

Marty Ashton, Ashton Crane Hire receives the keys for the new Grove GMK5250 XL-1 from Dean McIlroy TRT.

30 / CAL May 2020

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Ashton started his business in 2015 with a 50t Kato truck mounted crane which he used for general work, lifting structural steel on construction sites, lifting air con units and yacht masts, spa pools and lifting in general construction.

You name it, he was lifting it.

“I got quite busy quickly and found myself turning down work which you never like to do, but I couldn’t get to all the jobs. Then I picked up a contract with a film studio, so I dry hired a crane and employed Josh, a guy I used to work with.

“Josh operated the crane on the film set for a few months which allowed me to keep running around Auckland, working the little jobs here and there. We kept getting more work and I couldn’t keep up with the demand, it was just too busy,” said Ashton.

“I ended up ordering a Grove GMK 4100L-1, a 100t capacity all terrain, from TRT, the Grove dealer for New Zealand.

It was never in the plan, I never thought I’d be doing it, but I ordered the crane, nonetheless. I got rid of the dry hire crane and took the 100t Grove on board, I took on another employee to help out with the truck and carried on with that. After a while we expanded again, this time with a 13t Kato city crane. From there I ordered a second 100t Grove. All the cranes have been brand new and the 100t was the first model in the country,” he said.

By this stage it is 2017 and the business is two years old. It’s getting busier all the time and as Ashton’s reputation grew there were more enquiries which lead to more work and the growth cycle continued.

“We were two years into the business when we had an accident with the 13t crane, which we wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Gladly no one was hurt, but the crane was off the road for a while. We were told the repairs and parts would take nine months and I was faced with dry hiring another crane which I wasn’t prepared to do, so I ordered a new 13t. When the damaged machine was fixed, we had two 13t cranes in the fleet. We then added a 25t rough terrain Kato and after that arrived. In 2019, I decided to purchase the new 250t Grove, the first one in the Southern www.cranesandlifting.com.au

The Ashton fleet is built around Grove all terrains.

Hemisphere,” he said.

With a 78.5m Twin-Lock boom, the longest boom on a five axle all terrain, the GMK5250XL-1 provides high capacities combined with a small footprint and excellent manoeuvrability. The Grove single engine design with the latest emission levels reduces the operating costs due to 30 per cent lower diesel consumption compared to previous generation models.

FEATURES OF THE GMK5250XL-1 INCLUDE: 1. Height-section 78.5 m Twin-Lock boom 2. 18 m swingaway with jib and/or boom inserts for a maximum of 34 m length and up to 50° off-set.

3. CCS operating system with jog-dial, boom configurator mode and MAXbase variable outrigger positioning 4. MEGATRAK independent suspension with All-Wheel-Steering 5. Mercedes OM471LA Tier 4f or Euromot 5 engine with Mercedes G280 16-speed transmission

6. Up to 21t roadable counterweight on the crane with boom over front 7. Voith secondary water retarder standard or VIAB turbo retarder clutch optional for wear-free starting and braking 8. Logistic benefits due to interchangeable counterweight slabs and self-rigging auxiliary hoist.

Options for the GMK5250XL-1 include the VIAB turbo retarder clutch, which first featured on the original GMK5250L. The VIAB unit enables wear-free starting and braking, enhancing manoeuvrability and operator comfort. In addition to its high-performance features the crane delivers a compact footprint, making it ideal for use in crowded or urban areas.

An increased workload helped justify the purchase for Ashton.

“I was hiring in a lot of other companies with cranes over 100t and we were spending a large amount on subcontractors. To me the numbers just weren’t weighing up and I decided to bite May 2020 CAL / 31

IN FOCUS / GROVE ALL TERRAINS the bullet and ordered the Grove 250t.

This enables me to cover lifts from 130t, 170t 220t and 250t,” he said.

The new Grove GMK 5250XL-1 has two specialist TRT VersaLock crane trailers in support. These Tandem / Tandem B Trains are designed to carry the specific ancillary equipment and counterweights for Ashton’s new crane.

There is also a specific load allocation for a forklift (pictured). The TRT designed and manufactured trailers will enable Ashton Cranes greater efficiency, safety and time saving in crane transport, setup and breakdown.

Brand loyalty is an important reason for the recent purchase. Ashton has always been pleased with the performance of Grove all terrains and the support he gets from TRT. “The company I worked for previously ran Groves, I was brought up with Groves, they are the cranes I am used to, they are the cranes I grew up with and they are the cranes that I like, so when it was time to buy a crane I was comfortable buying the brand I knew and understood,” he said.

“The new Grove is a five axle 250t and it features the longest boom in the world on five axles. It’s a new model with all the features that I want. Obviously, the other brands have similar features but like I said I’m loyal to the Grove brand.

I’ve got a good relationship with TRT and I’ve got a good relationship with the finance company DLL. I’m going to honour these relationships, that’s the way I like to do business.

“The relationship with TRT dates back a while now, I’m used to TRT and I’ve dealt with Rob Carden and his team a lot over the last 10 years, so I know them very well. I’ve seen their operation many times, I knew how they operated with trade ins and I know what they offer in terms of service and support,” said Ashton.

Ashton is surprised at where he finds his business today, and he’s been impressed with performance of the Grove all terrains.

“My initial business plan was to have one 50t truck crane not six cranes with one being a 250t. I’m definitely excited about the film industry, there are a 32 / CAL May 2020

couple of major construction projects that we are working on as well, so it’s a busy time,” he said.

“Customers tell me I provide a better customer focus than some of the other companies, we’re a bit smaller and we’re more focused on customer service.

“With the new models, the 100t and the 250t, Grove has definitely upped its game, they’ve changed things around, they are definitely better to operate, and they perform really well. I’m happy with the improvements they’ve made.

Compared to the older models, they’ve come a long way. I like to have pairs of cranes and I’m looking to order another 25t and I’ll see how the 250t goes. Having pairs is the plan,” said Ashton.

Ashton recognises the success of the business wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated team he has around him.

“Without the amazing team I have around me, we wouldn’t be where we are today, and I am thankful to every one of them. As with any growing business, there is a lot that happens behind the scenes and my business partner, Bruce has always been there with sound advice and guidance.

“And none of this would be possible without the understanding and support of my beautiful wife Kelle and son Preston. I couldn’t have done this without the hard work put in by Kelle and I thank her for putting up with all the crazy hours I do,” he said.

The Grove GMK5250XL-1 featuring the longest boom on 5 axles.

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IN FOCUS / BADEN SUPPORT SERVICES

BADEN SUPPORT SERVICES MINIMISING CUSTOMER DOWNTIME

Baden Support Services is offering workshop customers interim dry hire of slewing cranes and Frannas while their machines are being repaired.

Ben Baden Services has launched a number of new initiatives aimed at helping customers get their cranes back to work quicker. Ben Baden speaks to Cranes and Lifting to explain more.

THE BADEN NAME has been synonymous with crane repairs for three decades and over this period the company has always positioned the business as a good alternative repairer as compared to the OEMs, according to the owner, Ben Baden.

“Today, our services are based around larger scale, project type jobs the larger type of repair work that perhaps most crane owners don’t want to do inhouse, but we still manage day to day maintenance, repair and service requirements for customers as well,” he said.

“Major inspections are an obvious service, accident damage and structural damage repairs are also obvious, but we are also seeing an increased demand with servicing issues relating to leaking telescope cylinders, where the boom has to disassembled or leaking luffing cylinders which are a little more complicated to remove and service. We’re still seeing 34 / CAL May 2020

a steady flow of work relating to road accidents which require some parts purchasing, panel work, boiler making work plus refinishing and spraying at the end of the job,” said Baden.

As the population of all terrain cranes ages and higher kilometres are clocked up, they develop a lot more under carriage issues and require engine change outs, gear box overhauls, diff change outs, cracked axle housings that need to be exchanged. This is the type of larger scale project work that the business has evolved into in more recent times says Baden.

“With this type of work now reasonably consistent, we’ve noticed an opportunity to better support our customers through what I feel are two fundamental issues and these will be addressed by Baden Support Services. We’ve acknowledged that more than 90 per cent of the time, the cost of the repair, whilst it can be significant, it is generally incidental compared to the potential lost opportunity of the owner

not being able to operate the crane and derive revenue from it. If the owner can’t work the crane, they can’t generate revenue from it and they can’t service clients. They then have to cross hire and get an opposition company in or they have to simply tell the client they can’t supply.

“Cranes will break down, and if they can be fixed and back up and running quickly, that’s great. But if they are off the road for a week, two weeks or for an extended period. Baden Support Services is starting to have available a small number of cranes that we can supply to our workshop customers. At the moment the cranes include a 20t Franna, a 25t Franna, a 30t slewing crane and a 45t slewing crane and we can dry hire these cranes to assist as best we can to fill the stop gap situation the customer might be facing,’” said Baden.

“Where most dry hire companies would be looking for long term rentals, that’s not our goal. Our aim is to provide www.cranesandlifting.com.au

the customer with a crane for the period they need it and to support them whilst their machine is being repaired,” he said.

The second issue addressed by Baden Support Services is a ‘components exchange program’. According to Baden, this service is particularly relevant in hydraulic cylinders, leaking telescope cylinders and leaking luffing cylinders in particular. If a repair needs a simple seal kit that might not be too bad but even with a relatively simple fix, the crane is going to be down for at least one if not two weeks. If a cylinder requires more repairs including chroming, or if it’s a telescope cylinder in a more complex boom which has to be disassembled, this can blow the downtime out to easily four weeks if not longer.

“It’s impossible for us to have one of every cylinder in stock but with Baden Support Services, we are trying to build inhouse an inventory of the more popular cylinders that we can have overhauled ready to go. This will mean the only downtime the customer experiences are the time it takes to exchange the cylinder and they are back to work. We can then overhaul their old cylinder and put it back on our shelf,” he said.

“If we don’t have the specific cylinder for that customer we will try and source one for them. Generally speaking, if a cylinder leaks more often than not the crane is not considered out of action, in this instance we might have a few months

to source and import a cylinder and the crane can keep working in that time.

“When the part is received, we can change the cylinder out and the customer can be back to work within a few days.

The quality of the refurbished cylinders we have in stock are identical to if we were to pull a cylinder out of a machine, overhaul it locally and put it back in. We go through exactly the same processes, it’s just instead of a customer’s crane being down whilst we refurbish the cylinder, we simply swap it out. It’s the downtime component we are trying to eliminate so instead of the crane being down whilst we repair the cylinder, we swap it out with our service exchange one and the crane pretty much goes straight back to work.

We then repair the old cylinder in our own time,” said Baden.

Currently, Baden Support Services has in stock a luffing cylinder to suit a 55t Liebherr, a luffing cylinder to suit a new 1060-3.1 Liebherr, a luffing cylinder to suit a 1090-4.1 Liebherr, a luffing cylinder to suit a GMK 5130 Grove, a luffing cylinder to suit a Link Belt HCC/HTT 86100 or RTC 8090 and a luffing cylinder to suit an LTM 1130-5.1 Liebherr plus a telescope cylinder to suit an LTM 1055-3.1 Liebherr.

“That’s the start. We also have an assortment of counterweight cylinders and outrigger cylinders that we can use.

In addition to these parts we try and stock accident damaged cabins so if there is Baden Support Services, Components Exchange Program is designed to minimise customer downtime.

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

an incident where a customer’s upper or lower cabin is damaged, we will probably have an exchange cabin in stock. If not, we can probably more quickly repair the customer’s cabin rather than bring a new one in from Europe or wherever it needs to be sourced from,” said Baden.

“It’s the same with undercarriage components, differentials, transfer boxes things like that. We now stock a transfer box to suit a Liebherr LTM 1055-3.1.

These are all items that will turn over and I’d suggest almost all of these items wouldn’t be stocked in Australia by OEM’s. They are cumbersome, they are expensive and large. To order these items would mean them coming ex-Europe which would involve exorbitant air fare costs or months of sea freight,” he said.

Baden is not aware of anyone else in the crane repair business in Australia providing these sorts of services.

He said that Baden Support Services is a concept that the company has been thinking about the past year or so – something that has been a result of customer demand.

“Opportunities have presented where we’ve managed to procure an accident damaged machine that’s been written off for various reasons and we’ve harvested parts from it,” said Baden.

“We see Baden Support Services as an evolving entity. Obviously, you can’t choose which cranes are going to be written off, so we’ll continue to build the inventory for the ‘components exchange program’ over the next five to 10 years.

On the hire side, we’ve started with a couple of Frannas and a couple of small slewing cranes, potentially we would add a four-axle machine as well, which would be ready and on standby,” he said.

“The Badens have always tried to be as much of a ‘one stop shop’ as possible and that’s why our facility has mechanics, spray painters, welder and fabricators.

Baden Support Services is an extension of these core activities, providing our customers with a machine whilst theirs is down or alternatively trying to minimise their downtime by having service exchange componentry available,” said Baden.

May 2020 CAL / 35

IN FOCUS / FRANNA

FRANNA’S EXCITING CONEXPO FIRST With an eye on international sales and promoting the pick and carry concept to the global market, Terex exhibited a Franna at ConExpo for the first time. Mark Lock, Franna sales director, explains the reception the product got.

WHILE THE PICK and carry concept is predominantly utilised in Australia, people may find it surprising that the Franna product has been directly exported to 30-plus countries to date.

“From my perspective, the background and my experience with the Franna brand is interesting. I’ve owned a taxi crane business and, back in the day, I operated a crane business for Brambles so my experience over many years has been mixing with Frannas on industrial and mine sites where they have been ‘captive’ to the sites.

“I probably have a stronger focus on this market segment than many of those in the crane sector who use CICA as their barometer, for example. If you look at the industry CICA really looks after the taxi crane segment and that isn’t the whole segment for us,” said Lock.

There are challenges for the Franna product in the US market and these revolve around roadability and road registration, which are being worked on.

According to Lock, there are some states where this will be a straight forward process and others where it will take more time for this to happen. However, this is only the road going component of the market which is a small part of the opportunity as he sees it.

Lock said that there are hundreds of mine and industrial sites in the US and numerous major construction projects which Frannas would thrive in and they are all attuned to these opportunities. The idea was always to take the machine to ConExpo, have the conversations with people, talk about the application and talk about the Australian experience. They spoke to numerous US crane companies, crane owners and operators about the 36 / CAL May 2020

population of Frannas in Australia and these people found the figures hard to comprehend. He thinks this is mainly because they had not seen it before, they thought it was a weird concept.

“Many of the crane guys we spoke to have been in the industry for a very long time, 20, 30, 40 years or more in some cases, and initially they had difficulty coming to grips with the concept. But once we got talking you could see how they warmed to the idea and they were thinking about how they could apply it to their own businesses,” said Lock.

Typically, because of the constraints of the site’s real estate you will need a much bigger rough terrain to achieve the same lift. With the Franna, you can walk right up to the load.

“As I said, taking the Franna to Conexpo was always about starting the conversation with the US markets and the other markets around the globe that visit the show. The good news is it appears likely we have sold the Franna to one of the largest construction companies in the US and it’s headed for a project in Corpus Christi in Texas. It’s going to be working on a Gulf Coast LNG plant that is being built,” he said.

Lock is very optimistic that with Franna in the US market and Australians now working on a number of LNG projects, there will be exponential demand for the product.

“The US market is being well and

truly inundated with Australian Project Managers with experience from the Curtis Island plant and the LNG sector over in Western Australia. When the Australian ex-pats get on site they are asking ‘how do we get this done without Frannas?’, he said.

Currently, on these types of projects rough terrains are being used for the construction process says Lock.

“Of course, we make the point that with a pick and carry with some capability, as long as you can walk up to your load you can carry it. Generally, you need real estate to set up the rough terrain with its outriggers and have the radius to be able to lift the load.

“Typically, because of the constraints of the site’s real estate you will need a much bigger rough terrain to achieve the same lift. With the Franna you can walk right up to the load. I think there is immense potential for the Franna in the US. The unit we had on display was an AT 22 and featured a Tier 4 final engine and it was left hand drive.

We are able to push these through the factory fairly easily,” said Lock.

Danny Black, general manager at Franna said he was thrilled with their success at ConExpo 2020 in terms of attendance, sales prospects and opportunity created.

“Having worked for this great business for over 30 years, it was a proud moment to see Franna showcased on the largest international stage. A special word of thanks to the many Australian customers who travelled to Las Vegas to mark the occasion with us,” he said.

The AT 22 is a mid-sized, mobile pick and carry crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 22t. Boasting www.cranesandlifting.com.au

Mark Lock, Franna sales director and Danny Black, Franna general manager, were pleased with the outcomes from ConExpo.

maximum safety features and superior capabilities than that of other pick and carry cranes in the field, the AT 22 is a logical choice for customers who cover a wide range of applications.

DYNAMIC LMI (PATENT PROTECTED) First released in 2013, Franna’s patented Dynamic LMI remains as a pillar of safety, underpinning the electronic control and user experience offered today. The system is designed to offer ‘real-time’ calculation of rated capacity taking into account boom configuration, as well as chassis articulation, pitch and roll, enabling continual assessment of structural limitations, forward stability and side stability.

Increased resolution of rated capacity is made possible by finer measurement of articulation pitch and roll angles, allowing for improved machine capability compared to www.cranesandlifting.com.au

previous generation LMI systems.

When operated on a jobsite over undulating terrain, the rated capacity will be updated continually, providing instantaneous information on the percentage utilisation of the machine (0-100 per cent of available capacity).

When operating on a side slope or undulating terrain, operators are no longer required to manually calculate a reduction of rated capacity; the Franna Dynamic LMI does that.

Other operational aids include: • Automatic counterweight detection; • Operator settable maximum working height; • Maximum working radius; • Maximum front axle weight; • Rigging limits; • Percentage of rated capacity.

These features further enhance the safe operation of the machine when site conditions get tough and are available in retrofit form for all Mercedes

powered Franna cranes.

Lock is confident that with the right level of after sales support, parts support and trained technicians this AT 22 is going to be the first of many Frannas in the US. “We are working with our colleagues in the Terex rough terrain business to ensure we have critical and consumer spares stocked. The first Franna will be supported by the rough terrain facility in Houston and we will stock that branch with the appropriate parts.

“We will provide the Terex US technicians with whatever ‘top up’ training they require relative to the Franna, including diagnostic training and whatever else they need. As the population grows, and if we develop a large resident population on a large project, like a massive LNG project where we might have eight to 10 cranes on site, we would seek to put a permanent technician on that site to May 2020 CAL / 37

IN FOCUS / FRANNA

support that product,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s a commercial balance to make this a success and we realise it might cost us some money to support the first products in the US, but we are looking at the bigger picture and we are prepared to make that investment.

Overall, taking the Franna to ConExpo was worth their while, according to Lock. Not only did its presence generate interest from crane companies there were a number of enquiries from potential distributors.

“We received some fantastic enquiries during the show. We’ve signed a new dealer in the UK and he’s very keen to work with us into the future. He wants to take Tier 5 AT 15s and I’m confident there’s a fantastic opportunity for them in the UK. “We’ve got another dealer coming on board in West Africa and we also had a lot of interest from Mexico.

Talking to our Genie colleagues during the show, I was amazed at how big the Mexican market is. We had introductions to a number of big players around the country who are in mining, construction and the industrial sectors,” he said.

“We had a positive meeting with our distributor in Latin America and they are taking more machines for stock.

It was good for them to come and see the machine and chat to Danny Black, general manager Terex Australia, Kieran Hegarty, the President of Terex MP and myself,” said Lock.

Lock has been busy since his return from the show with follow up phone calls s including conversations with a major construction equipment dealer in Florida. He confirms they are very interested in the product.

“They are large construction and mining equipment suppliers and also

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a Manitowoc and Grove dealer, so they spend every day talking to the ultimate end users in the mining, construction and industrial space.

“The AT 22 generated a lot of interest as did the MAC 25 and the AT 40. We chose to focus on the AT 22 because it demonstrated what we can deliver in terms of engineering and the proven capability. That is a Tier 4 final, 22t capacity machine which think is probably the sweet spot for a US industrial or mine site,” said Lock.

“We are planning to fast track Tier 5 15s for the UK market and Tier 4Fs 22s and 25s ready for the US, Central and Latin America. If we can get a good foot hold in the US, leverage off the successes we are going to have with the first unit and get a solid dealer network in place, I think there is massive potential for the Franna brand in that part of the world,” he said.

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IN FOCUS / DEMAG CRAWLER CRANES

RENEWABLE INTEREST IN DEMAG CRAWLERS With investment put at approximately $25 billion, the renewable energy sector, in particular the construction of wind farms, continues to provide important opportunities for the crane sector.

TADANO HAVE THREE models in its Demag crawler range, ideally suited to the installation and maintenance of wind farms, heavy duty lifting in construction and infrastructure projects as well as the resources sector. The models are the CC3800-1, CC6800-1 and CC2800-2 with the NT option. Howard Dean is the Heavy Lift sales manager for Tadano Oceania. Dean has 17 years of experience in the crane sector, mostly involving Demag cranes. He knows Demag crawlers inside and out.

“I started out as an apprentice heavy duty plant mechanic working on Kato, Tadano, Sumitomo, Kobelco and Demag cranes before specialising in crawler cranes. It has been a long journey to sales. I was promoted to State Maintenance Manager with my previous company.

“I then moved to monadelphous heavy lift where I was national service manager for six years. From there I moved to Terex as a product engineer specialising in Demag products, and when Demag was bought by Tadano, I was happy to move across with the product.

“The crawler models most suited to wind farm work are the CC3800-1, a 650t capacity crane, CC6800-1 which has a capacity of 1250t and CC28002 a 600t capacity (with narrow track option) crawler crane,” said Dean.

Typically, CC6800-1s have been imported into Australia for specific lifting applications by heavy lift global crane companies and then sent 40 / CAL May 2020

back into world operations upon job completion.

The CC6800-1 is versatile in its application and used for refinery work when completing upgrades or maintenance and is also used in mining and construction for upgrades and maintenance work. It is well suited to the infrastructure sector typically for bridge lifting work and assembly of sporting stadiums. Other applications seen across Europe include marine unloading large modules from ships and barges.

The CC 6800-1 sets the standard in its class. The crane can be configured in heavy main boom lengths up to 96m, long main boom lengths up to 114m, luffing fly combinations with main boom up to 96m and 108m of luffing fly giving a total boom system of 204m. Configurations of long boom with Superlift offer up to 156m and long main boom up to 150m, coupled with a rear mast and fixed fly lengths of 33m give a total boom system of 183m.

With this configuration, lifts of 98t are possible at 27m radius with under hook heights of 180m.

The CC3800-1 boasts a maximum wind farm configuration of 165m main boom, plus fixed fly with lengths of 12m and 18m, offering a max system length of 183m. This system comprises the Boom Booster sections which are 3.5m wide opposed to standard sections at 3m wide. The Boom Booster configurations give lifting capacity increases up to 30 per cent. The strong

load charts of this crane coupled with Boom Booster configurations places it well and truly in the 750t class but with the benefit of having a smaller footprint and ease of assembly when compared to other machines in this range.

“In Europe the CC3800-1 has been erecting wind turbines to a height of 166m. The intelligent design of the machine allows for ease of transport with features such as removable hoist winches with the A Frame in place, allowing a transport weight reduction of 14t. The A Frame is also easily removable by means of hydraulic cylinders actuated by remote control, saving an additional 16t,” said Dean.

“With both hoist winches removed and the A Frame removed, transport weight of the superstructure and car body is down to 66.3t, which is impressive for a machine in this class.

Versatility of the machine in terms of possible configurations is exceptionally high by means of variable rear mast lengths. Rear mast lengths of 36m, 39.5m and 42m allow for greatly improved load charts and extreme versatility in available configurations,” he said.

The Split Tray for the Superlift counterweight is an innovative and valuable time saving feature. The design means that a Superlift tray assembled with 325t is capable, if required, of lifting a long boom combination off the ground. Once the boom is in the air and within working range, the centre counterweight stack can be removed www.cranesandlifting.com.au

The Demag crawler range is ideally suited to the installation and maintenance of wind farms, heavyduty lifting in construction and infrastructure projects as well as the resources sector.

offering up to 125t of working Superlift counterweight, which is normally more than enough for crane operations. This means the Superlift counterweight no longer needs to be disassembled for lifting operation and reassembled for erection or demobilisation giving huge time saving benefits. This system is also offered on the new CC2800-2. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

The cabin has been completely redesigned which now offers extra width and a second seat for training as well as fantastic vision. The crane has been designed with safety in mind. Fall protection on boom sections is offered as standard, as well as walkways on the crawler carrier and upper deck. “In the US one of our customers

used the CC6800 to install wind turbines and configured the machine in LH+LF3_S3 (119m of main boom only with 15m of fixed fly) which allows 120t at a height of 120m. The beauty of this configuration is it is less complicated, not requiring a rear mast or Superlift tray to complete the works, meaning assembly of the crane was exceptionally May 2020 CAL / 41

IN FOCUS / DEMAG CRAWLER CRANES

fast,” said Dean.

According to Dean, the CC6800-1 is designed for ease of transportation and assembly on site.

“The beauty of the CC6800-1 is that it is a large capacity crawler but has been designed to be assembled in a traditional format such as the CC2800.

One track weighs 69t and is transported in a single piece. The superstructure can be reduced to 54t with the hoists and A frame removed, or transported at 99t with all hoists and A frame in place.

“The crawler carrier (centre pot and four beams) weighs in at a very transportable 48t. Heavy boom sections are a maximum length of 12m long and 3.5m wide which are designed so smaller sections from the luffer and fixed fly can be stored inside one another,” he said.

The crane’s Quadro-Drive ondemand system improves operating stability and allows the base to move and spin under load, increasing on-site lifting versatility. Its benefit is a high torque drive system which enables moving precisely with a load or when traversing rough or uneven road surfaces, as well as better ability to manoeuvre over inclines or declines.

Twin touch screens allow vital crane information to be shown on the right-hand screen and joystick configuration, engine data and Superlift information on the left.

The IC-1 system is offered on all new Demag machines. The CC3800-1, CC6800-1 and CC2800-2 w/wo NT option machines have twin touch screens and allow the operator to have all vital crane information clearly shown on the right-hand screen. On the left-hand screen, information such as joystick configuration, engine data and Superlift information can be shown.

“The big benefit of this system is

In Europe the CC3800-1 has been erecting wind turbines to a height of 166 metres.

42 / CAL May 2020

that it allows the operator the ability to continually monitor vital crane information on the right-hand screen without having to change screens in order to make setup changes. During Superlift operation, the left-hand screen can be set to show all Superlift functions and the right-hand screen to show all main crane information. This gives the operator a complete oversight over the entire lifting operation, allowing the focus to be entirely on the lift,” said Dean.

Dean says that Tadano is focused on product support, service and parts availability.

“Tadano offers a dedicated product support team throughout Australia which consists of technical specialists on all Tadano products.

They are available to answer any and all questions on our models as well as provide operator familiarisation, technical familiarisation and breakdown support.

“No other company in Australia offers such a comprehensive, dedicated and specialist team. We also have service departments in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with service agents in Adelaide, Northern Territory and New Zealand and all are available to attend breakdowns, carry out overhauls or for general servicing requirements,” he said. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

Specialising in servicing, repairs and major inspections of all heavy machinery, our experienced and trusted team will keep your gear working.

Call us for all your Crane, EWP, Specialised Handling Equipment, Waste Management and Ground Support Equipment needs.

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895 895

IN FOCUS / TIDD CRANES

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING PHILOSOPHY DRIVING SUCCESS New Zealand engineering and manufacturing firm TRT, takes Cranes and Lifting behind the scenes, providing insights into the reasons behind the success of the TIDD pick and carry range.

Robert Carden, TRT’s technical director.

THE TIDD PC28 articulated pick and carry crane was launched 12 months ago. Robert Carden technical director of engineering and manufacturing TRT, discusses the conception of TIDD and how the design, engineering and manufacturing of the range is evolving.

“At TRT our main philosophy behind product development is inclusion through consultation. At the start of any design and manufacturing process, we like to sit down with the prospective customer. We did this with the design of the TIDD PC28. However, this was a greater industry wide consultation process. Customers have always contributed to the development of the TIDD PC28, talking about the improvements needed, based on the cranes they currently utilise – not just the TIDD. “In conjunction with this consultative process, we examine the available technologies which can be incorporated 44 / CAL May 2020

into the product ensuring we offer a product that is a marked improvement on what they had before. Our approach is about taking the next step with the customer and that philosophy embeds itself in our new products,” said Carden.

“Internally, TRT focuses on close communication between the various departments involved in the development of products. There is very much a ‘team culture’ which encourages a close working relationship between the design office, the engineering department and the production line – we call it One Team” says Carden.

“Once we get the prototype of a model up and running, there’s a hell of a lot of communication between the guys building and assembling the cranes and the design office and design team.

“This helps us quietly introduce easier processes into the production line and enabling us to introduce minor design improvements to make it a better product in general. There’s a real team cooperation between our team building and assembling the cranes and the design office in the background as well,” he said.

The TIDD pick and carry was first conceived eight years ago and according to Carden, there were a number of reasons behind launching the product into a competitive market.

“At that stage we were supplying quite a bit of equipment in the access equipment space for including a number of Live Line travel towers in 18m, 24m and 30m configurations. We had also examined the articulated pick and carry market which had been dominated by one brand for a long time. The pick and carry concept fitted into the category of

lifting and hydraulics, which has always been our area of expertise. Believing TRT offered products that are better than the competition, we set about designing our own pick and carry,” said Carden.

It took TRT 12 months to develop and manufacture the first prototype and as it was being built, the team brought a number of customers to look at the features of the new crane.

“As a result of the customer feedback, we made quite a few changes throughout the design and manufacturing processes.

In fact, the second crane off the production line was almost out before the first. That’s because we brought the first crane back to bring it up to the standard of our production crane,” said Carden.

“But we didn’t stop there. It has been a constant evolution with the market changing throughout the development process. We could see there was demand for a crane that could do more with an increased lifting capacity, so we began work on the TIDD PC28. This is a great example of how keeping manufacturing all inhouse we are agile in product development and can respond quickly to the market, resulting in driving technology development. We may be smaller – but we are not followers.

“Again, with the PC28, we went through a consultative process with our customers asking them about essential key features and which parts would they like to see changed and which parts could be tweaked to create an overall better piece of equipment. Included in this process were the EN13000 regulations which meant safety was always planned as a major feature of the TIDD PC28. From the start, we took a position that we were www.cranesandlifting.com.au

Hands-on workmanship contributes to the quality of the TIDD PC28.

going to manufacture the safest product on the market,” he said.

According to Carden, an important part of the development process was working closely with Robway on the safety features on the TIDD PC28 which included the technology innovation called Slew Safe.

Slew Safe is designed to prevent rollovers and works with a number of features including audible alarms, LMI warnings and power steering being restricted to 15 per cent to prevent further slewing and moving normally in the safe direction.

“We wanted to ensure the software upgrades engineered into our new model could be provided as software modifications or updates to our earlier cranes. Robway helped us achieve this outcome. It’s the same with other componentry in the TIDD range,” he said.

“We’ve always wanted to keep a range of ‘top end components’ in our crane which are perceived to be the right quality for a quality product, and we’ve done this from the beginning. Take the drive train as an example, the same system from our original crane features in the later model cranes. We have never scrimped on quality because we want to ensure we www.cranesandlifting.com.au

have the right quality of product for our customers,” said Carden.

The TIDD PC28 was launched just over a year and the response from the market has been very positive says Carden.

“We’ve had really good response.

We’ve certainly made inroads with the Australian market and the overall response to the TIDD is positive.

“Of course, things are a little different right now with COVID 19 and we are seeing more caution in decision making, but we see with the government’s help with Stimulus Package on asset depreciation making it easier for businesses to buy new equipment and we think the industry should pick up in the relative short term – and we’re going to back our customers too.

“I think customers can see we’ve been in the market for a fair number of years now. We’ve been listening to the market and we’ve been quietly making changes to our product to follow the changing market demands.

“For us, it’s really been a case of getting the name out there and what we’re experiencing is small-to mediumsized businesses quick to adopt TIDD Cranes,” he said.

According to Carden, it will take a

little longer to see change from the larger Tier One contractors and builders.

“It is much easier for larger operations to repeat what they have done in the past. We’ve been successful with people that understand the extra changes we’ve made to the product and they understand what these can do for their operators. It always takes the larger operations a bit longer to change the way they have always done something.

“As far as product support is concerned, we’ve got a strong network and we’re doing well in terms of the supporting the product, which is operating all over the country.

We’re working well with the different distributors which are supported by our major parts and distribution centre in Brisbane. We’re pretty happy with the way it’s been going.

“If I look into the chrystal ball, it’s actually a fairly murky picture for everyone at the at the moment. But we will come out of this COVID 19 crisis and it will be businesses making smart decisions now, that will be stronger. I believe they will be looking for products that give them more opportunities to hire their cranes in a wide range of markets.

We know the TIDD pick and carry meets these criteria,” said Carden.

May 2020 CAL / 45

IN FOCUS / LINK-BELT

LINK-BELT LAUNCHES NEW CRAWLER MODEL An all-new 75t Link-Belt TCC800 telescopic crawler crane made its debut at ConExpo 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

THE NEW 75T telescopic crawler crane began field-testing in early 2020 with first shipments of the model scheduled in fourth quarter 2020. Its predecessor, the top selling telecrawler TCC-750, has been a cornerstone of the telecrawler market for Link-Belt since its initial launch in 2008.

Anthony Davis, Baden Davis Crane Connection, the Australian distributor for Link-Belt, spent the week at ConExpo.

“Obviously, with Link-Belt being one of the largest crane manufacturers in the US, ConExpo is a very important event. The Link-Belt stand is one of the most inviting stands you can visit with live demonstrations making the stand more dynamic.

“This year they demonstrated how simple it is to swing the new LinkBelt SmartFly jib system. They also demonstrated how the new TCC-800 is capable of working in an ‘out of level’ configuration by driving the model up onto ramps. Both demonstrations were really popular with visitors to the stand,” he said.

“There were plenty of Australians at ConExpo, more than I anticipated and the turnout on the stand was excellent.

We have noticed a significant resurgence in demand for telecrawlers from the domestic market, telecrawlers are the goto machine at the moment.

“Link-Belt displayed the new TCC 800 crawler model which replaces the TCC 750. It features a new and longer boom with better lifting capacities. We have 46 / CAL May 2020

The new TCC-800 features the Link-Belt SmartFly jib system and a 75t lifting capacity

a number of the 750s here in Australia and customers have been really pleased with their performance. We are confident the TCC 800 will be just as popular and equally well received,” said Davis.

The TCC-800 comes with a new four-section 11.8m – 36.5m) full-power

boom that reaches a maximum tip height of 56.2m with full boom and Link-Belt’s SmartFly pinning system.

Link-Belt SmartFly helps ensure proper fly erection and stowage sequence while minimizing work at height. The SmartFly system continues to get high www.cranesandlifting.com.au

marks from industry owners. The TCC800 offers optional one or two-piece 10.6m – 17.6m fly.

New to Link-Belt’s telecrawler lineup will be variable side frame track positions (V-CALC) on the TCC-800.

“VCALC, in the case of the new TCC-800, offers the added flexibility to operate the crane with side frames in asymmetric configurations. Pulse 2.0 monitors actual side frame position, auto-selecting the correct chart,” said Scott Knight, product manager Lattice and Telescopic Crawler Cranes.

TCC-800’s variable side frame combinations, new cab with 20° of tilt and Pulse 2.0 offer an operator a multitude of options for any jobsite – everything from pile driving, bridgework to plant work, and general construction.

TCC-800 will utilise a stage 5 dualcompliant Cummins QSB 6.7 engine with 232 hp at 2000 RPM for greater fuel economy, improved quiet operation and cold-start capability. Other

advancements include pressure read-out on all hydraulic circuits, viewable on Pulse 2.0 display. Total vision package with right-side swing camera, winch-view camera, and rear-view camera give the operator great jobsite visibility during setup and lifting. Single axis or joystick controls are also available both offering operator selectable foot or hand controls for travel operation. Textured paint on all vertical surfaces and slip resistant paint on all horizontal surfaces improves durability and footing.

New high performance, variable displacement pumps provide power control and load sensing on the TCC800 for smooth functioning of all operating processes. Matching 19 mm grooved drums have 254.2 m of rope capacity with 7,656.6 kg maximum line pull and 147 mpm maximum line speed. The list chart on the TCC-800 also includes a maximum four-degree list chart for increased performance in varying jobsite conditions.

The TCC-800 self-assembles with 17 463kg of upper counterweight and two 1 360 kg sections of carbody counterweight. For transport, the TCC-800 moves in two loads: main unit transports under 45 359 kg with fly, side frames attached, hook block and ball, lifting sheave and full tank of fuel; overflow includes counterweight sections and stays below 20 184 kg. Clearance height on a lowboy transport trailer stays below 3.9 metres.

OPTIONAL WIRELESS REMOTE TCC-800 has an optional wireless remote control system which allows the operator to be out of the cab and still have control of the crane.

Link-Belt Cranes, with headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky, is a leader in the design and manufacture of telescopic boom and lattice boom cranes for the construction industry worldwide.

Complete crane specifications are available at www.linkbelt.com.

Anthony Davis, Baden Davis Crane Connection, Roy Burger marketing sales and customer support manager, Link-Belt, and Bill Stramer, international sales, Link-Belt.

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

May 2020 CAL / 47

IN FOCUS / BOOM LOGISTICS

BOOM LOGISTICS COMPLETES A FIRST IN MELBOURNE’S CBD Boom Logistics received delivery of its new Liebherr LTM1750-9.1, a 750t capacity crane, to complete this lift in Melbourne’s CBD. It’s the largest capacity crane seen on Melbourne’s streets.

BOOM LOGISTICS was recently engaged to lower a tower crane from 55 Southbank, a new Melbourne landmark building which sits between the bustling CBD, the vibrant art precinct of St Kilda Road and the parklands of the Royal Botanic Gardens Boulevard. The tower crane was constructed on the existing commercial office building site to help develop a new 220-room hotel, through the addition of six levels using concrete framed construction methods at the top of the building.

According to Nick Morris, engineering manager for Boom Logistics, the unique aspect of the lift was the location of the job, situated on the corner of City Road and Southbank Boulevard, a busy

intersection in Southbank, Victoria.

“Prior to the crane arriving onsite, geotechnical work and core drilling were carried out to ensure the crane was set up in a safe and ideal position for lifting, said Morris.

“A key challenge was ensuring the safety of a sewer line that ran down the centre of Southbank Boulevard. It was decided to sit the crane away from the underground piping, positioning the crane very close to the edge of the building, with just 13m between the face of the building and the centre line of the crane,” he said.

“The Liebherr LTM1750 is equipped with a V2E 19m lattice extension on the main boom which allows the pivot point

of the luffing fly to be placed 19 metres higher than usual. The crane was set-up this way to lift over the 61m building height to perform the job safely,” said Morris.

This is a similar configuration to those used for wind farm maintenance at extreme heights. On this particular lift the extension enabled the boom to luff down safely, without any clearance issues over the top of the building.

The heaviest lift was 15.8t which allowed the slew deck on the tower crane to come down as a single piece. This meant the owner of the tower crane didn’t have to strip the crane down, which reduced time and cost.

The benefit of putting the larger crane

The heaviest lift was 15.8 tonnes which allowed the slew deck on the tower crane to come down as a single piece.

48 / CAL May 2020

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

The Liebherr LTM1750 is equipped with a V2E 19m lattice extension on the main boom which allows the pivot point of the luffing fly to be placed 19 metres higher than usual.

in the street was the clearance it provided.

No other crane could have managed the job that close to the building.

In addition to removing the tower crane, Boom Logistics completed the lift shaft, installed wall panels and carried out minor steel works.

The LTM 1750-9.1 has the capability to become an 800t crane. It has higher lifting capacities across almost the entire working range, and greater capacity for wind farm applications with the new luffing jib configuration.

The 9-axle machine features the very latest mobile crane technology and includes Liebherr innovations such as VarioBase and ECOmode. With its Y telescopic boom guying and a very wide range of lattice jibs, the LTM 1750-9.1 allows a large number of possible boom system configurations. These enable it to achieve hoist heights of up to 154m and radii up to 112m. The luffing lattice jib can be assembled in 3.5m stages up to a total of 91m height.

“The past 10 years we saw a number of 400t and 500t machines operating in the metropolitan area. That was the peak capability for the time. Advanced technologies now allow us to service CBD projects and its customers with a 750t mobile crane,” said Morris.

This is a major advancement for the www.cranesandlifting.com.au

construction industry, allowing project managers to take advantage of the latest changes in engineering and architectural design which require large components to be delivered from factory directly to site,” he said.

Boom Logistics engaged with the Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA), working with Vic Roads to gain access for the crane and obtain the permit approvals which allowed the boom to be fitted to the crane on site. This ensured less time mobilisation to site and quick demobilisation to the yard.

Boom Logistics prepared new designs on the outrigger supports to distribute the loads on the road, supporting local ground conditions. With 22 metres of mat under each outrigger, Boom Logistics used standard crane mats in conjunction with its own engineered mats used for crawler cranes.

Boom Logistics put down compressed foam before they sat the mats down, which is a relatively new concept for Melbourne developments. The compressed foam was used to protect the road from damage while operating on a new asphalted surface, and there were no scuffs, no scratches and no indents.

“The LTM 1750 and the team performed extremely well. The project showcases our ability to mobilise a large

crane quickly and safely into the city, and provides value to major construction companies and their projects,” said Tony Spassopoulos, Boom Logistics CEO. “Because of the complexities involved with the job, Nick Morris and the team worked closely with our customer for several months beforehand so we could align the engineering requirements and road closures to complete the job safely and on time,” he said.

“We now have three 750t mobile cranes in our fleet, servicing our customers in the mining and resources, infrastructure, energy and utilities sectors across Australia,” said Spassopoulos.

With 22 metres of mat under each outrigger, Boom Logistics used standard crane mats in conjunction with its own engineered mats used for crawler cranes.

May 2020 CAL / 49

IN FOCUS / PACE CRANES

SHUTTLELIFT IS MAKING INROADS It has taken the local market a while to grasp the benefits of the Shuttlelift range of mobile gantry cranes, but according to distributor Pace Cranes, that’s about to change.

THE HERITAGE OF THE Shuttlelift mobile gantry range is firmly fixed in the marine industry. For over 55 years, Marine Travelift has been engineering and manufacturing self-propelled straddle type mobile boat hoists in the US and exporting the technology all over the world.

In 1987 the company was approached Michael Cawston, national sales manager, Pace Cranes, with the Shuttlelift DB unit on display at ConExpo.

50 / CAL May 2020

by the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, who needed a better handling solution for the recovery of its recyclable space shuttle rocket boosters. A Marine Travelift was adapted for this purpose but it was clear there was a market for industrial applications and Shuttlelift was born. Over the last 30 plus years, Shuttlelift has expanded into several

industries to include concrete, steel, power generation, energy, wind, and construction among others.

Shuttlelift offers three options in its range, the SB and DB and SL series cranes that range from 15 ton to 1000 ton (US) capacity and greater.

The DB or Double Beam Series is designed as an effective lifting solution for heavy lifting of bulky items. Each DB is engineered as a unique solution to the toughest material handling challenges.

Shuttlelift’s SB options include: 1. Shuttlelift’s all-wheel electronic steering provides maximum flexibility, manoeuvrability and precision handling while operating in confined spaces.

2. Shuttlelift provides increased gradeability through additional wheel motors that allow its gantry cranes to travel over inclined or uneven surfaces.

This increases the crane’s traveling efficiency, and it allows the customer to maximize yard space by utilising areas once deemed unusable.

3. The crane’s articulated pivot trunnion allows the frame to articulate while it travels over uneven terrain without causing structural damage or risking the safety of the load.

4. The crane is equipped with fully proportional controls allowing precision movement of all crane functions, resulting in complete operator control.

5. With hoists mounted to the lower side beam, the operator can easily see the reeving of the wire rope and can perform needed maintenance without the requirement of a manlift.

6. Shuttlelift’s cantilever wheel frame design provides increased efficiency if tyres need to be serviced or replaced.

7. Shuttlelift’s wireless remote control increases operator visibility of the www.cranesandlifting.com.au

load by allowing the operator to be anywhere around the load or work being performed, improving operational safety and ensuring maximum manoeuvrability. The remote is laid out in the same format as the backup operator cab controls for an extra measure of efficiency and safety.

Pace Cranes has sold a number Shuttlelift SB units, but it has taken time for the local market to understand the features and benefits of the product.

In the US, Shuttlelifts are popular with the precast concrete industry, it’s probably the largest and most popular application for these types of machines. They are used a lot in the precast yards and being a US made machine, they are everywhere.

Another DB has just arrived in the country and is destined for a customer in the mining sector. The Shuttlelift will play a key role in the maintenance and servicing program of the rigid frame dump trucks and other types of equipment operating in the mine says Michael Cawston, national sales manager, Pace Cranes.

“The benefits of having a Shuttlelift for changing out the trays on the dumps trucks or doing maintenance work on the large excavators is that there is no load moment on these machines. The gantry will sit over the piece of equipment making it impossible to tip over providing a safe way to lift these heavy pieces of equipment.

“This machine has four independent winches on each corner so when you are lifting the tray off the dump truck you can lift each corner independently to help get the pins in place when you are fitting it. You can also pick and carry the tray, move it around and put it where you need it, the dump truck can drive straight under it,” he said.

Another benefit of the Shuttlelift is the space it saves onsite and the amount of time it saves when setting up the lifts said Cawston.

“With the Shuttlelift you have one machine which they can drive the dump truck or piece of equipment under or the gantry crane can be driven to the www.cranesandlifting.com.au

DB 90 is undergoing final testing prior to being shipped to Australia

equipment. With the remote-control system, the operator can stand back from the machine and the piece of equipment, he’s doesn’t have to be anywhere near the load, it’s a very safe way to manage the lift,” he said.

Two Shuttlelift units are also being deployed onto the Level Crossing Removal Project in Victoria. The Victorian Government allocated $2.4 billion in its 2015-16 budget to remove at least 20 level crossings by 2018. These sites form the basis of a long-term strategic plan being developed to remove all 50 level crossings by 2022. The Level Crossing Removal Authority is overseeing the delivery of the project, ensuring that level crossings are removed in a coordinated and efficient manner. The Authority is responsible for all aspects of the project including planning and development, stakeholder engagement, procurement, through to construction and delivery.

“Obviously, the Level Crossing Removal Project is massive and the various sections of the project require different solutions including the removal

rail crossings by elevating areas of the rail network,” said Cawston.

“The Shuttlelifts are being utilised on one section of the project which was a bit more critical than others. The area they are able to work in is very limited and there is little room for error because the crossing is so close to existing structures.

“It was decided there was too much risk associated having a large crawler or a mobile crane or both, to lift 30m long concrete beams and put them in place.

The Shuttlelifts will simply drive along, pick up the beams and drive with the load slung beneath them meaning there’s much less risk,” he said.

Cawston confirms ConExpo provided a great opportunity for Australian customers to see the Shuttlelift up close and personal.

“We are very excited about the prospects for Shuttlelift. We had a number of enquiries during ConExpo with customers looking at different applications and using the product to manage their own yards and moving products around,” he said.

May 2020 CAL / 51

IN FOCUS / E.P.O.S. SOFTWARE

DIGITISE YOUR BUSINESS WITH SOFTWARE THAT MOVES For more than 20 years, leading German business development software company Matusch, has been the developing the Equipment Planning and Organisation System (E.P. O.S.).

WITH EVERYONE FROM the CEO to the construction site worker and crane operator armed with smart devices, there is a growing need to link all stages of a projects construction through technology.

Such technologies improve a business’s internal and external communications, implement updates in real time, and generally improve the productivity and efficiency of organisations.

Although slow, digitisation in construction is gradually taking place, giving digitised companies in these sectors significant advantages over those that are non-digitised. Competition is driving further digitisation.

COVID-19 has officially been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation and thus countries around the world are taking drastic measures to flatten the curve of infections.

Many companies are asking employees to work from home to avoid their workforce being infected and potentially spreading the disease.

Given the risk, companies who embrace digitisation and remotely work are likely to reduce potential losses, as they’re able to maintain a productive workforce despite the logistical challenges.

52 / CAL May 2020

E.P.O.S. is a modular software system developed and optimised especially for the crane rental, access equipment and oversized and heavy transport industries.

E.P.O.S. is designed to function as the information centre for businesses in these sectors.

There are a number of features within the E.P.O.S. system which are designed to streamline the way a business’s internal departments communicate as well as how the business interacts externally with its customers.

The E.P.O.S. scheduling program automates the communication and the generation of paperwork with staff working on site. This minimises the amount of direct contact allocators and office staff are required to have with the truck driver, machine operator and supervisors and others out on site.

The E.P.O.S. Online Application replaces existing job dockets and delivery notes. This information is now sent directly to tablets being operated by drivers, supervisors, operators and other staff onsite.

With the Online Application feature, the job data is exported directly from E.P.O.S. to the tablet operated by the

Images and documents can be linked to a quote, onsite-inspection, customer or job assignment and automatically stored in the Integrated Document Management System (iDMS).

driver, crane operator or onsite staff.

Job related documents can also be sent directly to the tablet. The customer is able to read the detail relating to the job and confirm it is correct by signing off on the completed job with a digital signature.

The signed off digital job docket is then directly available to the office staff.

In real time, they can adjust working hours of staff and machines ready for invoicing. The driver, operator or onsite staff don’t have to worry about taking back signed off paper dockets to the office, and the customer automatically receives the details relating to the signed off job docket with the electronic invoice.

Online Site-Inspections is another key feature of the E.P.O.S. system.

The Online Site Inspection feature enables the entire process of siteinspections to be managed on a tablet.

The data acquisition can be carried out directly on site and this information is automatically transferred back to staff based in the office or home office.

There is no longer a need for site staff to return to the office with completed on site-inspection paperwork and photographs. Details relating to the job site can be completely managed online, enabling office staff to continue working on the data and information collected from the site in real time.

In today’s business environment, mobile apps are playing an increasingly www.cranesandlifting.com.au

important role. The E.P.O.S. system mobile apps mean useful functions can be conducted, in the field, via a smart phone.

E.P.O.S. mobile apps have been specifically developed to assist management, sales staff, drivers and operators, mechanics and delivery staff.

Sales staff can instantly call up details of a customer’s history directly, update records in real time and file onsiteinspection reports in E.P.O.S. mechanics, drivers and operators are able to enter their working hours and details of jobs and repairs they might be working on.

When delivering or handing over rental equipment, all the relevant details can be viewed by the customer who takes delivery with a signature directly on the smartphone or tablet.

Images and documents can be linked to a quote, onsite-inspection, customer or job assignment and automatically stored in the Integrated Document Management

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System (iDMS) which is integrated in E.P.O.S. system.

The iDMS provides useful functions for employees of various departments which can perform without having to be in the office.

With the iDMS it is possible attach numerous amounts of supporting documentation and images to every activity such as quotes, jobs and invoices in E.P.O.S. For example, pictures from a site inspection, freight lists or ground plans from your customer are accessible for everyone at any time. It’s a simple case of dragging and dropping the documentation or images and sending the files as an email attachment. The iDMS also provides a function for searching and recovering old documentation.

Online Scheduling provides access to schedules for internet browsers requiring quick information when out in the field or in their home office. Location-

independent access options for mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets or laptops is a key feature of the Online Scheduling. The schedule is always readily available and accessible from anywhere.

Because the schedule is also mirrored on a web server, it can still be made available and accessed in the event of a local server failure.

Invoice control and approval can be managed remotely with E.P.O.S. Once verified by management, invoices do not have to be printed in order to be released.

Invoices can be checked from the home office in E.P.O.S. and marked for release.

If requested, the customer can receive his invoice electronically by email.

For further information please follow this link where you will find a short video summarising the advantages of digitisation with E.P.O.S. at www.matusch.de/en/e-p-o-s-shortvideo/ or email: eposscheduling@gmail.com

IN FOCUS / TWO WAY CRANES

Frank Zammit, Two Way Cranes is delighted to be supporting Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

TWO WAY TALLY’S PROGRESS During the CICA New South Wales regional meeting in July last year, an auction of various items raised over $40,000 for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. The main item was for the naming rights of a yet to be born Guide Dog puppy.

FRANK ZAMMIT from Two Way Cranes secured the winning bid for the naming rights and went on to arrange a “puppy naming suggestion box” and Tally was the popular choice.

Traditionally the NSW Branch has used the social dinner at their Regional Meetings to raise awareness and funds for a charity within the community, says Heidi Hervay, NSW Branch Secretary.

“In 2019, the Committee agreed to align with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. Collaborating with Guide Dogs NSW/ ACT has been a fantastic opportunity to bring awareness to their cause and we will be privileged to watch Tally grow and learn and follow her through 54 / CAL May 2020

to graduation.

“We still have a bit more fundraising to do this year to finish off our commitment to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT as there is quite a lot involved in raising and training a Guide Dog puppy. I have learnt so much and I am excited to have been part of Tally’s journey,” said Heidi.

Tally is now six months old and has been living with her volunteer Puppy Raiser Virginia Hunt. Puppy Raisers provide a warm, loving home to Guide Dog puppies for the first 12 months of their lives and assist with basic obedience and skill training. Tally is the first Guide Dog puppy Virginia has raised.

“Puppy Raisers are required to attend

information sessions and have home visits and assessments from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT before you are approved to be a Puppy Raiser.

“Training is weekly with a Puppy Development Adviser who conducts training in small groups with everyone else who is raising a Guide Dog puppy in your local area,” said Virginia.

A self-confessed “doggy person”, Virginia has spent the last 18 years volunteering her time around her children’s activities. Now they are in their late teens she wanted a volunteering role involving dogs.

“I thought Guide Dogs NSW/ACT was a really worthy cause. www.cranesandlifting.com.au

“I know it’s going to be difficult to give Tally back after investing a lot of time and emotion, but I can see it’s something I am capable of managing. I’m going into the process knowing I have to be unselfish because this dog, as much as you grow to love and adore it, will be far more important to someone else, there’s a much bigger picture,” said Virginia.

Initial training is very basic and as anyone who has had a puppy will know.

It starts with house training and house manners.

“The first month the training is no different to how someone would teach their own puppy. Training starts with your Puppy Development Advisor from the first week you have them.

The first few weeks involve socialising with the other puppies in the group where they play for 15 minutes and you might have five minutes of trying to get them to walk on leads, sit and stay at the end.

At 12 weeks, it’s fairly basic with sit, stay and heel so not much more than an owner would be doing with their own puppy,” she said.

Tally is now six months old and the training is more complex. She is being taught to stay, to drop, to heel, to ‘leave it’ and to ignore the other dogs she is training with.

“We have a discipline where the puppies weave between each other, they are not to interact with the other dogs and need to focus on the instructions given by their handler. We are now training them to stay when we drop the lead and we are increasing the distance when walk away from them.

“Training is very much reward driven, we are dealing with Labradors and they are very motivated with treat rewards.

As the training progresses, every second reward for doing something right is a pat and a hug and a rub behind the ears, more a physical touch reward so they are not receiving a food reward for everything they do,” said Virginia.

At around 12 to 14 months, the pups return to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT for an assessment process. During this time, they assess the dogs skills and personality, work out what sort of dog they are and www.cranesandlifting.com.au

decide where they might like them to go to from there,” she said.

There are a few different avenues available for the dogs. Obviously, they can become a Guide Dog, and go on to change the life of a person who is blind or has low vision – that is the ultimate goal. However, some dogs have different skills and talents and are better suited to other paths. Some will join the breeding program, some can go onto Court Companion training where the dogs, with a handler, support people in the court environment. Others go on to be Therapy Dogs, providing comfort and companionship to individuals with other challenges and disability. Those that are chosen for Guide Dog training go onto 20 weeks of specialised training at Glossodia, the headquarters for the Guide Dog NSW/ACT. “Of course, I’m biased but Tally is amazing. She learnt to sit within the first 15 minutes of being with us and she learnt to use the stairs within a day. She’s obviously extremely smart and she is very well behaved. She’s not a chewer, she slept through the night from the day we got

her, and she was very quick to pick up house training.

“At the end of the day they are puppies and there are some in her group with naughty personalities, but we’ve been lucky with Tally. She is calm and not at all destructive. It’s so far so good as far as Tally is concerned and her Puppy Development Adviser is extremely pleased with her,” said Virginia.

Karen Hayter, puppy development manager at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT said volunteer Puppy Raisers and generous donors play a vital role in helping Guide Dogs NSW/ACT continue with their important work and services.

“Thank you so much to all our Puppy Raisers, including Virginia who help us turn cute Labrador puppies like Tally into life changing Guide Dogs. Thank you also to our generous supporters like Two Way Cranes who have sponsored Tally in entirety. Without your amazing support we can’t continue our work providing services that help people with low vision or blindness lead independent and safe lives,” said Karen.

Two Way Tally’s training is progressing nicely.

May 2020 CAL / 55

IN FOCUS / ERGON AND ENERGEX

POWERLINE SAFETY TOOL SAVING LIVES The recently released lookupandlive.com.au is an online safety planning tool, designed to save lives in the Queensland crane sector.

THE ERGON and Energex networks have 1.7 million power poles and more than 225,000 kilometres of powerlines across the state. Unfortunately, many powerlines are accidentally contacted by crane and machinery operators every year, resulting in severe and sometimes fatal injuries.

One of the leading causes of accidents arises from a distinct lack of planning and powerline awareness.

This lack of planning leads to a failure lookupandlive.com.au addresses a lack of planning and powerline awareness which can lead to a failure in identifying related risks and hazards.

of machinery operators to identify risks and hazards associated with their jobs thereby sidestepping vital control measures to mitigate these risks.

The Ergon and Energex new Powerline Safety Planning tool at lookupandlive.com.au is really a lifesaving tool. Coupled with Look up and Live sessions, the online mapping tool which pinpoints the location of overhead powerlines is an essential part of ensuring worker safety

The Community safety team fosters a positive and proactive association of powerline safety messages across many industries by building awareness of the dangers of accidental contact with powerlines – via programs of engaging, educating and enabling workers.

around powerlines.

The Community safety team fosters a positive and proactive association of powerline safety messages across many industries by building awareness of the dangers of accidental contact with powerlines – via programs of engaging, educating and enabling workers.

The Powerline Safety Planning tool helps machinery operators to adequately plan their jobs and to put effective controls in place such as requesting safety advice, deenergisations, relocations, augmenting lines, use of safety observers and/or rotamarkers (powerline markers) to highlight powerlines and to keep people clear of danger.

Simply visit lookupandlive.com. au to identify powerline locations and make a plan to stay safe when working near powerlines.

For more safety information and how to stay powerline aware visit the Ergon and Energex websites at: www.ergon.com.au/safetyadvice or www.energex.com.au/safetyadvice.

56 / CAL May 2020

www.cranesandlifting.com.au

IN FOCUS / A1A SOFTWARE

THE QUICKEST WAY TO EXPAND 3D LIFT PLAN CAPABILITIES A1A Software recently introduced new web tools for 3D Lift Planning activities.

THE NEW WEB TOOLS enable users to input or gather important lift planning information without creating a full lift plan. For on-the-go, in-the-field decision making, the tools provide quick, accurate information accessible from a tablet or other mobile device, that can later be integrated into a full lift plan.

A1A Software has also released its first mobile device application for users of iCraneTrax, the company’s fleet management software with CRM, Dispatch, and GPS capabilities.

The six new web tools include: 1. S ketch Pad which allows estimators, project managers or others involved in initial job bidding or lift planning to draw on screen using their finger.

After entering an address, a Google Map displays as background. On this aerial view, it is possible to note the lift location, crane setup location, and other site-specific information.

“This is a great tool for gathering initial information for a job estimate,” said A1A president, Tania Weiss. The sketch can be saved to 3D Lift Plan and will auto-create a lift plan for the user, which reduces steps and streamlines documentation.

2. Crane Comparison which allows users to compare up to 10 crane load charts at a time. “Information displays graphically, for an easy visual reference of the capacities at various working ranges,” explained Weiss. The tool is ideal for salespeople who are working with customers to identify the most cost-effective option that can get the job done.

3. Load Chart Viewer which takes information in traditional load charts and presents them in a visual www.cranesandlifting.com.au

Crane Loads Calculator allows users to determine maximum outrigger loads for the specific crane configuration without creating a full 3D Lift Plan.

infographic presentation. This graphical representation overlays load chart data, such as capacity at various lift radii, into a range diagram with capacities. “If you’ve heard the phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words… the load chart viewer is exactly that – a visual representation of load chart data,” said Weiss.

4. Crane Loads Calculator which allows users to determine maximum

outrigger loads for the specific crane configuration without creating a full 3D Lift Plan. Simply choose the crane, the load chart, boom length, load weight, and radius, and the Crane Loads Calculator will present you with critical setup information.

5. Mat Calculator, which will likely be used in conjunction with the Crane Loads Calculator, allows users to select the appropriate outrigger May 2020 CAL / 57

IN FOCUS / A1A SOFTWARE

pads or crane pads for the allowable ground bearing pressure. This is a mobile variation on the feature integrated into 3D Lift Plan in 2017, which provides data for engineered outrigger pad products, such as DICA’s FiberMax or SafetyTech pads, steel mats, or timber mats, into 3D Lift Plan.

6. Rigging Designer allows users to select from a wide variety of common rigging products, as well as create a custom 3D rigging plan. The rigging plan can be saved to 3D Lift Plan for creation of a Rigging List and Critical Lift Worksheets.

In addition, A1A Software also released its first mobile device application for users of iCraneTrax, the company’s fleet management software with CRM, Dispatch, and GPS capabilities.

With the iTeleTrax app, customers can access six different information pages right from their Apple or Android mobile device. This makes it easier for operators, technicians or fleet managers to access critical information while on the go or at the job site.

The iTeleTrax app includes a fleet map overview of key service items, engine hour and maintenance notifications, DMI engine codes, fleet position for location tracking, and a summary page. Specific features and information displays vary depending on the OEM and telematics system used by your equipment. The app is available from the Apple Store or Google Play Store. Users log in with their iCraneTrax credentials. “iTeleTrax app improves communication between job site personnel, dispatch, and service

departments, increasing the opportunity for proactive maintenance,” said Tawnia Weiss, president of A1A software.

Sketch Pad allows estimators, project managers or staff involved in initial job bidding or lift planning to draw on screen using their finger.

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