For the past 80 years; cranes, construction and equipment company Tutt Bryant has been a name that is associated with quality, excellence and professionalism in the construction and heavy equipment space.
TUTT BRYANT has become a diverse construction equipment sales and industrial hire service provider in Australia, which conducts its operations around the country in three principle areas:
• Heavy Lift & Shift – hiring of cranes and provision of haulage and specialised transport, including planning and support services to meet lift and shift requirements;
• Equipment sales – sale of construction plant, equipment and cranes, together with the provision of parts and service through a nationwide network; and
• General hire – providing general plant and equipment hire for earthmoving, civil construction, rail maintenance, industrial, trade and DIY uses.
Malcom Smith, national operations manager of Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift & Shift, says that while there are many overseas players in the market that push their international credentials heavily, Tutt Bryant is proud to have built its homegrown capabilities here in Australia.
“Although our industry underwent a turbulent few years with the mining downturn, which resulted in the demise of a number of businesses, for Tutt Bryant, we remained focused on not letting our service standards drop and the quality of our equipment suffer at times of compressed margins,” Smith said.
“Even during the darkest period of the downturn in regions such as Western Australia, Tutt Bryant has always maintained its presence, people, expertise and facilities to support our client base. And while the market is still working through the remaining effects of the downturn, things are a lot more positive, with major infrastructure projects along the East Coast of Australia driving significant activity in the industrial hire service sector.”
“Depressed pricing, which is a hangover from the downturn, remains the foremost challenge, which had forced Tutt Bryant to relook at the way we conduct our business and has led to a number of changes around service delivery and moving towards the provision of higher-level solutions.
“Beyond just industrial hire services, Tutt Bryant is fully set up to offer comprehensive engineered solutions across heavy lifting, transportation and alternative techniques.”
Tutt Bryant’s current Heavy Lift & Shift fleet consists of:
• Lattice boom crawler cranes (90-1600 tonne capacity);
• Telescopic crawler cranes (80-100 tonnes);
• Rough terrain cranes (30-80 tonnes);
• Pick and carry cranes (20-25 tonnes);
• 1100-tonne hydraulic gantry systems;
• All-terrain cranes (80-300 tonnes);
• Travel towers to 140 feet;
• Self-propelled modular transporters;
• The largest fleet of modular road-going trailers in Australia; and
• Various alternate lift and shift systems.
“We have a national presence with one of the largest Heavy Lift & Shift fleets in Australia and a team that possesses extensive engineering and logistical capabilities, together with operational personnel that includes factory-trained crane technicians and operators,” Smith said.
“The Heavy Lift & Shift fleet is complemented by Tutt Bryant’s general hire fleet, which covers access, compaction, earthmoving and other categories such as lighting towers, site accommodation, generators, pumps, and roadside equipment.
“We are always reviewing new products in the market, looking for the market edge and the value add to our end customers.
“We are also looking for quality and support with the equipment we own, and we pride ourselves on great equipment that can be relied on to get the job done with little to no down time.”
According to Smith, Tutt Bryant has historically been uniquely placed to overcome engineering and operational challenges, which is why the company has been called on to operate on some of the country’s most significant projects, especially in the past 12 months alone.
In NSW, Tutt Bryant have a 150-tonne capacity lattice boom crawler crane undertaking an 18-month dam upgrade, which took months of engineering, planning, manufacturing, and trial fitment, before the project was executed.
“Narrowing the stance of the crane by 2 metres and removing 30 tonnes of self-weight had its own challenges especially trying to maintain the crane load chart at 150-tonne, and there were also the difficulties of mobilising the crane in such difficult terrain,” Smith said.
Another project that Tutt Bryant worked on recently was the Perth Swan River Pedestrian Bridge, which connected East Perth to Perth’s new sporting stadium.
“Tutt Bryant had several crawler cranes on site and undertook all the engineering lift studies for all major lifts undertaken by the Manitowoc MLC650 (700-tonne) crawler crane, which is the first and only crane of this type in Australia,” Smith added.
They also had a 400-tonne Manitowoc M16000 Crawler Crane set up at the base of a dam in WA, where they performed a major upgrade to the main water intake pipe that supplies drinking water to Perth and surrounds.
“The crane was built in a dry rock creek bed using a combination of 300-tonne all-terrains, 275-tonne crawler cranes and a bunch of self-propelled modular transporters. The project was planned for over six months with detailed lift studies, as well as transportation and assembly studies,” Smith said.
Finally, the company has been busy with its 1100-tonne gantry systems, decommissioning the Holden Automotive Factory in Adelaide, while its self-propelled modular transporters have also been in WA refurbishing aircraft hangers in a defence facility in the state.
“These hangers were 55 metres in length, 16 metres wide and 12 metres high, and we used the 1100-tonne gantry to raise the new sheds to height once sheeted, so that the columns could be pre-fitted prior to placement within the operational confines of the facility,” Smith continued.
“The self-propelled modular transporters removed the old ones using the hydraulic suspension of the trailer and temporary supports to the underside of the roof. This concept meant that we did not impede the facility and flights coming in and out of it.
“We were able to reduce weeks from the original schedule and lower the overall spend on the project, which was a great example of how Tutt Bryant is able to work closely with our clients to deliver successful project outcomes, while realising efficiencies and cost savings.”