Dynamic Rigging holds a range of equipment that can fulfil any customer’s needs at any time, thanks to its large inventory and dry-hire business model. The Sunshine-based company’s latest acquisition of offset lifting beams from GTC Engineering seeks only to enhance that.
It’s 2013, and General Manager of Dynamic Rigging Ross Johnson is sitting in his office, reflecting on all the services Dynamic Rigging offers.
Since its inception, the Melbourne-based lifting and rigging equipment hire company has provided products to lift all types of loads, including bridges, trains, tanks, excavators, MRI machines and an even a house.
The conversation he’s just held over the phone presents a new challenge, however. On the other end of the line, the Melbourne Zoo had come to Dynamic Rigging with a very specific request.
It needed to lift and position a baby elephant for surgery.
“We supplied the rigging equipment for that job,” he reflects. “Really, whenever someone needs our products, we will always supply them – no matter the job.”
Having been in his position for just over 13 years, Ross has seen Dynamic Rigging’s products thrive in multiple different aspects of the lifting industry. Operating as a hire company for lifting and rigging equipment out in the industrial north-west Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, its products can be found in the maritime, construction and mining industries.
Holding a CICA membership and employing LEEA trained lifting gear inspectors, safety and due process are always at the core of Dynamic Rigging’s operations. As we’re conducting the interview, Ross stops to take a call – ensuring the right lifting procedures are in place for the equipment the company supplies.
“It’s imperative that we get it right,” he says. “Lifting and handling heavy loads is a dangerous game, and we need to make sure our equipment is certified to work and that it is being operated in the way it is intended to.”
With an array of products featuring spreader beams, lifting beams, pre-cast rigging gear, ducting, materials and personnel cages, winches, air hoists, chain blocks and load cells, Ross is certain that Dynamic’s services can comfortably supply anyone in the industry, should they need their help for any period – whether that be one day or, in some cases, one year.
“Our products are substantially involved in the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel projects,” he says. “We’re starting to enter the North-East Link as well, but we’ve also got your regular crane hire companies calling us in the early morning to hire out equipment for a day when they realise they don’t have the right equipment for the job they need to do.”
It’s in the name of being a hire company that can provide immediate solutions to any customer demand – no matter how pressing – that Ross tells Cranes and Lifting that Dynamic Rigging has purchased the assets to steel fabrication and engineering company GTC Engineering.
Taking possession of 26 offset beams, Ross knows Dynamic’s latest acquisition will only enhance the Sunshine-based company’s capabilities within the lifting and rigging equipment sphere.
Where a traditional lifting beam functions by evenly distributing the weight of a load across a wider range than just the hook and thus providing stability, offset lifting beams hold a counterweight at one end. This allows for a load to be located further to one side of the bar than the other, providing a new scope of accessibility in tight construction projects.
Predominantly used by tower cranes, Ross is keen to highlight the important, holistic role they play in lifting.
“They’re also used by the mobile crane industry, particularly in things to do with some of the major projects now such as the Metro tunnel,” he says.
“These beams allow the crane to place the load outside of the reach of a crane. One example is when the roof on a structure has already been installed, and some larger object like an escalator needs to be carefully lifted in.”
“We see instances like that regularly in the construction industry, hence our decision to acquire these 26 offset beams.”
And it’s not just bigger, bulkier items where the offset beams thrive; with the range of beams holding a working load limit as low as 400kg through to 13 tonnes and spanning anywhere between 3-12 metres, Ross says the newest additions to Dynamic’s inventory will take the construction sector by storm due to the flexibility these beams provide.
“The smaller ones are used for glass panels and the like, because they can lift suction vacuums holding a sheet of glass up the side of a building with a reduced risk of hitting the existing structure,” he says.
On top of positioning escalators, lifting staircases and finessing glazing work, the beams also thrive when it comes to lifting delicate pieces of equipment in buildings such as a laboratory or a hospital. Using the example of MRI machines that can be fed through a hole in the side of a building, Ross again emphasises the practicality of the beams for the entire lifting industry.
“We really do see these being useful for the smaller crane hire companies and, simultaneously, the biggest crane yards and large-scale construction companies.”
“A lot of these beams will end up travelling well outside of Melbourne,” he continues. “We’re looking at targeting some of the major construction projects in Queensland and NSW, because we now hold the largest inventory of offset beams in Australia.”
Additional to its 26 offset lifting beams, Dynamic Rigging also holds 50 regular spreader beams available for dry hire in its inventory. Featuring modular, telescopic, end cap and lifting spreader beams, the equipment hire company also holds “one of the biggest” inventories of materials lifting cages.
With products ranging from 250kg tool cages through to 3 tonne material lifting and side loading cages, Ross says the Sunshine-based lifting and rigging company is firmly placed to supply to any industry that needs stable, safe lifting equipment.
“Whether it’s loads coming off ships, construction jobs, or mining jobs, they all come to us to provide,” he says. “They’ve got the crane, and they’ve got the customer and the customer has got the job, but we’ve got the gear that connects the crane, to the cargo with the load.”
“We’re LEEA accredited, all our products are tested vigorously, we supply a range of lifting equipment for specific applications across a range of time frames, and we supply to all facets of the lifting industry,” he continues.
“With the latest addition of these offset lifting beams, we’re actively expanding our capacity to aid our customers’ requirements.”
READ MORE:
- Axel Johnson further expands with Dynamic Rigging Hire.
- Keeping rigging ‘Dynamic’ is an important part of lifting safely.
- A ‘Dynamic’ approach to rigging.