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The North East Link Tunnel Project requires robust and durable cranes, working alongside various lifting machines, to undertake a large amount of complex infrastructure work.
The project will see Webuild, as part of the Spark consortium, design and build twin three-lane traffic tunnels measuring 6.5 kilometres long, among other related works. Once completed, it will be the longest road tunnel in Victoria, stretching from Yallambie to Bulleen.
The North East Link is a part of Victoria’s Big Build, which is costing around $90 billion and comprises over 165 major road and rail projects across the state, ultimately aiming to take 15,000 trucks off local roads every day and reduce travel times by up 35 minutes.
For Empire Cranes, an up and coming crane hire company based in Pakenham, in Melbourne’s south east, the project has led to significant ongoing work.
Benefiting from over 20 years’ heavy lifting experience in the mining, renewable energy, construction and infrastructure industries, Empire is known as a fast growing, professional and reliable mobile crane hire business that is dedicated to exceeding the expectations of its clients.
Led by Jared McDonald and Jarrod Belsey, Empire currently has five cranes working on the Tunnel project, of which three are undertaking piling rig work.
Empire recently purchased a Sany SCC300TB telescopic crawler crane through Tutt Bryant Equipment to assist a customer with the installation of the pile cages into the drilled holes on the site.
Jared said the 30 tonne lifting capacity SCC300TB is also being used as a general lift crane at the piling rig site, allowing other larger capacity cranes to focus on the heavier loads.
The SCC300TB was favoured for its limited footprint area, its 3m retracted width and its ability to work efficiently in tight spaces while using a 42.5m maximum length boom.
“The SCC300TB can get into tighter spots, especially along the side of the freeway at the M80 site, so that’s why the builders and engineers were keen to get the crane onto their site,” said Jared.
He said the SCC300TB has a smaller footprint than another 40-tonne crane that’s onsite doing similar work, but said the SCC300TB remarkably has a similar load chart.
“It suited those onsite to have a smaller lifting capacity crane but one that can get into the tighter areas.” Jared added.
The SCC300TB is known for its durability by being widely operational in most kinds of harsh surface conditions, and Jared says the reputation holds up.
“It is known for its ability to perform in tough conditions, as it features a robust track system,” Jared said.
Jared also lauded the engines that power the operating systems and leans on positive experiences with engines in the rest of Empire’s fleet.
“We know the engines featuring in the Sany are good because they are in our other machines. This Isuzu engine and Cummins in other Sanys is heavily trusted by us at Empire Cranes.”
Jared said the features of the Sany SCC300TB had meant he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to see the crane for himself.“It looked good on paper, but we needed to see it in real life and test it out,” said Jared.
“We actually went to the Sany Global Key Summit in Huzhou, China, for the sole purpose of examining the 30 tonne crawler, and the one we found is now working away on the North East Link Tunnel Project,” he said.
The Summit, and following customer tour of Sany’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, was held over two days in late May.
Visitors from across the world gathered in Huzhou, in China’s Zhejiang province, to witness the manufacturer’s showcase that included its SAC2500E, SAC600E, SAC700E, SRC1200T, STC1600T7, SCE1350A-EV, SCE1500TB and SCC3200T models.
Customers were seriously impressed with what they saw, and Jared and the Empire team were among them.
“Sany showed us a SCC300TB that had just been come out of production and it was available after the Customer Day for us to test and try,” he said.
Popular among the operators, the SCC300TB comes with an upgraded cab and operating system, providing a spacious environment for the operator to sit and control the crane in.
Once Jared entered the cab of the SCC300TB, the enhanced control and visibility systems were noticeable straight away.
“Sany have removed a lot of the analogue buttons, and they’ve taken it all to a 61cms screen, so the split-screen means you’ve got your operating system below, and then you’ve got the images from all the cameras above,” said Jared.
The SCC300TB comes with 360-degree cameras, along with winch and hook cameras as an option, which can increase safety.
“After the Customer Day, we got to spend some time in their test yard operating the SCC300TB for an hour – with myself and a few of those who flew to the event from Australia. After testing it, we decided to purchase one,” Jared said.
For its work so far, Jared said the ongoing support provided by Sany’s National Distributor, Tutt Bryant Equipment, has placed his company in good stead.
He praised the strong support Empire Cranes has received from Tutt Bryant Equipment’s National Sales Team leaders.
“Philip Chadwick and team are really good to us,” he said.
Tutt Bryant Equipment can dispatch technical support to businesses such as Empire Cranes, as well as the operators of the machines.
“Tutt Bryant Equipment has specialised engineers and technical support staff who have strong technical skills, which can help us and our customers when issues may arise, they also have specific Product Managers – in both WA and the east coast. Service and support is a key focus for the teams at Tutt Bryant Equipment and they understand if there is an issue, how important it is to get a crane up and operational as quickly as possible,” Jared added.
Empire’s SCC300TB is currently contracted to work on the North East Link Tunnel Project for another two years, as it continues its work.
And so far, positive indications from Empire Cranes’ customers have backed the company’s decision to add the crawler crane to Empire’s 25 plus crane fleet.
“We currently have five cranes working on the North East Link Tunnel – the three carrying out piling rig works alongside one assisting with concrete works and another undertaking general lifts located near the tunnel boring machine,” said Jared.
But aside from its works in Victoria, Empire Cranes is looking to expand its services in two ways as it emerges as a leader in the Australian crane dry hire market. Jared’s business partner, Jarrod Belsey, is currently working in New South Wales with his family with the aim of opening a site to cement Empire’s interstate position.
And Empire Cranes has just opened its new services division – Empire Services.
Jared recently employed a highly experienced crane mechanic from Brisbane who will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance, such as routine checks and major inspections, of all east-coast Empire- purchased cranes.
All in all, Jared said, the future looks bright, both for Empire Cranes and the Sany SCC300TB.
“We have customers based up and down the East Coast that are using telecrawlers on all sorts of different projects, including infrastructure and tunnelling projects in New South Wales,” said Jared.
“We’ve got some refinery projects here in Melbourne and in Wollongong, so our cranes are performing refinery and shut down works. We’re keen to develop our customer base in different industrial areas which we can target with our new products,” he said.