When Boom Logistics was contracted to help construct a huge industrial shed, they deployed six cranes for the job.
Operations Manager, Dave Barfield, has been with Boom Logistics for five years and is responsible for all operations in Western Australia’s South West region.
“Boom services a wide range of industries with our national presence in metro and remote locations. In WA, our 750t and 450t All Terrain cranes are consistently utilised on many of the large road and infrastructure projects as well as various wind farm construction projects. We are also contracted to a number of mining companies where we are onsite to support them and their sub contractors with shutdown, maintenance and construction. From our Port Hedland and Rockingham Depots, we are able to provide short term taxi crane works to the construction and manufacturing industries on short notice.”
“Our main depot is in East Rockingham. We run 67 cranes state wide ranging from 14t Frannas all the way up to our 750t all terrains. We have depots in the North West along with other mine site based depots where we have four or five cranes per site depending on the work levels. We are currently running 45 of the cranes out of the depots with some of our fleet on long term dry hire,” said Barfield.
“The resources sector is extremely buoyant now, and we are in the process of re-establishing ourselves in the North West. We recently opened our new Port Hedland depot in late 2020 and it is going well with James Thomas and his team” he said.
It has been a conscious decision by Boom Logistics to build a versatile fleet designed to cater for all markets says Barfield.
“Included in the Boom Logistics fleet is everything from our Liebherr LTM1750-9.1 and Liebherr LTM 1450-8.1 all terrains right down to our Frannas. We have a number of 220’s, 250’s and a new 300t Demag. We also run six rough terrains as well as the Frannas of varying capacities including the recent addition of an AT40. In terms of brands, the fleet is predominantly Grove and Liebherr, supported and serviced with our in-house team of factory trained technicians,” he said.
The shed lift was for AUSPAN, one of WA’s leading shed and steel frame construction companies. The shed was for a primary producer and with six cranes involved, it was one of the most intricate lifts the team has performed.
“This type of work is always challenging as, generally speaking, the sites are primarily in remote areas, like the wheat belt for example. We worked with the client to meet their budget pricing. We used a 220t, 2 x 170ts, a 160t, a 130t and a 95t machine for the lift. These capacities meant we didn’t need to take anything more than road travel counterweight,” said Barfield.
To ensure the six-crane lift went smoothly a significant amount of lift planning was required says Barfield.
“The lift itself required planning obviously, but to ensure a smooth, safe lift there was also a significant amount of planning relating to the rigging gear, mainly because there were a number of sheaves involved. In the days leading up to the lift, we spent a good deal of time preparing in the yard laying the gear out and making sure we were good to go.”
On the day the teams left the depot at 5am and got to site at 8am. Because we had prepared so meticulously, the lift was completed very quickly and they were all back in the depot by 4 pm.” he said.
Barfield describes how the cranes were communicating with each other to co-ordinate the timing of the lift.
“When our team got to site, they spent plenty of time on completing the risk assessment, ensuring they had everything covered. Because the lift involved six cranes and there were crews from various sources, it was important everyone knew exactly what the expectations were, so as to avoid any confusion and transfer of weight,” he said.
The 220t, 2 x 170ts, the 130t and the 95t were all Groves and the 160t a Demag said Barfield.
“We had our Supervisor on site for the lift along with our Lead Rigger and the rest of the labour was provided by the client’s contractor.
“Before the lift started, the columns for the shed were laid out flat on the ground on the outside of the roof’s perimeter. The columns had one bolt and when the shed was lifted they aligned to a vertical position and were fixed in place.” he said.
“It was a straight-forward job in the end. But a straight-forward lift is always as a result of extensive planning and we needed a comprehensive plan because a six-crane lift is a rare occurrence,” said Barfield.
“It’s a credit to the Boom team and our ability to assess, plan and deliver such a successful outcome on such a project, meeting our clients requirements, budget and time frame,” he said.