Industry News, News

Liebherr mobile cranes to serve Australian Defence Force

Ventia recently won the prime contract for Project Land 8120 – bringing best value manufacturing, engineering, and logistics support capability to the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Project LAND 8120 Phase 1 seeks to provide a replacement capability effect for the ADF’s earth moving and material handling equipment engineer support platforms.

Platform tasks in Australia and on deployment include construction, demolition, development of protective earthworks, route development and maintenance, airfield and port construction and repair, port operations, supply and distribution, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and beach recovery.

Platforms include cranes, excavators, front-end loaders, dozers, rollers, graders, skid-steer loaders and tele-handlers.

Ventia is one of the largest essential service providers in Australia and New Zealand specialising in the long-term operation, maintenance, and management of critical public and private assets and infrastructure.

Ventia has secured a new contract with the Department of Defence, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), to deliver engineering support platforms for the ADF, under Project Land 8120 Phase 1.

The contract will generate revenue to Ventia of $158 million over five years.

Ventia has brought together a team of equipment partners including JCB/CEA, Manitou, Liebherr Mobile Cranes, Komatsu and ECLIPS, and systems engineering specialist, QinetiQ, to offer the full breadth of services sought by the ADF.

Ventia Group Executive, Defence & Social Infrastructure, Derek Osborn, said that Ventia’s selection was testament to its strong engineering and project delivery capability, and 30-year history as a Defence Industry partner.

“Ventia applies a client-focused, innovative and sustainable approach to essential infrastructure services, and we are excited to bring this to Project Land 8120,” Derek said.

“We are very proud to be taking this next step in our relationship with the Department of Defence. We look forward to working with CASG, and our contract partners, to deliver this essential capability for the ADF.”

Phase 1 involves Ventia leading a team of equipment manufacturers and local engineering specialists, to supply approximately 300 earthmoving and material handling vehicles. Minor modification will occur to meet specialist requirements such as air transportation.

Vehicles will undergo a rigorous verification and validation process to ensure that specific Defence requirements are met. Where required, specialist testing will be undertaken at the Australian Automotive Research Centre proving ground near Anglesea in regional Victoria before introduction into service.

Ventia will also provide vital integrated logistics support, technical documentation, and deliver operator training at Defence sites nationally.

Liebherr Australia will be delivering 24 units of the Liebherr LTM 1060-3.1 mobile crane. With a maximum load capacity of 60t and a 48m telescopic boom, the Liebherr LTM 1060-3.1 is one of the most powerful and capable cranes in its class. Safety and comfort configurations ensure greater operability and the hydro-pneumatic axle suspension and pneumatic disk brakes provide greater control and stability. Its five steering programs enable the operator to adapt to different environments with the touch of a button. Both the driver’s cab and crane cab are modern, spacious and dependable and ergonomic features help prevent operator fatigue.

Other key features with the Liebherr LTM 1060-3.1 include:

  • VarioBase which is designed to make the crane’s support system variable. It enables each outrigger to be extended to a different length. This enhances safety – especially in constricted spaces. The cranes lifting capacities are significantly increased particularly over the outriggers and depending on the configuration
  • ECOmode minimises both fuel consumption and noise emissions when operating the crane superstructure. The crane operators can set the required working speed using the control lever. The LICCON2 control system calculates the perfect engine speed for the diesel engine.
  • ECOdrive makes the mobile crane significantly more comfortable and quieter by reducing the engine speed. Faster gear shifting delivers greater dynamic and traction off road. On the road, the torque from the Liebherr diesel engine is used efficiently to minimise fuel consumption.

“To be able to equip the ADF with these units provides our team with enormous pride” said John Stach, Sales Manager, Victoria and Tasmania, Liebherr-Australia. “We’d also like to thank the team at Ventia for putting together the successful bid.”

Send this to a friend