A Franna Mac25 is at the centre of a renewable diesel fuel experiment in the upcoming month for construction company McConnell Dowell.
The crane is currently being deployed on the Webb Street Level Crossing Removal Project and has been powered by traditional diesel fuel to date. In a bid to promote low-carbon fuel options for construction machinery and in line with McConnell Dowell’s ‘Carbon Reduction Roadmap’, the crane will now be powered by the alternative fuel Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).
HVO is a form of recycled cooking oil – a sustainable alternative in that regard alone – that reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emissions a machine produces by up to 90 per cent when compared to traditional mineral diesel. Data from the trial will go towards understanding and promoting green alternatives to traditional diesel in the construction industry.
Currently, HVO is not in use nor produced in Australia, and therefore must be imported from overseas in order to be used.
McConnell Dowell’s Franna Mac25, the mobile articulated pick and carry crane, possesses a maximum lifting capacity of 25 tonnes. The machine also features a superlift option, which can increase the crane’s capacity by up to 30 per cent in certain configurations. Additionally, it comes with Franna’s patented Dynamic LMI, a technological system that offers ‘real-time’ calculation of rated capacity.
Construction on the project to remove the Webb Street level crossing and build a new Narre Warren Station is moving forward. All concrete beams for the new rail bridge are now in place, with work on the retaining walls, tracks and station buildings ongoing.
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The Pakenham and Cranbourne lines are scheduled to be boom gate free and the Metro Tunnel will be open by 2025, creating capacity for an additional 121,000 commuters every week.
The renewable diesel fuel initiative undertaken by McConnell Dowell operates in line with the Australian construction company’s objective to be operationally net-zero by 2030.