SA-based company Load 28 was an entrant in both the Innovation Award and the Lifting Award <20t category of the 2017 CICA awards, being runner-up in both those categories but striking a chord with attendees of the Adelaide crane conference by being the People’s Choice in the Innovation Award, writes Greg Keane.
Load 28 is a specialist in glass handling, to the extent that it has a subsidiary called Australian Glass Install, with more employees in this than in the crane division.
It was this expertise that came to the fore in its entry covering the loading of façade panels onto the D’Arenburg winery project in Adelaide. The irregular shape of the building, combined with the use of Alucobond in the panels, meant that conventional vacuum handling equipment could not be used.
Load 28 worked closely with its client to design a frame to couple to its Oktopus 1000kg capacity glass handler to:
- allow the panel to be rotated for the installation;
- allow lifting from the centre of the panel, so that panels could be placed directly under the eaves i.e. the frame did not project beyond the top of the panel; and
- the panel could be bolted to the building before the lift frame was removed.
The complete installation involved setting up multiple locations for Load 28 cranes so that they could access all sides of distinctive cubic building.
A video of the project can be accessed at: http://bit.ly/2HxY7s3
The development of the glass business came from the level of work in the crane business for placing glass using vacuum attachments. From there, it became a natural extension to do the complete installation rather than just provide the equipment to handle the glass.
This was so successful that the glass installation business has 27 installers where there are 20 in the crane business. They work hand-in-hand, with the cranes working on the installation jobs. With its range of vacuum handling attachments, a niche has developed for hiring these around Australia when they are not busy on Load 28/Australian Glass Install jobs.
It’s not just glass that is installed: curtain wall panels are also placed, and Load 28 even installed the largest Kaynemaile (mesh screen) in Australia in one lift at a multi-level car park in Angas Street, Adelaide.