BridgePro Engineering’s Project Engineer for the Bridgewater Bridge project, Jarrod Thomas, discusses the company’s scope of work on Tasmania’s largest infrastructure project and the performance of the two HSC cranes purchased through leading construction equipment distributor, Tutt Bryant.
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news from Australasia’s lifting industry.
- Don’t miss a lift and subscribe to our monthly magazine.
- Download our latest digital magazine to catch up on the biggest news and developments in the crane industry.
Whether it be through its physical work or its less-tangible ideological output, the central, guiding ethos of Tasmanian construction and civil engineering company, BridgePro Engineering, is to construct for future generations.
For Project Engineer, Jarrod Thomas, this is particularly evinced in the company’s involvement on the new Bridgewater Bridge project, the largest transport infrastructure project in Tasmania’s history. Set to provide a link between the Brooker Highway and Midland Highway, the new bridge is emblematic of the work that BridgePro conducts, according to Jarrod.
“We want to leave the world in a better place than when we found it,” he says. “When we’re constructing these vital pieces of Tasmanian infrastructure, we want them to last well into the future.”
Constructing long lasting, sustainable projects only represents one part of the equation for BridgePro, however. To complete its scope of work, the company needed adequate machinery that could perform the work it was contracted to do in an efficient, sustainable manner; and, through leading construction and heavy equipment distributor, Tutt Bryant Equipment, BridgePro found its answer – with two HSC SCX2800A-3C5 (SCX – 3) crawler cranes.
BridgePro was contracted by resources, energy and infrastructure construction company McConnell Dowell to design and construct temporary works alongside the new Bridgewater Bridge and, in conjunction with a range of other contractors, deliver the new permanent bridge. The company was involved since before construction began, allowing them to begin the plant procuring process and temporary works well ahead of schedule. For the temporary works, the company erected a 360m-long temporary bridge that is currently facilitating the construction of the main, permanent bridge. Overall, BridgePro needed to lay down around 1,000 tonnes of steel girders for the temporary works; now, the two HSC crawler cranes are located at the North and South end of the bridge, putting piers into place at either end to construct the new bridge.
As discussed in the July issue of Cranes and Lifting last year, after BridgePro acquired its first crane and had just placed its order for the second one, Tutt Bryant received the specific request of the lowest emission crane available. The SCX – 3 crawler series is powered by a Cummins engine that features an advanced, eco-friendly technology: the Urea SCR system. The device works by treating exhaust gas with urea fluid after it has been used, resulting in the nitrous oxide gases breaking down into its original chemicals of nitrogen and hydrogen. Importantly, because of its advanced control system and aftertreatment of nitrous oxide, the crane complies with Stage IV/Tier 4 regulations that are present in upcoming changes to Australian Design Rule 80/03.
READ MORE:
- BridgePro expands operations with two HSC cranes.
- New HSC cranes for General Crane Services.
- New 175-tonne capacity crawler added to HSC SCX-3 series.
“The crane is operating for around 50 hours each week, so it’s important to us that we procured environmentally friendly machinery,” says Jarrod.
“Additionally, the crane possesses a really good chart across all radii, while the fly jib and the auxiliary hook have provided extra capacity and reach whenever we’ve needed it.”
The HSC cranes possess a maximum boom length of 91.45m, a maximum boom and crane jib length of 70.10m + 36.55m, and a maximum operating radius of 96.7m at which it can lift 1.8 tonnes. Throughout the cranes’ time on the Bridgewater Bridge project, the largest setting it has been configured in was 51.8m of main boom and 12m of fly jib, while the biggest lift it has performed was on a 17m long, 35-tonne pier form and access tower. Perhaps the most clutch feature for BridgePro, according to Jarrod, is the ability to run two falls of winch wire on the auxiliary hook with the fly jib installed. The two falls of wire doubled the capacity of the standard auxiliary sheave from 13.5-tonne up to 27-tonne, allowing BridgePro to safely rotate and upend the 35-tonne pier form and pier reinforcing cages, eliminating the requirement for any temporary works and mitigating the risks involved. Another standout feature on HSC’s SCX – 3 is the reduced counterweight specification, allowing for greater flexibility with operations across a more diverse range of worksites. With the provision of charts for ground bearing pressure exerted with reduced counterweight levels, a “heap of time” was able to be saved on the assembly and disassembly of the crane, says Jarrod.
“We were able to safely track through low ground bearing pressure areas because of the ability to operate with reduced counterweight,” he says. “Because of the reduced counterweight specifications, we knew ahead of time what the cranes were going to be able to travel through safely, and we could plan accordingly.”
Just as important as the performance of the crane is the post-sale service and support received from its distributor. When previously discussing the support around the arrival of its first HSC cranes, the SCX – 3, BridgePro praised the holistic service provided by Tutt Bryant when it came to discussing all the details associated with the crane. For Jarrod, nothing has changed, succinctly describing the service received from Tutt Bryant Equipment’s Southern Crane BDM, Phil Chadwick, as “really awesome”, typified by Tutt Bryant’s delivery of the crane straight to the Bridgewater Bridge project and commissioning of the crane on site.
“Phil has always been really quick and always managed to get an answer to us about anything in a very short timeframe,” says Jarrod. “We’ve got nothing but praise for Tutt Bryant; the service has been excellent and the HSC crawler cranes have performed exactly how we hoped they would.”