Cranes and Lifting (March): Building bridges in Tasmania

Tasmanian company Cranes Combined managing director Chris Kolodziej says road issues on the island state are still problematic and at the moment crane owners are facing conjecture about what size road tyres can be used.

“Some cranes are already close to their 12-tonne limit, so once you put a larger tyre on, it can take the weight limit over, which reduces our access which reduces the benefit to industry. We have been pushed into a corner regarding this issue,” said Kolodziej.

“CICA are very helpful and certainly bat on our behalf. I have meetings with state roads here in Tasmania to articulate what problems we face. The NHVR have criteria that we have to fall into but for example in New Zealand, the UK and even Western Australia, a crane is allowed 13t per axle.”

So why is road access such an issue for Tasmania?

According to Kolodziej, it’s mainly about the age and design of the bridges in the state that causes the access issues.

“Some of the bridges are older but having said that crane operators travel such few kilometres.

When a comparison is done between all heavy vehicles that travel on the nation’s roads, the percentage of cranes travelling on these state roads is around .01%. It’s just ridiculous. A blip on the radar.”

“We have had a number of people and politicians who have driven in our cranes and they can’t believe how soft the suspension is. Other people are not realising that but they are the ones making the decisions.”

The Tasmanian government is spending money on infrastructure and committed $1.8 billion in the 2016 state budget.

“We are very lucky we have stable government now. There has been a good deal of money spent on road works, and we have seen some new bridges built to a stronger specification.”

But the issue of road access permits comes at a cost and Kolodziej suggests that it’s not what it costs the crane industry per se but what it costs industry overall waiting for crane permits to be granted.

“They are compromised because work can’t commence in an expedient manner. If thorough tests were carried out on bridges, comparing the affects of hydro pneumatic suspension of

cranes versus suspension of other heavy vehicles then the cranes would compare much more favourably, and the crane industry would not be as penalised from its access problems as it is now. Independent tests have been carried out in Europe, so why can’t we do the same in Australia?”

“Sometimes we are waiting for weeks for permits and have had to put extra staff on to ensure these can be processed in a more reasonable time,” said Kolodziej.

“It’s rare to know of jobs in advance. We contact council road managers and ask for permission with usually no issues. Once we have permission, if its something that is urgent then the permit application goes in and we can have it hurried through so we can make it happen. In emergency situations, we can contact the NHVR or the Department of State Growth for quick results. We have managed, through just talking, to get to this stage.”

“The overall result that we need is maximum pre-approved access, resulting in fewer permit delays, greater efficiency for operators and to industry as a whole. Australia needs to be more competitive on the world stage, not less,” said Kolodziej.

Also featured in this issue:

• In conversation with JLG’s general manager Australia and New Zealand Bob Mules who disucsses how they remain innovative and practice the old school ethos of the customer being number one.
• We take an in-depth look at rigging and how cheap products on the market don’t cut it when it comes to safety.
• Cranes and Lifting brings you a stunning pictorial from the world’s tallest cranes. Not for the faint-hearted this stunning pictorial soars across the skylines of the world’s construction sites.

For the March edition of Cranes and Lifting click here