pmv middle east - dec 2009

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An ITP Business Publication

BIG 5 PMV IN FULL • All the industry news• Financing roundtable

• Big name interviews • Top expert analysis

December 2009, Volume 3 Issue 12

HYDROPOWERA mountain is shaved bare for adam project’s ‘virtual quarry’

Last crane removed ahead of the Burj Dubai opening

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001

DECEMBER 2009, ISSUE 12 VOL 3

2602 COMMENT

04 NEWSSome of the latest news updates from across the industry.

10 NEWS FEATUREMachines sweep aside the greenery on a Turkish hill-side to build a dam.

14 NEWS FEATUREThe last crane comes down from the Burj Dubai.

16 HEAVY LIFTThe second in our series about the industrial sector.

20 MACHINE MONTHBig 5 PMV news in pictures.

22 ROUNDTABLEIndustry experts discuss machinery finance.

26 PRODUCTSTools and a laser grader to help you with your job.

29 PRODUCTIVITYOur top tips from the experts we spoke to this year.

34 GRAIN TRUCKA new truck body leads us to take a look at the tipper industry.

40 BACKTRACKA diamond mine is having a once-a-century clearout.

1622

08

COMMENT002

PMV Middle East \\ December 2009 www.constructionweekonline.com

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Wow, is it really the end of the year again? Despite, or perhaps because of, a turbulent and punishing year the time seems to have simply flown by. How-ever, soon after you read this we can start talking about 2009 in the past tense and

hopefully move on to new and lucrative projects.Ah, there’s that word, ‘lucrative’. It seems every-

body was talking about money throughout Novem-ber. Aside from all the ‘restructuring’ stuff in the papers, a poll on our constructionweekonline.com website suggested that pretty much everybody was either owed money, either by people not paying contractors for their jobs… or the contractors not paying their staff for months on end.

This leads me to my next point. We also got the results in of our salary survey survey, which had been conducted over several months. Now, the survey was supposed to be for ‘construction pro-fessionals’ and it yielded the unsurprising result that all respondents feel they are underpaid (well, nobody is ever going to say they get too much, are they?) and that some nationalities get paid less for doing the same job.

What struck me was the lack of responses from heavy machinery operators or technicians. I sus-pect that had any of them taken part in the survey it would have brought the average wage down con-siderably. Why would this be? After all, we entrust them to perform skilled and complex operations with millions of dollars worth of equipment on a daily basis. Yet for the most part they get paid only a little more than their unskilled labour counter-parts, and are afforded few opportunities for extra training and development. In the US, it is consid-ered a great job to be able to drive a loader or a shovel, and plenty of working Americans make a good living from it. There is also an industry-spon-sored organisation called NAHETS providing train-

Published by and Copyright © 2009 ITP Business Publishing,a division of ITP Publishing Group Ltd. Registered in the B.V.I. under Company Registration number 1402846.

RESTRUCTURE TRAINING FOR 2010

COMMENT002

Do you have any comments about the PMV industry, or the magazine? Please email: [email protected] or post to: PMV Middle East, ITP, IMPZ, PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE.

If you know any of these guys, please give me a shout.

ing right through an operators career path. Let’s hope we see the same happing here soon.

PS: While I’m on the subject of drivers, if any-body knows Babu Sassi, or any of the other high level crane operators on the Burj Dubai, please get in touch. We would love to hear their story ahead of the January opening of the supertall building.

Greg Whitaker, [email protected]

REGIONAL NEWS004


CRANES Onlookers have to look up to see a pair of scale replica tower cranes on a manufacturer’s stand – but they shouldn’t look too long less they get a tiny bucket in the eye.

Wolffkran, exhibiting in the German pavilion in the Zabeel hall not only brought in a pair of beautifully made replicas of the firm’s top selling luffers, but they are actually connected to real control booths, so visitors who might have

Crowds crane their necks to see simulator

Road building kit makers set sights on MENA

A 150tph ashphalt mixer was one of the largest machines on display this year.

BIG 5 International firms manufacturing road building equipment are looking to the GCC and its many ongoing infrastructure works as a way to shore up sales while the rest of the world puts such projects on hold.

“We’ve sold quite a few in Morocco and Algeria, but I really want this market” explained Antonio Alvarez from Mexican asphalt process equipment firm Triaso. “This is one of the countries that is still kind of thriving, from an infrastructure and roads point of view.” The drop off in business through the Americas has been hash through the recession, according to Alvarez. “To give you some idea, we were selling eight of these per month last year, and that dropped back to three.”

Local businessman Waiel Manafaluti agrees “Many of the countries in the region need modification and improvement to the infrastructure whether it is roads, bridges or power supply and railways. All those infrastructure projects will

fancied a job as a crane operator but don’t have the head for heights can have a go on terra firma.

“These are fully operational” explained Mark Evans, a manager for the firm. “You can slew and hoist at the same time – just as on the actual machine.” To the side of the operator, there is a panel with displays indicating such readings as safe working load.

There is a more serious side to the models though, as they can also be used as a training aid for novice drivers, before they are let loose on the real thing. The simulators can also help more experienced operators familiarise themselves with the controls of this brand.

soon be released, and some, as we are all aware, are already being built, notably the projects in Saudi Arabia.” Manafaluti is the general manager of Dubai-based machinery company House of Equipment, which is looking forward to taking advantage of the roadlaying boom. “It’s is a line which we are now exploring – asphalt equipment and paving equipment.” Manafaluti says. “We have signed

a deal with Rapid International who specialize in mobile batching plant and fully mobile stabilization plant, which will be exhibited for the first time at the upcoming Saudi PMV exhibition in Jeddah. It is a highly reputed brand, and of course being made in Northern Ireland it meets all EU standards as well as American ones. The equipment has already been very successful in the US for

massive concrete paving of roads.”Throughout a generally gloomy

year, manufacturers of general construction equipment have also seen sales rise in their road building range. Chinese conglomerate LiuGong is best known in this region for a long-established line up of wheel loaders, but according to the general manager Huang Zhaohua it has been the firm’s line-up of vibratory drum rollers that have seen the largest increase in sales over the last year. “This type of equipment has seen a 30% rise in sales over the last year, against a downturn of 30% in the market generally.”

Major road building contracts are currently being offered in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with a number also being tendered in Oman and Syria.

A Wolffkran manager takes a ‘drive’ of the model crane displayed in the German pavilion.

230,000 m2

58,000Number of visitors to the

Big 5

Size of Western Gate Roade project in Mekkah.

REGIONAL NEWS005

December 2009 \\ PMV Middle Eastwww.constructionweekonline.com

160Number of active projects in Kuwait

Chinese companies excited by new research DATA A number of far eastern companies have become excited by some new research issued by the organizers of the Big 5 exhibition, which illustrates the true state of the GCC construction market. The figures, released by the event organisers, Streamline Marketing Group, paint a more positive picture than often reported of the regional construction industry which has been battling to shrug off the effects of the economic crisis.

According to the research carried out on behalf of Streamline Marketing Group by Dubai-based Proleads, which monitors regional construction projects across all industry sectors, showed Saudi Arabia has 847 active projects valued at US$417,859 billion.

Kuwait currently has 160 active projects worth US$142,759 billion, Qatar 186 projects valued at US$48,215 billion, Bahrain 232 projects worth US$40,258 billion, and Oman 116 projects valued at US$38,512 billion.

Ken Li, the export manager for PanPan Security, a firm which specializes in re-enforced doors said, “We re most excited about the developing market here, and that the market continues to grow for our high-security solutions.”

Benny Khoo, a manager at Hongmen, an electrical gate firm from Shenzen said: “We are looking for a dealer here, so it is great news that the market valuation is still very high. “

“The number of ongoing projects, particularly in Saudi Arabia means we should have a good market for our security products.

Overall, the latest market analysis shows that a fraction under 75 per cent of all announced projects in the region are still progressing, representing a much more optimistic outlook at the start of an important week for the regional construction industry.

“While there is no getting away from the fact that a large number of major projects in the region are now

on hold, or have been cancelled, as a result of the global downturn, the latest market research underlines the fact that there is still a massive amount of construction going on in the region,” said Emil Rademeyer, director, Proleads.

MAchine opens the door to new research.

REGIONAL NEWS006


DEALS CTE Effer Gulf confirmed a AED500,000 deal to supply an Italian-made HINO 700 series 6 x 4 truck to Saudi construction equipment supplier Tasoor Contracting. at the Big 5 PMV show last month. The truck will be specially fitted with a cargo body and fixed with the Effer 250-2S articulated crane.“We set up our Middle East office in Dubai in May and it has been incredibly well received, despite the economic downturn, and sales continue to go well for us,” said Darryl Fernandes, Middle East Regional Director of CTE Effer Gulf. “We have participated in the Big 5 PMV for each of the three years it has been held and it continues to help us generate strong working relationships with new and existing customers.” Meanwhile, JCB Power Products signed a US $100,000 deal with UAE equipment hire company Al

Equipment deals signed at show

Uniform concrete vital says plant fi rm

Far east faces new trials

SALES Batching plant and other concrete process equipment will always be in demand, according to Rami Adra of Dhahran-based Al Kifah batching plant. Standing in front of a fully operational scale replica of a multi-product batching plant, he noted that many customers were attracted to the stand in hall 11 by the model’s whirring gears and gliding conveyors.The advent of modern process control equipment has presented new opportunities for the firm. “Our customers can choose between a variety of control systems, including semi and fully automatic,” he says. Concrete for Saudi Arabia’s numerous high-rise towers needs to be precisely controlled, with the right quantity of admixtures and placticisers

INDUSTRY The market has not been kind to the makers of new brands of construction equipment over the last year with sales of Chinese equipment falling in the Middle East. However, there are signs that there is still a market to be had, as the firms diversify into new sectors. According to Tang Longgui, a representative of China based Liugong machinery: “This year we are mainly selling our stock through our dealer due to the economic crisis and there are very few purchases from the factory from the Middle East market.” As the market was down for construction equipment, the firm concentrated on its line of forklift trucks, which resulted in a good growth in sales during 2009, with Longgui attributing this to the fact that there was no heavy stockpiling of the equipment throughout 2008

This firm has been producing wheel loaders since the 1950s – and can now claim to be the largest producer of the mobile shovels in its homeland.

Mutawa General Transport at the Big 5 PMV show, last week.The deal will see JCB provide nine JCB LT9 lighting towers – a new product that provides temporary, portable lighting solutions for all types of construction projects.

to produce a mix that will not crumble. Ice crystals are often added in exact amounts, in order for it to be laid in the Kingdom’s extreme temperatures. This means automatic process-controlled mixing which gives a uniform product, every mix.

Lots of staff and a giant model attracted visitors to the Al Kifah stand also at Big 5.

Some truck mounted cranes were sold at the Big 5 PMV show in November.

US $40bn Value of contract to build a nuclear power station

in the UAE

“Some contactors just want a batching plant for a couple of years and then they want to throw it away. ““We can’t compete with that. Our plant is an investment that will last twenty years or more,” he said.

“It’s a good start and we hope this will be a platform leading to significant sales across the region over the next 12 months as the market recovers,” said JCB’s export sales manager for the Middle East, Faizal Hamze.

REGIONAL NEWS008


CRANES The tower cranes are stretching into the skyline and the placing booms are having to work twice as hard as building work on the Princess tower in Dubai Marina is now past floor level 65 and core

Cranes reach higher on tall towerBusiness Briefs

Loader LaunchedWith an operating weight of 48 tonnes, the new Liugong 899 III is the largest wheel loader in China The model features a 391 kW Tier 3/Stage IIIA compliant engine, and with a bucket capacity of 6.4 m3 to 10 m3. It was launched at a show in Beijing and will be in ME soon, says maker.

Corruption SurveyBahrain has slipped down in a survey for ‘institutional corruption’, in a survey for pressure group Transparency International. Other GCC countries remain unchanged since last year’s survey. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the widest areas of most corruption were across central Africa, while Greenland and Canada were rated as having very little.

No PunctureNew Holland in the UK is to fit Air Boss puncture proof tyres to it’s skid-steer line up as standard equipment. There’s no word yet if this will stretch to us here in the Middle East.

78% ‘Not paid’According to an online poll on constructionweekonline.com, 77.8% of respondents have said they are facing “serious difficulty getting clients to pay” for work they’re carried out on projects with only 22.2% saying they’ve “had some delays but cash is still coming through. No respondents clicked the ‘I’m always paid on time’ option.

Burj TallerThe official height of the Burj Dubai is going to be slightly higher than the developer expected – but only by a technicality. The CTBUH Height Committee has determined that there is a new way measure height. The Burj is set to open on Jan 4th.

level 75, according to developer Tameer today – but the project is a long way from the planned 107-story topping out height. However, the project is on schedule and – as previously reported – the

View from the top of the Princess Tower. Construction still forges upwards.

109Number of floors the

Princess Tower will have on completion

Matthew Taylor will leave at the end of the year amid a management reshuffle.

contractor says that it has so far stuck to the original cost projection, with less than a 3% overrun. If completed on schedule, this will be the tallest residential building in the world – though in fact the project is to a degree mixed use as it is planned to have a mix of shops and recreational facilities across the 37410ft2 footprint. It may not hold the title for long though, as the nearby Pentominium is projected to be even taller. Commenting on the progress of the project, Federico Tauber, president of Tameer stated, “The Princess Tower once complete, will be a significant landmark in the Dubai Marina area and the UAE, and we are committed to ensuring the success and timely delivery of this project.”Earlier this year Tameer told Construction Week that the project was planned for completion in August 2011.

JCB boss steps down after 18 months MANAGEMENT The chief executive of UK-based machinery firm JCB has stepped down after 18 months in the role.

Matthew Taylor will be replaced by Alan Blake. Blake has occupied various management level positions in the company for twenty years. Meanwhile, the move has triggered various other senior level changes in the company – which includes the appointment of new product and market development managers.

The UK has been particularly hit by the downturn, which has caused the company to look to new markets, such as the Middle East, where it holds the position as the market leader in backhoe loader sales – a product the firm largely invented. Earlier in the year, outgoing CEO Matthew Taylor told PMV: “In the Middle East, the backhoe is the

tool of choice. What we are doing is investing in an excavator factory, so that we can bring high quality larger products to the market.”

The management change will be effective January 1st.

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NEWS FEATURE010


New drills for big dam buildNew drill rigs to provide 4.5 million m3 of rock for Turkey’s Gökçebel hydropower dam

Drill rigs work at the dam site.

Turkey’s Kolín Construction has taken delivery of a purpose-ordered DX800 drill rig, bringing its fleet of Sandvik rigs on Akköy hydropower project to five units – producing almost 4.5 million m3 of rock fill for the schemes Gökçebel dam.

Five drill rigs are producing almost 4.5 million m3 of rock fill for the Gökçebel dam on Turkey’s Akköy II hydropower (HEPP) project.

The HEPP scheme is located some 150 km from Trabzon and close to Gümüshane in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.

It encompasses the Aladereçam regulator, the Gökçebel and Yasmaki dams and an electric power plant close to the Akköy 1 scheme also under construction, to produce a total of 890 GWh.

The Aladereçam regulator is being constructed at a ‘thalweg’ elevation of 1797 m directing water to the Gòkçebel dam lake through a 4.5 km long link tunnel with an inner diameter of 3.20 m.

The dam has been designed as a rock fill construction with a concrete coated front and a height of 140 m.

Served by the Gelaver stream in the Gumushane and Giresun Province borders, Gòkçebel lake will hold an estimated 65.07m m3.

The dam is in turn linked to the Yasmaki dam lake area at a ‘thalweg’ elevation of 1527 m via a 6.65 km long tunnel.

Yasmakli dam is a 100 m high concrete gravity dam on the Gavraz scheme in Giresun Province. The dam has a water holding capacity of 15.51 million cm3 to channel water into a 4km surge tank and tunnel.

VIRTUAL QUARRYIn a ‘virtual’ quarry style application the five Sandvik drill rigs will be used to produce almost 4.5 million m3 of rock for the Gòkçebel

dam plus further rock for access roads and eventually the concrete production equipment.

Kolín Construction is currently using two new machines to prepare access roads at an elevation of around 1860 m.

They will also be used, together with two rigs in drill and blast operations to provide infill material for the rock fill dam; producing 300-450 drill metres every 10 hour shift.

Featuring a base of 140 m x 340 m rising to 6 m X 250 m at 140 m height, the dam will require almost 4.5 million m3 of rock.

Rock conditions feature a mix of very hard and abrasive volcanic basalt, granites, granite diorite and quartz with a hardness factor of between 5 – 7.5.

Blasting is carried out twice daily at shift change and lunch.

All five hydraulic rigs are fitted with the Sandvik T51 3.6 m long mf drill rods.

Depending on the rock conditions three different bits are used. Retrac

‘normal face’ 89 mm diameter bits are predominantly used, particularly in the harder rock.

Retrac ‘drop center’ and ‘flat face’ bits are also used when the rock conditions dictate. If the contractor is drilling less than 10 m in soft ground, standard drop center 89’s are used.

Kolín is also shortly to introduce guide tubes for poor ground conditions to also achieve much straighter holes.

ABRASIVE ROCKBut it is the abrasiveness of the rock which is the prime consideration where the drill bit life can be as low as 100 drill metres.

The rig operators confirmed however that the bits are frequently lasting each 10 hour shift with around 400 drill metres.

“This performance is very high and quite exceptional considering the abrasiveness and inconsistencies of the rock,” said Mehmet Tuncay, adding, “Another challenge is being able to meet the

speed of the drill and blast cycles.”“The MF rods are also providing

high performances and exceptional long life.”

Each drill rig is producing 200 m3/h per rig to ensure the specified 2000 m3/rig is produced each 10 hour shift.

Drilling to 15 m depths, each hole takes an average 20 minutes depending on the rock conditions.

On completion the project, which features a 1219 m high penstock makes it the highest head on an hydro-poer plant scheme in Turkey to date.

This is what the valley looked like before the giant drills moved in Now the site is stripped to become a ‘virtual quarry’.

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NEWS FEATURE012


Last Burj Dubai crane downFavelle Favco crane dismantled 800ft above ground as opening date draws ever nearer

Dubai’s flagship property development, and for the time being at least, the world’s tallest building is nearing completion, following the dismantling of the last high-altitude crane used in the tower’s construction.

Having also completed the external cladding recently, the Burj Dubai construction team is now concentrating on the interi-ors and landscaping.

Mr. Mohamed Alabbar, Chair-man, of developer Emaar Proper-ties, said: “The sheer size, scale and architectural detailing of Burj Dubai demanded an unprec-edented degree of engineer-ing innovation. Working at great heights involving the use of mas-sive cranes has been one aspect of the challenge. Dismantling the cranes is an exciting develop-ment because it shows that com-pletion of the world’s tallest tower is just around the corner.”

Three huge tower cranes were used in moving construction materials up to level 156 of Burj Dubai. The cranes could each lift a staggering 25-tonne load and were designed to withstand 120km/hour winds.

Typical cargo included welding equipment, scaffolding, reinforce-ment bar cages, steel link beams that weighed up to 20-tonnes, , hoist masts, cladding panels, and custom-made elevator motors – in short, everything that is need to build the world’s tallest tower.

In all, the three cranes lifted over 63,300 tonnes of steel rein-forcement, and were operational for a total of 45,000 man-hours. A team of 35 skilled technicians manned the cranes, a critical component of the 11,000-strong workforce devoted to the con-struction of Burj Dubai, already a global icon.

The operators of the cranes worked at dizzying heights of more than 700 metres, almost

double the height of the Empire State Building.

Mr. Abdullah Lahej, Execu-tive Director, Dubai Project Man-

Not the work of one man, a team of 35 operators manned the cranes through the six year build, part of an 11,000-strong workforce

45,000Total number of hours worked by the three

primary cranes on the Burj Dubai

agement, Emaar Properties, said: “No high-rise construction project has moved the same vol-ume of materials as Burj Dubai

“No high rise project has moved the same volume of materials, or

to the same heights.” - Abdullah Lahej

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TOWER CRANE DISMANTLING: PERFECT ORCHESTRATIONInstallation of the three tower cranes used for the construction of the higher levels of Burj Dubai was relatively straightforward, as sections of the cranes could be moved up the tower with the completion of new levels.

But as the tower grew in height, the floor plates and working area became smaller and smaller, providing insufficient room to fit the three cranes at the top of construction.

Dismantling the towers was considerably more complex than install-ing them. The first crane was removed in November 2007 and installed at level 99 in order to serve as a future recovery crane.

For the next 11 months, the two remaining cranes continued their climb up the tower until October 2008 when one of them was removed due to the small size of the tower’s floor-plate. This left one final crane to continue with the rest of the exterior work.

In June 2009, the final crane had to be removed in order to allow the exterior cladding and finishing works to progress in the area it occu-pied. This longest serving crane had been in operation since the start of construction in March of 2005.

A small recovery crane was lifted up and installed at Level 159. With recovery cranes now positioned at levels 99 and 159, the task of remov-ing the last crane was ready to begin.

The process started with the crane climbing down from its working height of over 700 metres. The crane removed its own mast sections and lowered them to the ground until the boom and power pack were at the position of the Level 159 recovery crane.

From there, the Level 159 recovery crane dismantled the remain-der of the main crane, lowering the pieces of boom, mast and power pack to the recovery crane at Level 99, which further lowered them to the ground.

The dismantling of the cranes at Burj Dubai is indeed a finely orches-trated set piece – except that the artists here were huge machines.

The three cranes on the tower were all diesel Favelle Favco units, of various specifications (see table) This type of diesel-hydraulic crane is popular on ‘supertall’ skyscrapers, due to a useful turn of speed and power. However, one of the main challenges was actually getting the fuel to the required height – there are no petrol stations 800ft in the air.

or to the same heights. The way tower cranes have been used to complete the world’s tall-est tower is unprecedented and writes a new chapter in super-tall tower engineering.”

He said: “Managing the effects of wind speeds and the unique design challenges involved in realising the Burj Dubai’s slen-der structure was an extreme test. Each aspect of the construc-

tion was analysed to ensure max-imum safety, efficiency and ease of operation – and the steady progress of the tower’s con-struction is a testament to the team’s exceptional commitment and abilities.” Unfortunately, the crane operators were unavailable for comment. Final work on inte-riors and landscaping is under-way as the Burj Dubai prepares to open on January 4, 2010.

A special crane was installed at floor 99 to serve as a recovery crane.

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CONSTRUCTION MACHINES

HEAVY LIFT016


HEAVY LIFT016

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISIONWith construction work declining in recent months, have heavy lift companies focused more on industrial oil and gas projects? Part two of our heavy lifting series.

PLACING A large crawler crane

builds sea defences in RAK.

The heavy lift industry is primarily associated with construction. Par-ticularly in the Middle East, cranes are invaria-

bly linked to the build sector and were once the source of many urban legends surrounding the percentage of the world’s cranes located in Dubai.

But with the construction sec-tor suffering from a slowdown over the past few months, heavy lift companies have focused more on oil and gas based business.

“The upstream oil and gas work shows a trend of gradual devel-opment of the Middle East infra-structures. This has resulted in a potential growth in the market for boom cranes, as oil and gas and its related projects have proved to be more resilient through 2009 in the present scenario, due to the down trend of the construc-tion sectors which are expected to take off again during the sec-ond quarter of 2010,” Mohammed Razzaqi, product manager, Dar-wish Bin Ahmed & Sons reveals.

This increase in business has been witnessed most in certain areas of the Middle East. “The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sau-di Arabia have experienced the most dramatic growth. Saudi Ara-bia is the largest regional market and is followed by UAE, Qatar and Kuwait,” says Razzaqi.

However working out of the country where a company is based can bring in logistical issues. “When the equipment is going out of the UAE there are logistical problems with that. So

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we are only interested if it is a big job,” states Hussein Ansar, deputy manager, Fabexi Trading.

Liebherr, a company involved in manufacturing the cranes used in the industry, also sees the ben-efits of being involved in oil and gas. “Oil and gas projects were less affected than construction work. After the real estate col-lapse in October 2008 many huge projects were cancelled, this was not seen in the oil and gas sector,” states Wolfgang Beringer, sales promotion, Liebherr.

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December 2009 \\ PMV Middle East

HEAVY LIFT


017SITE VISIT

“Oil and gas projects are less affected than construction work”- Wolfgang Beringer

The company offers a wide range of cranes, although not all of its range is used extensive-ly in the Middle East. “General-ly we offer our complete range of cranes, but mainly we sell in this area mobile cranes from 70 – 1200 tonne capacity, crawler cranes from 280 – 750 tonne capacity and harbour mobile cranes in the range of 100 tonne capacity,” com-ments Beringer.

Beringer also states Saudi Ara-bia, the UAE and Qatar as the countries which make up the big-gest market in the Middle East,

and adds Bahrain to the list also. The major use of cranes in the region for the energy sector is in erecting rigs, moving of rigs and shutdowns.

Cranes and heavy lift equip-ment can also be crucial pieces of equipment at shipyards. Recent-ly DP World Jeddah announced a delivery of 15 cranes at its south container terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port.

The cranes were supplied by Zhenhua Port Machinery Compa-ny (ZPMC) of China, and included three Super-Super Post Panamax

LIFT A crane performing pick and

carry jobs at an industrial site.

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(SSPP) cranes and 12 Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes.

DP World Middle East sen-ior VP and MD Faisal Al Qahtani described the deal as “an impor-tant milestone” for the company which fulfilled its commitment to deliver “state of the art yard equipment to enhance the termi-nals efficiency and productivity”.

One of the major challenges which are affecting the heavy lift industry, is safety.

“Security is the big issue, you have to work hand in hand with the safety people. A lot of paper work has to be done. The cranes have to be equipped with emer-gency shutdown systems, spark arrestors,” says Beringer.

“The cranes have to be in top condition and they are inspect-

ed by the owners of the plants or third parties.”

Another challenge is the amount of competition and the increasingly higher standards demanded from customers. “Our challenge is the competition with other companies which are oper-ating in this market. Some of them are older than us in the UAE mar-ket so it is our challenge to offer services at competitive prices and standard of quality for this field,” comments Ansar.

“Customers are very difficult these days with higher standards now than even two years ago. Accordingly we upgraded our standards. This is the main chal-lenge in our business,” he adds.

Companies in the heavy lift sector have had to find alterna-tive forms of business following the construction slowdown, and for the many firms with a vested interest in oil and gas, the solution was obvious. With the industry now looking like it is rebounding there can now be a lighter outlook for heavy lifting.

ROCKS Another 70-tonne crane, in a

more pictureseque setting begins an

industrial project.

1200Max load in tonnes of Liebherr LTM11200-9.1,

the strongest mobile crane

CASE STUDY WORLD’S STRONGEST MOBILE CRANE

The world’s largest boom telescopic mobile crane, a Liebherr LTM11200-9.1, was used for moving parts in the fabrication of a self-propelled rig known as a ‘Seajack’ at Lamprell’s UAE yard, trecently. The firm needed to lift and place the top two segments on the rig – fittingly named Leviathan.

The four legs, each totaling a height of 86.46m, incorporate eight segments. For the 7th and 8th segments, each weighing 52 tonnes , the crane was positioned alongside the Seajack to provide a 26m radius and capitalise on the cranes telescopic boom – capable of reaching up to 100m.

The Al Faris Rental crane was configured with 202 tonne counterweights and an 88.30m boom length with superlift and an 18m hydraulic offset fly jib. Additionally, in a twin lift with a Liebherr LTM1500-8.1 500t capacity mobile crane, the cranes were used to lift and position a Huisman marine crane at the stern of the seajack.

The LTM11200 was configured with a 53.3m boom and superlift and the LTM1500 with a 31.7m boom to lift the 138t Heisman in a ‘top and tail’ operation.

The Seajack ‘Leviathan’ is a self propelled, self elevating lift boat intended for harsh environment conditions and was commissioned to install wind turbines in the North Sea.

IN PICTURES020


MACHINE MONTH

We take a look at some of the people and equipment at the Big 5 PMV show in November

Moxy truckThe region’s largest production articulated haul truck can be found overshadowing the Bin Brook Motors display at the back of hall 11. The Moxy MT41 can carry, as the name suggests, 41 tonnes, which is one metric tonne more than its closest rival. Weighing in at 59,728 lbs unloaded, the 6x6 tip-up monster needs the power from its Scania DC-12 twelve cylinder turbo diesel engine.

Ashphalt mixerA Triaso 150tph asphalt

mixer also looms large over the PMV hall. “We’ve sold

quite a few in Morocco and Algeria, but I really want this

market” explained Antonio Alvarez, a manager from the

Mexican manufacturer. “This is one of the countries that is still kind of thriving, from an

infrastructure and roads point of view.”

IN PICTURES021

December 2009 \\ PMV Middle Eastwww.constructionweekonline.com

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Detailed minaturesSome firms left the big kit at home and instead have found other ways of communicating with customers. Rachid Bakas

and Brahim El Hadji from crane and material handling maker Sennebogen have been delighting visitors with a number of superbly detailed miniatures.

Skid-steerA Dubai-based dealer shows off a skid-steer

loader on it’s stand, though a focus on

infrastructure works is where House of

Equipment sees itself being. “It’s is a line which we are now exploring – asphalt

equipment and paving equipment”

says general manager Waiel Manafaluti.

IN PICTURES021

HydraulicsSung-Nam Lee,

the president of Kukeje Hydraulic

Company is a true ‘gearhead’. He just loves his firm’s line up of components for

hydraulic motors and pumps. The

firm already has tie-ins with

Korea’s Daewoo, and he hopes to

meet more big name clients at

the show.

Boom for allThis Manlift brand access platform takes full advantage of the ceiling space in the new and purpose built hall. 2009 is the first time that big equipment has been displayed inside and as part of the main exhibition.

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ROUND TABLE022

FINANCINGA table of experts discuss financing purchaces with a representative from an Abu Dhabi bank

If there is one single issue that has been hampering the road to recovery it has been the availability of finance for new machinery. For a long period, banks seemed to lose their ‘risk appetite’ as uncertainty surrounded our industry. Now though, Abu Dhabi based bank ADCB has launched a series of new packages designed for smaller to medium sized firms. Rather than simply ask the bank about this, we selected a panel of experts who were at the Big 5 PMV show, all of whom had questions about what the bank could offer them and their customers. They sat around a table and discussed a variety of topics. Here are some of the points that were raised.


PRESENT: Mohit Rajpal: ADCB Sr. Product Manager, Asset based funding SME division.Tony Haddad, Al Jaber Heavy Lift and Transport, Managing Director.Naiem Al Hajjar, Al Jaber Heavy Lift and TransportPaul Murray, JCB, Middle East and Africa District ManagerEng. Khalid Pappert, Sennebogen, MENA Managing Director.The editor of this magazine was moderating.

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Moderator: Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about ADCB’s new prop-osition?

Mohit Rajpal – I represent the small to medium (SME) division of the bank – We’re dedicated to help companies mostly in contracting and transport. We launched this product six months back and we are totally focused on financing customers for purchasing equip-ment – any type of machinery which is used by companies from construction equipment to com-mercial vehicles. So, anything used by them for generation.

Khalid Pappert –The banks handle the customers differently now, they ask for more safety [require-ments prior to lending], and it is quite difficult for some clients to finance their projects, so this is why we participated in the meet-ing and we look forward to hear-ing new ideas. Some clients don’t just want to work in one country; they want to work all over the world with the same equipment. They want to hire it, or use it out-side their group in the GCC area, and maybe further. So we have to discuss and see if there is a solu-tion for it.

Moderator: Same to JCB – Have your cus-tomers found a problem with liquidity?

Paul Murray – Yes, just the same the finance companies that fund the loans haven’t had their loans from the banks this year, so they haven’t been able to divide these loans to the people that want to buy the machinery. So that has slowed the market right down.

Moderator: Tony Haddad, has the lack

of liquidity forced people in to renting, rather than outright purchase?

Tony Haddad - Every company tried to purchase new equipment. It has come to a stage where the market at the end of last year, stopped buying new equipment and even cancelled their deals on

69%Percentage of construc-

tion projects still ongoing in UAE.

“We have always had our credit lines open and as far as this segment is concerned” - Mohit Rajpal

You know – somebody might put a machine in the market when it isn’t good anymore. People buy it, and it creates a problem in the market.

Paul Murray – It’s an important point you raise, Tony, where we have secondhand machines com-

business even in their situation. This is another way to help each other – it can be done without a written statement of agreement

Mohit Rajpal – As far as ADCB is concerned have taken notice of the fact that this is a very impor-tant product – and a very impor-tant segment that needs to be covered. We launched the prod-uct six months back – you see the timing shows you how clear-ly important it is to us. At ADCB I don’t think there has been any constraint in terms of lending. We have always had our credit lines open and as far as this seg-ment and this product goes, we are here and we are quite focused and we have put in place dedicat-ed infrastructure and dedicated people to look after and service customers. Credit lines [here] are always open, though I can’t speak about the other banks that you are referring too!

Tony Haddad – Well, that’s anoth-er story. Other banks give a lot of credit for personal (loans) not companies. There are people, tak-ing the money using the credit and flying back home.

Mohit Rajpal - One of our fortes is SME and corporate bank fund-

TABLE Naiem Al Hajjar, Khalid Pappert and Paul Murray were among the participants in the discussion.

the equipment that has already been ordered because the banks stopped giving support on this matter. All the banks were wor-ried – Part of it people have the money, but they chose to use the bank’s money. Some of it they can-celled because the bank stopped supporting. We did use a German bank to buy our equipment – and they did sup-port us, they knew us very well. The local banks stopped, or not gave the full support. In turn this meant that the local mar-ket was opened for second hand machines, which everybody knows second hand is a problem.

ing into the market but we don’t have the proper inspections.

Tony Haddad – There is in the sec-ondhand market there is equip-ment 15 or 20 years old – and when it is sold, it is sold because its [working life] is finished. Peo-ple go and buy this stuff and it kills the market.

Khalid Pappert – We had some cli-ents in the first quarter of this year in Spain. They faced prob-lems with their clients [the prop-erty developer]; the commercial clients lost 80 percent of their

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ing. Because of this we are able to cover these companies with a wid-er experience. Like I mentioned before, there has been no restric-tion in our credit appetite.

Paul Murray - Over and above that, the contractor might have a good history, but the project might be in trouble. Do ADCB look at that?

Mohit Rajpal – We look in to projects as well, and what projects he has lined up for the future, and the time he has completed in the past. We have different teams for the corporate customer and for the small and medium enterprise. We understand how different customers behave and what the customer needs – that has been our strength. For equipment purchase we think it is best to work with the manu-facturer from the beginning. You have different models with dif-ferent specifications which cost different amounts, so it is best to allow a financier into the deal right at the beginning, rather than after having decided on the model. That is the desired level of involvement.If we know of the purchase before the manufacturer we refer the same to the manufacturers accordingly.

Mohit Rajpal – Because we have a dedicated team for client servic-ing, there have been very many times that we have gone to the manufacturers and said ‘look, this client is interested and he wants to buy an XYX model’.

Moderator: Surely, solid machinery with high residual value would be easier to lend on than low end stuff?

Mohit Rajpal – Yes absolutely. While we lend on most of the brands available in the market, we are mostly more comfortable with the better known and more prom-inent brands.

MEETING The discussion covered many important topics and lasted over an hour.

ISSUES Tony Haddad raised points

relating to old machines on sale.

Moderator: So, how is your financial product different from others?

Mohit Rajpal – As far as ADCB is concerned, are more of a corpo-rate bank and we have had very vast experience in these seg-ments, as far as our customers are concerned. We have launched a focused and specific prod-uct for heavy equipment fund-ing for the contracting transport and logistics profiles. We have put in place a dedicated team, so we can service customers faster

and give them faster turnaround times and so that we can deliver what is required with high levels of quality. We have products and policies specific for transporters, contrac-tors we have evaluation methods where understand. We have cus-tomised credit criteria analysis for these types of customers. We are covering a whole band of cus-tomers in terms of valuation; we have specific programmes for different segments.

Khalid Pappert – The problem with the procedure is the credit from the banks takes too long. If the contractor doesn’t get the finance for the equipment, how can he sign the contract and how can he make money. In future I think it is necessary to implement a system which takes no longer than – let’s say, five days.

Mohit Rajpal – We have taken note of this critical factor for this prod-uct and what we bring to the table is a turnaround time of about four to five days. We have a dedicated team and a dedicated mechanism

that is there for this segment, so we are able to turn cases around a lot faster. Four to five days is what we commit as turnaround time

Paul Murray – I think it would be good if it really works.

Moderator: Will the market start mov-ing any time soon?

Mohit Rajpal – It depends – there are new projects being launched, but everything is on hold, so it depends of the situation. Until now, I don’t see any movement. I’m in charge of 18 countries – including Somalia and Iraq – and if you see how other governments handle the situation it is quite dif-ferent and you can see some of these countries they move on up, but we are keeping things on hold.

Read more points raised at the table, including discussions of manufac-turer backed buy-back guarantees reduced interest schemes , risk pool, joint sourcing and other topics at: www.constructionweekonline.com

PRODUCTS026

NEWPRODUCTS

PMV looks at the latest tools and toys to help you with the job in hand


BOBCAT LASER GRADERAnother month, another new thing to attach to your Bobcat skid steer. The products include two new 244 (96 in) and 274 cm (108 in) grader attachments for Bobcat large-frame loaders; changes to the existing 213 cm (84 in) laser box blade and grader attachments to accept new laser receivers and the launch of two new laser transmitters for use with these attachments from Trimble/Spectra Precision. With the addition of the two new heavy duty graders, Bobcat now offers a range of 3 grader models including the existing 213 cm grader. The new graders t have been strengthened in many areas to stand up to the stresses when working with larger machines, and are compatable withall-wheel steer loader and T250 and larger compact tracked loaders.www.bobcat.com

FARONE LIFTThe latest range of aerial platforms from Italian company Farone has been designed for use in

a wide range of different environments, from warehouse facilities and manufacturing plants to supermarket lanes and commercial centres.

With the ability to handle a maximum load of 200kg at elevated heights, the platforms are light

in weighs and can easily be fitted into delivery vans or elevators. For extra security, Farone

has also included stabilisers for customers that operate on unlevelled grounds.

www.faraone.com

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www.constructionweekonline.com December 2009 \\ PMV Middle East

TOYOTA FORKLIFT LINE-UPDesigned for challenging work environments,

this expanded product line is built to handle more applications, including ports, construction,

lumber yards, metal fabricators, and concrete and masonry yards. With a comprehensive product

portfolio, Toyota now offers models ranging from 3,000- to 51,000-pound capacities to cater to a

wide-range of work terrains and tasks. Toyota’s IC pneumatic lift trucks are equipped with a powerful

6.7-liter J-Series Hino diesel engine along with a number features designed with the safety and

comfort of the operator in mind. Toyota’s exclusive two-speed transmission meets the Environmental

Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 3 compliance regulations and provides optimal performance.

www.alj.com

ABB DRIVESABB, the power and automation group, has launched a new line of industrial drives modules, called ACS850, designed especially for the region’s OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and system integrators. ABB’s new ACS850 industrial drives are robust yet flexible AC drives that can easily be configured to meet the needs of various industries, especially process industry segments such as pulp and paper, mining, cement, as well as chemical and oil and gas. These drives (1.1kW up to 500 kW) can also be used for applications such as cranes, winders and mixers.www.abb.com

SOKKIA GYRO STATIONSSokkia Topcon have released a new line up of ‘gyro stations’ numbered GP1X, GP2X, GP3X and GP5X, which all incorporate the GP1 manual gyroscope and SET X total stations. Since its debut in 1990, Sokkia has provided gyroscopes able to locate true north without the need of known stations. The company say that these new gyro stations are an ‘ideal solution for surveying and setting-out tasks in underground and enclosed environments, as well as in undeveloped regions where a known station is rarely available.’www.sokkia.com


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There is a heightened interest in improving training facilities at the moment, as firms real-ize the link between product knowledge and productivity.

One such firm to do this is the recently opened deliv-ery centre owned and operat-ed by Scania in the far side of the Jebel Ali freezone exten-sion. What is most interesting is that the centre has invested in a training room, that deal-ers, suppliers, mechanics and salesman from all over the wid-er region can use.

At the heart of the new room, there is a cutaway cabin sur-rounded on three sides with metal walls onto which a fasci-nating array of items, includ-ing solenoids motors and even headlamps are mounted – rep-resenting the entire electrical system of a truck. Benny Johans-son, training manager at Scania explained: “It makes it easier for us, because we can bring in non-technical staff such as salespeo-ple, so they can understand what is going on. If they are confident – they will be more effective.”

IMPROVE TRAINING

CONSIDER MACHINE AUTOMATION

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Throughout 2009 we have spoken to the leading machinery experts in the region. Here, in no particular order we print some of the best nuggets of advice given

to increase productivity

Machine automation is a sub-ject often talked about in our circles, but there seems to be some confusion about what exactly it is, and more impor-tantly, what benefit it can bring to a job. Simply put, a total con-trol system is where a site is first staked using GPS rov-ers. These devices consist of a rod, a receiver and a com-puter. There is also usually a handheld device, which tells the surveyor what the whole system is doing. A base sta-tion is set somewhere on site

and used as a reference point, marking out a site in it’s own digital 3D map, which super-sedes the use of string, chains or any other old way of staking out the ground. Now that this is done, the accurate measure-ments can be passed wirelessly into the computer on board the heavy equipment, usually bull-dozers and motor-graders. The operator just had to keep the blade within the ‘green’ line on the screen, or if the machine has been quipped with ‘total control’, the sut needs to drive

it and the computer will sort out the elevation of the blade. Can this kind of sophistication really save a worksite money? Walid Daher, operations man-ager for Bin Nawi Contracting, a firm who have bought the system said: “On this system you just need to teach the oper-ator how to use it – and then he can do the job of both supervi-sor as well as foreman.”

Anyone who knows about trench-ing will tell you of the condition known as ‘backhoe fade’. This occurs typically when a buck-et on a small excavator gets put through a utility pipe, and then suddenly it is ‘pffzt’ and lights out for everybody in the street.

Not only can disrupting a gas, water or electricity pipe be dan-gerous, but it can obviously be


It’s a strange thing, but in this age of outsourcing and sub-contract-ing it can actually make sense to start doing things yourself again. Tom Nauwelarts from Al Futtaim Logistics certainly found so, when he started looking at options for his outsourced road truck fleet. “The service was not that fantastic and the capacity constraints meant that some providers gave rather poor service” he said.

This wasn’t the only driver for change though. Many providers had used the diesel price spike in 2008 to increase the price of the con-tracts, which they had presumed to be unassailable. “One of the trans-

port companies said they were going to increase fuel costs by up to 50% as the oil price was going up, as was the equipment and labour costs,” said Nauwelarts. Given that the company has among its many divisions two well known truck brands, it was a simple decision to train some more drivers and fit out a fleet of new trucks and trailers suita-ble for the jobs that they were used for. “It is all about optimising the back haul - that’s when you are cost effective without giving in your margins. That way you get a happy customer – and make money” Nau-welarts concluded.

CONSIDER NEW INVENTIONS

BRING OPERATIONS IN-HOUSE

4

It’s a strange thing, but in this

BRINGIN-HOU3

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extremely expensive. “We had a fibre-optic cable broken by a back-hoe recently” said Joe Chappel, operations director of Action Int. Services. “Obviously, you can’t just ‘twist’ an optical cable back together, it involves a lot of extra time and expense – It cost AED 36,000 to repair.” To this end, the company purchased a machine that has not been seen in the region before – a suction excava-tor. Using a pair of enormous fans powered from the truck’s hydrau-lic systems the machine is capable of moving an enormous volume of air. To be slightly more tech-nical, the suction excavator uses air as the transport agent. “The key feature of this machine is that it only sucks up what is loose – it won’t break anything” Chap-pel explained. This is no domestic vacuum cleaner though – when we saw it in action, the great noz-zle snorted up solid ground to a meter in depth in about a minute.

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Building sites all over the world are changing to 110v – and for very good reason. While a cable being lopped through by an angle grind-er at 100v might give the operator a nasty shock, and very possibly a new hairdo, a similar operation at domestic 220-240v will most likely be fatal. “The industry is moving towards added safety in every sphere and 110v tools are safer. The main advantage is the decrease in inju-ries when any type of electric failure occurs. Currently, around 30% of projects are run in 100v” said Moin Audi, a product manager at Hilti. A challenge for the power tool industry is the need to educate the huge number of unskilled workers on safe and healthy operation of machin-ery. In an effort to promote safety, power tool suppliershave been trying to raise awareness through sever\l approaches, such as train-ing seminars, team coaching and tool designs. “Key players are mov-ing towards operations training for all types of tools on the job site to decrease the number of accidents and injuries and to increase produc-tivity” Audi said.

Both in Europe and in the US it is extremely common to find tyres that have been given a second life through a process known as retreading, or remoulding. Strict EU legislation ensures that the quality of the refurbished prod-ucts remains comparable to branded new products. In fact some tyre casings in the UK get used several times over and in the US a law was passed actual-ly requiring the use of remoulds on government vehicles such as school buses in order to reduce costs and waste.

According to Uday Kumar, a factory manager at Al Dobowi, which is a tyre dealer and retread franchise owner in Dubai, there is no problem with the rubber on the used carcass, “Our plant is built to EC109 standard. There is no requirement to build to EC standards here, but it gives peo-ple confidence.”

The operation is a franchise from Bandag, a company owned by Bridgestone and operated in the UAE by Al Dobowi.

According to Uday Kumar, there are three main reasons why a tyre will fail in this region

– and they have little to do with-the brand.

Mainly tyres fail because they haven’t been maintained or checked on a regular basis. Gen-erally, the tyre loses pressure and becomes seriously under inflat-ed – this, says Uday Kumar is the main cause of tyre failure.

Secondly, tyres fail due to being overloaded – there is little in the way of weight restrictions and trailers commonly carry double the amount they were designed to carry.

Finally, extreme heat plays its part, though extra heat is gener-ally made worse by the causes above generating too much heat.

CHANGE THE VOLTAGE5

by Bthe U

Actherewhy

SAVE CASH BY BUYING REMOULDS

t ti k li

SAVE CBUYING6

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Perhaps it sounds obvious to point out that people in a serv-ice industry should provide good service to its customers. Accord-ing to Rami Sakka, MD of Atlas Machinery, a crane hire and sales organisation in KSA, the two don’t always follow each oth-er. “The word service is over-used in marketing” he said. “Everybody says ‘Yes, we will provide service and safety’ but to actually go and do it is anoth-

er matter.” Sakka suggests that a properly good service, including the speedy availability of parts in the Kingdoms unforgiving interi-or, as the main reason for clients to select a supplier. “It’s defi-nitely service. Quality and price competitiveness are for sure key elements, but I emphasise on service because it is an area which, in my opinion, that was never given enough attention and because of that contractors

have been suffering and paying the price.” He stressed: “When I say service, I don’t mean repair service only, but proper service orientation to cover sales, main-tenance, availability of spare parts and a qualified team.

He also stresses that there are good quality Chinese machines as well as those which are, at best, indifferent. “Some of the Chinese products are designed and built to compete in price and

quality. Others are designed to compete in price only.” “In the Saudi market both types are available.”

“Some contractors are price driven so they are happiest to take the cheapest option, oth-er more professional firms can’t afford to take such high risk, which may cost them their rep-utation, great financial damage and not to forget safety, which is the most important aspect.”

Getting your message through to the rank and file is a challenge for any manager at the best of times, but when each member of your workforce speaks one of eight different languages communi-cating is far more difficult – but no less vital, especially if you are conveying vital health and safety information as Andrew Broder-ick, HSE team leader for Aldar, explained: “You need a multicultur-al training team, I realised I needed an Arabic speaker, an (Urdu) speaker and so on. I can’t speak all those languages, so these peo-ple were really important in getting the message across.”

“I put the training packages together, and the team speaks to the workforce. There was one guy who spoke eight languages – he was very busy!”


PROVIDE A GOOD SERVICE

MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS YOU

7

8

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SITE VISIT034


For a long time, tip-per truck bodies have remained virtually the same the whole world over since the first seri-

ous examples were developed for use on the Hoover Dam back in the 1920s. Now, though new materials and specifications are being introduced to cope with the weight, punishment and abrasion hauling rocks, sand and gravel can inflict. Both roadgoing and non-road trucks suffer from the same problems – wear, dam-age and carry back. All of which add up to a loss of productivity and profit.

Gorica, a firm that builds bod-ies has recently completed an order for a slightly less usual raw product though – grain. It might not be the most abrasive of sub-stances, but it does require a very specific design as Gorica’s Paul Austin Price explains: The chutes open from the bottom to discharge, and feed from the top. It’s all quite straightforward, but much more efficient than using conventional tipper bodies. In fif-teen minutes they can discharge fifty-two tonnes” he says.

By contrast, the old tipper bodies could only carry about 40 tonnes and moving the grain took longer.

“The old way just caused cha-os, but by doing it this way, the trucks are in and out very quick-ly” said Brian Barriskill, logistics manager of Al Ghurair Foods He added: “We can get along with less trucks with this sys-tem, because a lot of what we

do is routine shifting, so that is the reason why we went along these lines.”

The bodies are pulled most-ly by Renault trucks, though the firm operated a mixture of Scain-ia, Volvo and also Tata trucks. “We like to mix and match brands, because some of the trucks are more suitable for dif-ferent operations” Barriskill said. He added that it is a good time to buy a truck head at the moment. “The market is very different to what it was 18 months ago. Then, you were lucky to get a truck, now there is no problem to get just what you need.”

He added “Last year, we went to see some used trucks that had been converted to left hand drive. It was very much a case of if we didn’t buy them there and then, they would have been gone the following day.”

“For the tipper trucks we did use all Scania, now they are used for more specialised long distance work.”

“The Tatas we have found quite good, which we normally use for work up to Ras Al Khamiah and the like. They are made by Dae-woo and built in South Korea.

However, it is the Renault fleet that has proved the most use-ful for hauling the new top-load-ing, bottom-discharging bodies. In fact the bodies are part of a larger, more intergrated sys-temwhich involves being fed by an overhead silo, a bit like what has been used at gravel quar-ries for many years. Once he grain has reached its destina-

“The old way caused chaos, but doing it this way the trucks are in and out very quickly” - Brian Barriskill

You might think that here isn’t much to be said about truck bodies that we haven’t said before. However, this month, we’ve seen something entirely new – a bottom-discharging grain truck. It has a unique design which the maker says increases load and productivity

NEW GRAIN TRUCK

CAB Brian Barriskill of Al Ghurair

has some new truck bodies.

GRAIN Ahamed Syed shows

the discharge mechanism

035


SITE VISIT


035SITE VISIT

tion, the bottom discharge chute means that the product can be fed directly onto a conveyor and straight to a mill.

Although flammable, grain is not explosive like flour can be, so there was no need to make these bodies blast proof or anything like that. However, they did need to be sufficiently strong to take round-the-clock working, and the design had to be such that the grain could flow out. “Inside the walls are angled, so that all the product is removed” head truck operator Ahamed Syed explained. There is an electronically controlled fabric roof on the bodies so that contaminants won’t enter the food stock while driving.

EJECTORElsewhere in the PMV world, new designs for truck bodies are constantly being dreamed up. “During the spring we visited some of the major manufacturers of dumpers and presented our new design concept. We received many favorable reactions,” says Per-Olof Stark, from steel mak-ing operation SSAB Plate.

Making bodies that tip out of harder material is one way of holding back wear, but Caterpil-lar has come up with an entirely different concept: Simply make the ejector system differently, so that the load is pushed out, rath-er than lifting the back.

A good example of this is the 730 Ejector articulated truck, which incorporates the self-cleaning ejector mechanism that allows material to be spread and dumped on the move without lift-ing the body. Because the body is not raised, the ejector truck

can work efficiently on sites. As such, the truck can work on sites where stability issues or over-head obstacles limit the the use of conventional dump trucks. The ejector body also offers clean load ejection to eliminate production-robbing carry-back, where material is not fully eject-ed from the truck.

The load ejection concept delivers many benefits. Materi-al can be spread while the truck is moving to cut cycle time, decrease power train loads and reduce the amount of support equipment needed for spreading and dozing. The ejector also pre-vents material from adhering to the inside of the truck body after the dump, so payload can be max-imized, improving productivity, reducing fuel consumption and lowering cost per tonne. Ejecting a load without raising the body increases stability, so the truck can work on inclines, side slopes and in very soft underfoot. The truck is also useful in tunneling and underground applications and on sites where overhead obstacles, such as conveyors, power lines or bridges, interfere with dumping.

The reinforced ejector body is made from high-yield, heat-treat-ed steel. Its top rails incorpo-rate the same steel used on the Cat 769D off-highway truck. The ejector mechanism includes a

WHEELS This body is fitted with

distinctive split rims.

DEPTHS Inside, the walls are

banked so no grain gets stuck.

GRAIN A chute from the silo

loads the truck.

50Weight in tonnes that

the new grain body can carry.

037COMPUTERS

Tipper bodies make up a good number of the specialist trailers on the road at the moment, but a look along any busy highway will show you that there are many other types working in the region. Tankers in particular are to be soon in their hundreds, either carrying fresh water… or the exact opposite.

Some other trucks, similar to the grain truck in the feature can be found around the region as well. Flour trucks need particular care in their design. “We had some problems that took us a while to get right, but we did – and the customer is happy” a manager of the design firm said.

high-strength blade and technol-ogy similar to that proven on Cat wheel tractor-scrapers. The ejec-tor body is designed to work with small rocks though (up to 150mm diameter), so such a thing would not be suitable for applications like offshore projects, where moving bigger rocks is required.

ALUMINUMThere are other projects in the pipeline, too. One techni-cal research paper suggests a design concept where even the largest non-road mining truck body could be made from alu-minum. This might sound ridic-ulous, as we all know that this material is just too soft for such use, but the academic study pro-vides results of a field service history with developments in var-ious designs. The study, found on mining website onemine.org argues that aluminum truck bodies are not the novelty they might seem. Mention is made of current U.S. usage and predic-tions given as to future develop-ment of aluminum bodies in the mining industry. The paper notes that way back in 1932 an alumi-num unit proved very satisfacto-ry in service on the Hoover Dam project but at that time the only high strength aluminum alloys available were not weldable and with the high cost of construc-

“We like to mix and match truck brands as some are better suited for long-distance work” - Brian Barriskill

tion, a sound economic case for an aluminum body could not be made. After World War I1 great advances in aluminum welding techniques, using the inert gas shield, combined with the devel-

steel which makes it more flex-ible and capable of absorbing much greater impact shocks. The study suggests this design will be the best. Time will tell is this analysis is correct.

VALVES The mechanism can be

operated from this control box.

ROOF The fabric top rolls back on

the grain truck.

037


SITE VISIT


opment of high strength alloys with good welded properties and welding characteristics changed the whole picture. Welded alumi-num bodies were rapidly devel-oped and by 1958 attention was again focused on the use of alu-minum for off-highway truck bodies. The paper goes on to explain how a Canadian firm, Alcan, embarked on an extensive development program to prove the durability and economics of aluminum truck bodies for the mining and construction indus-tries. The first step was to design a prototype aluminum body which took particular advantage of the fact that the ‘modulus’ of aluminum is only one third that of steel. This means that with-in the elastic range, aluminum moves three times as much as

EVENT REPORT038

PMV Middle East \\ November 2009 www.constructionweekonline.com

The industry’s favourite show is set to return in 2010. Earlier this year, the PMV show in Damman set a record for being the largest machinery show of its type to be held in the kingdom.

Next year, the show is set to move to a new loca-tion in the King Abdullah Economic City, over in the west of the country, where a number of infrastructure projects and government spending has given the region’s construction and mining industries a boost.

New exhibitors are signing up each week. Recently, stalwarts of the last two events, Zahid Tractor and Atlas Machinery have confirmed their largest ever stands, while other top brands such as Toyota will be making their first appearance at the expo.

Speaking about the event, show director Kimon Alexan-drou said; “The Saudi PMV show is designed to bring dis-cussion on how major projects impact on their business”

“Hundreds of billions of dollars will be invested in the construction and fit out of these major projects. The ques-tion for the cranes & machinery market is how do we resource this expansion program? These are all things that will be discussed at the show.”

For more infomation about the event, including how to attend, click on: www.saudipmvshow.com

ZAHID TRACTORFor over fifty years, a funda-mental commitment to provide its customers with a carefully selected range of the world’s finest equipment, backed by outstanding product support, has made Zahid a respect-ed name and a market lead-

er in KSA.The company says that investment in people, facilities, and the latest technology is a com-mitment to ensure the achievement of continu-ous improvement. Zahid will have one of the larg-est stands at the show.

ATLAS MACHINERYA long-established dealer, Atlas provides equipment, spares and service to even the most remote parts of the Kingdom. Rami J. Sakka, managing direc-tor said: “The most important aspect of the hire and sales market is definitely service - and price competitiveness of course - but long-term, clients will suffer from the vendors who are not service oriented and it will come back to you if

you are not efficient.”Atlas supply equipment such

as Italian Catteneo self-erect-ing cranes and Yongmao tower cranes from China.

SAUDI PMV SHOW

ffi i ”

Back again next year, our flagship event has a new venue in the King Abdullah Economic City


SHOW PREVIEW038

PMV Middle East \\ December 2009

BACK TRACK040

PMV Middle East \\ December 2009

Perhaps the world’s most interesting pile of redundant kit is about to meet a sorry end…DIAMOND AREN’T FOREVER

First discovered by Ger-man prospectors dur-ing the early 1900s, major diamond finds along Namibia’s Skel-

eton Coast in regions like Lüder-itz subsequently led to the rise of thriving mining communities at the turn of the 20th century.

Given the high intrinsic val-ue that diamonds hold, all state-owned Namdeb mining operations are governed by strict security protocols concern-ing how processed diamonds are transported to market. This means that all equipment going into any diamond mining area – whether it’s a dozer, a pick-up truck or an excavator - never comes out again.

However, given the scale of Namdeb’s operation (and CDM’s before it), this has meant that a massive stockpile of dead kit

has steadily gathered at Nam-deb’s various mining sites. Giv-en that the operation at one stage was rumored to have the larg-est private earthmoving fleet in the world and it has been oper-ating since the early 1900s, it is a reasonable assumption that there will be a lot of machinery to scrap.

Unfortunately, given the secret nature of the business, hardly anybody has ever been allowed in, and certainly not just to look at the machinery. We do know that a quantity of Sherman tanks, which originally had been sup-plied to the British army under the lend-lease scheme ended their days here as jury-rigged bulldozers, and that an assort-ment of German steam trains from the turn of the century rust side by side with several genera-tions of haul trucks that replaced

them. Stories abound of oth-er rare breeds from the earliest days of the equipment industry, streaked red with rust and bask-ing in the Namibian sunshine.

Times are changing though - Recently Namdeb took the deci-sion to clear the scrap, with South African company SA Metal, secur-ing the contract to systematically recycle and process the materials on site prior to their release from these secured areas.

The task of cutting up these redundant machines and other materials is being tackled by two Cat 330DL hydraulic excavators fitted with boom mounted S340 scrap shears,

According to SA Metal’s Xavi-er Fazakerley the contract, which commenced in July 2008, is open-ended and expected to be ongoing for around three years. During this period, SA Metal

expects to commercially process around 250 000t of material.

“This is one of the world’s most corrosive regions and metal items don’t last long in this envi-ronment,” explains Fazakerley. “This means that any scrapped metal items prior to the mid-1960s will have in most instances turned to dust long ago.”

The largest sizeable scrap met-al source is located at Namdeb’s Uubvlei operation, situated some 10km north of the Orange Riv-er and stretching approximately 1km inland.

“This represents one of the world’s largest scrap metal stock-piles,” says Fazakerley. “In fact the scale of the operation is so big that the footprint of the site is clearly visible from space - a final resting place for worked out earthmovers, trucks and just about anything else.”

CUTTING Loads of ancient machin-

ery is about to meet the scrap

shear, which will also be destroyed.

Mobile Crushing and Screening in Action

The unification of the Extec and Fintec brands within the Sandvik group of companies has created the world’s most comprehensive and dynamic line-up of mobile crushing and screening equipment. The Sandvik Mobile Screening and Crushing range now delivers all the familiar characteristics of productivity, versatility and exceptionally low running costs, but they are now combined with levels of durability and aftersales support that are synonymous with the Sandvik name. New name, improved service, same great product.

SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTIONSANDVIK MIDDLE EAST FZE WAREHOUSE FZS1 BB01 JEBEL ALI FREE ZONE PO BOX 261216 DUBAI UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TEL: 0097148860101 FAX: 0097148860109 info.extec-f [email protected] www.miningandconstruction.sandvik.com

pmv middle east - dec 2009

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