The Department of Defence commissioned Liberty Industrial to dismantle its heritage significant 61m tall cantilevered dockside crane – the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest dockside crane in Australia. Components of the crane had to be salvaged for reuse, including the crane’s main hook assembly, hook platform and trollies, the driver’s cabin, slew ring and other machine house plant items.
Robust solutions
- Development of a unique engineered dismantling methodology that reduced the number of lifts from 250 to just 70, significantly minimising safety risks and reducing project cost and timeframe.
- Development and implementation of a stringent environmental program to monitor and manage the risk of lead and chromate contamination, to prevent harm to the harbour’s delicate marine surrounds and protect the health of workers, naval personnel and the local community.
- Provision of state-of-the art crane and demolition equipment.
- Construction of a steel support structure off the wharf to allow for safe deconstruction.
- Spray painting and paint stripping crane prior to cutting to avoid contamination while cutting.
- Construction of a specialised frame for the cranes enormous 25.7t hook assembly for transportation of decontaminated processed components to an offsite recycling facility.
- Coordination with police escort for transportation of recovered components to storage location.
- Construction of concrete plinths outside the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre for reinstatement of key heritage items.
Exceptional outcomes
- The project was completed on budget, on schedule and without issue or injury.
- 2,027t or 99.56% of materials were recovered, including salvage of 132t of heritage items, recycling of 1,855t of steel and 40t of concrete.
- 9t of material was unrecoverable, as was 6t of lead paint waste and 3t of general waste.
