6 | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx T T Richard Loader Cableway project a worthy winner The award was for the erection of the 28-metre cableway tower on Mt Messenger, which is an integral part of the project to build the Te Ara o Te Ata-Mt Messenger Bypass. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Messenger Alliance - Indepdendent Crane Services Being presented with the Crane Association of New Zealand’s highly prestigious Project of the Year Award at the Association’s 2023 conference held this July at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre was a life changing experience, says Ben Jones, the owner/operator of Independent Crane Services. Ben’s award was for the erection of the 28-metre cableway tower on Mt Messenger, which is an integral part of the project to build the Te Ara o Te Ata-Mt Messenger Bypass, a safer and more resilient 6km section of State Highway 3 in North Taranaki. The temporary cableway, which is supplied by Doppelmayr New Zealand, carries workers and equipment into the remote heart of the project that would otherwise be inaccessible. The construction project is being delivered by the Mt Messenger Alliance (Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Downer, HEB Construction, Tonkin and Taylor and WSP). Independent Crane Services were contracted to plan and execute the tower erection, which was completed in January this year. The award recognised the project’s dedication to excellence, meticulous planning and strict adherence to safety and environmental standards. “I was very flattered to have been nominated, and absolutely stunned,” says Ben. “I felt a little bit like a fraud really, I didn’t feel as though I deserved to be playing in the same league as the big boys.” Ben says he has been doing this kind of work for over twenty years but this was by far the most complex project he had ever been part of. “Erection of the tower had to be millimetre perfect because the cables that run across the top of it are 1.1 kilometres long, and just a couple of millimetres out at the top translated to a couple of metres out at the other end. I was inside the cab of a crane that was pretty much on a ridgeline on Mt Messenger, with no room to swing a cat, constructing the tower and control room.” While the erection project took six days to complete from end-to-end, Ben’s planning took many months to detail the strategy for executing the project. “Every part of the project was thought about in the minutest of detail, to ensure both safety and precision. With the technical expertise of Doppelmayr New Zealand, we constructed and erected the tower in two halves. “We built the first half on the ground, then erected and suspended at a 10° lean. Then we built the mirror image of the second half and set that on the opposite 10° lean. “The two halves were brought together, millimetre perfect, with every bolt lining up and hand connected first go. The actual lift was a little bit of an anti-climax, after all the planning. Though, I must admit I felt a massive amount of relief when I did get the first half of the tower up. “Winning this award has been absolutely life changing for us. We’ve gone from being a little one-man-band contracting, and not really certain about where the future lay, to winning the industry’s biggest award, and getting a lot of recognition. “We now have a team of five staff with complementary skill sets, quadrupled our turnover and the phone has not stopped ringing with well-wishers, customers and other members of the crane industry. There has been an incredible amount of work leads.” Independent Crane Services has also been contracted by the Mt Messenger Alliance to manage the operation of the erected tower, conveying workers and equipment to the construction site until, the second half of 2024 when Te Ara o Te Ata-Mt Messenger bypass is expected to be completed, and the tower dismantled. Ben established Independent Crane Services as a sole trader in 2020 with the blessing and encouragement of his wife Gemma, after ten years spent working in Australia. “I started relief craning for other people. Hawke’s Bay Crane Hire was my first client and I got about nine months continuous work from them. “This contract arose through word of mouth. The Mt Messenger Alliance were looking for a crane operator with a very special skill set, and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. “We now have our irons in the fire for an- “Every part of the project was thought about in the minutest of detail, to ensure both safety and precision. With the technical expertise of Doppelmayr New Zealand, we constructed and erected the tower in two halves.” other major project and are in the process of buying our first crane. We do a lot of structural work including bridges, wharves, and steel erection. Basically, anything out of the norm that general construction crane companies prefer not to do – that’s the stuff we get really excited about.” Ben says there have been many great customers who have gone out of their way to help him, with some great mentors within the industry, but his wife Gemma deserves just as much recognition him. “I’m working 80 – 100-hour weeks on the other side of the country sometimes and she has always stood by me. She is the rock that holds the business together.” The award recognised the project’s dedication to excellence, meticulous planning and strict adherence to safety and environmental standards.
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