| 73 T T Aimee Wilson Drilling for any situation Teaming up with Tough Terrain’s Menzi Muck Spider excavator, the drills can reach down into roading corridors and into slips for rehabilitation work. CONTRACTING Addison Drilling Former West Coast gold miner Tom Thorpe bought his own drilling rig over 10 years ago to prove up more ground, but now his business has grown nationwide. For many years he serviced large-scale gold and coal mines, such as Solid Energy’s Stockton Mine, with his track-mounted drills and support equipment. Now based in Christchurch and servicing the entire country, Addison Drilling’s specialised attachments can be fitted to any type of excavator, crane or telehandler for work across the construction and mining industries. Available for drilling, building foundation piling work, land clearing and ground stabilisation in any type of terrain, the company specialises in steep and difficult access, for all rebuild and recovery projects. Working with a team of highly skilled and experienced drilling contractors, Tom uses his equipment to install anchoring systems to complete work where traditional methods could take months. Teaming up with Tough Terrain’s Menzi Muck Spider excavator, the drills can reach down into roading corridors and into slips for rehabilitation work. “We also can adapt any of our drills to suit a specific job if required, and work closely with likeminded specialised drilling contractors when the need arises,” says Tom. Following the Kaipara earthquake in late November, Addison Drilling was able to assemble scaffolding and anchor six to eight metres down to create a platform off an excavator with a drill attached, to lower down the side of the road. In the future, the industry will incorporate more remote-controlled technology in highrisk areas where machinery and drills are operating, removing people from potentially unsafe areas. Addison Drilling is committed to maintaining a high level of safety on all its projects. “We have a strict safety policy that ensures the protection of our employees, clients, and the environment,” says Tom. “Our team is trained to identify and manage potential hazards, and we use state-of-theart safety equipment to ensure the safety of everyone on the job site.” The drilling industry has many challenges. However, after a relatively quiet period, the outlook in New Zealand is vastly improved, with new gold mining projects on the horizon and the building industry picking up again. Tom says for the industry to grow, market rates need to be maintained in order for companies to invest in new equipment and systems, which will lift industry efficiency in general, and retain skilled people. The removal and containment of dust and emissions from the drilling process was another practice in the industry not widely used yet, but important for the future. “There’s also huge potential for data generated in the drilling process to be automatically captured and recorded to present to clients for analysis or verification,” says Tom. Addison Drilling’s machines have been selected based on low weight, small operating footprint and the ability to run various drilling/ boring, driving or vibro systems. “With our machines we have the capability to install helical/screw piles, drill and install bored piles up to 1.2 metres diameter in soil and rock, and drive or vibrate steel, wood or concrete piles in suitable soil conditions.” An extreme terrain spider excavating business in Auckland has rapidly grown into becoming a nation-wide company. Owner George Moore purchased his irst spider excavator three years ago, after seeing a huge gap in the market for the specalised machinery - equipped with a built-in winch system and adjustable legs. Being able to anchor onto steep inclines for stability and precision means that Tough Terrain can tackle many jobs that other machines can’t. “There is a limit to what a standard excavator can do.” George and his team have been able to clear major slips from highways, and help create building plat-forms on the side of cli faces, such as in Henderson Valley. “On a 55deg angle we were able to drill all of the piles where others couldn’t. There are now two beautiful houses built onsite.” The company was recently contracted by NZTA to clear a big slip in the Karangahake Gorge near Paeroa - working from the top as it was still active, in one controlled exercise. “We winched ourselves to the top which would’ve normally been impossible.” With excavators based in Christchurch and Dunedin in the South and teams ready to ly in and out when necessary to get the job done, the spiders were ideal for working on steep sections such as in Queenstown and Lyttleton. Soon the leet would increase to the West Coast and Nelson - eventually even further a ield into Aus-tralasia. George and his Health and Safety consultant built a formal training system including videos to educate their new team on the spider’s operation. Each machine was sta ed with two members and itted with radio communications on their headsets so they had access to support at all times on the job. An arborist by trade and originally from England, George moved to New Zealand six years ago and remarked how the two industries were quite similar. “I've spent my life hanging from trees so for me the physics is identical.” Being able to access areas of New Zealand that were previously impossible was an exciting challenge for the company, whether it was clearing fence lines and waterways, forestry blocks or creating dams. And the Switzerland-made spiders can work in up to 2m of water because their legs stand up really high. Eventually George would like to have 20 on the market of various sizes - he currently had a two-tonne baby and the rest were 14-tonne spider excavators - he also has another being built that can be con-trolled from a simulator for high-risk jobs. The company is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and George loves problem solving. Spider Diggers Conquer NZ's Toughest Terrain Tough Terrain specialises in tackling the toughest groundwork, civil engineering, land clearance, and forestry projects across New Zealand. WORKING TOGETHER TOGET THE TOUGHEST JOBS DONE! Excavation | Waterways and Dams | Trenching and Drainage Installation Remote and Steep Terrain Projects | Compacting and Stabilising Surfaces Foundation and Piling Work | Grouting and Drilling Solutions Mulching | Tree Removal and Forestry At Tough Terrain, we don’t do easy. We take on the jobs no one else will —steep, remote, and extreme sites where traditional machines just don’t cut it. That’s why we run Menzi Muck spider excavators, purpose-built for the roughest conditions. CALL US 021 197 1972 www.toughterrain.co.nz
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