Kennards adds lifting system for 70-tonne loads

Kennards Hire’s Lift & Shift division is to offer a new remote control system that can precision lift loads weighing up to 70 tonnes.

The DC electric over pneumatic JUUKO remote system was originally created as a bespoke lifting solution for Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel project. (PHOTO: Kennards)

The DC electric over pneumatic JUUKO remote system, created by material handling specialist Pacific Hoists, enables a single person on large-scale lifting tasks “instantaneous control over four air hoists - all at once or in any combination”.

According to the rental company, previous operations such as this would have required each hoist to be operated by a different person, incurring “critical delays of several seconds”.

The system is said to be a much safer and more efficient way to deliver major tunnel projects, and can be hired out “as a single, tandem, triple or quad air hoist remote control.” 

Steve Purves, Group Technical Manager for Pacific Hoists in Australia and New Zealand, said, “I knew it could be a game-changer for lifts. By giving one operator control of all four hoists individually or all together at the click of a button - with response in less than 50 milliseconds - the precision level is greatly increased.”

The JUUKO remote system was developed in just three days for joint venture company CYP Design and Construction, which needed a solution that would enable a platform for the Metro Tunnel project in Melbourne, Australia, to be lowered into place.

“There was zero margin for error,” said Kennards. “With rigorous safety standards to uphold, CYP Design and Construction engaged in extensive consultation with the two main partner companies from the outset.”

Purves added, “It was the only possible way to lift and lower the platform exactly. We designed and built it in three days. On the fourth day, we flew it into Port Melbourne [a Kennards Hire facility] for the demonstration.”

Having effectively “created a template for other major project lifts in the future”, the system has now been bought by CYP’s longtime partner Kennards, which also supplied the four JDN 30-tonne hoists required for the platform lift at the Metro Tunnel’s Town Hall Station.

Ricky McGaw, Operation Product Specialist at Kennards Hire’s Lift & Shift, said, “With our detailed planning and analysis, both the demonstration and the lift itself went 100% according to plan.”

“We initially toolboxed it with the customer to find out exactly what they wanted, and how we could meet their needs. Then we toolboxed it on-site with Pacific Hoists, CYP and their rigging crew, and all the relevant OHS people.”