Pipeline Plant Hire has been in the trenches of the pipeline industry for decades. In that time, the team has learned a thing or two about handling polyethylene pipeline projects.
When it comes to choosing the best way to handle polyethylene (PE) pipe, it’s hard to look past vacuum lifts. The safety and efficiency benefits offered by these machines are highly competitive, making them a necessity in almost all pipeline projects across Australia.
But not all vacuum lifts are created equal, and when handling heavy pipe components, picking the right machine is critical.
Few understand this better than Pipeline Plant Hire (PPH). The company cut its teeth in PE pipe handling roughly 20 years ago, helping deliver pipeline projects at a time where pipe handling options were limited.
“PPH pioneered the equipment to handle PE pipe in Australia – and that first took off in the coal seam gas industry,” business partner Global Pipeline Equipment’s Matt Dridan told The Australian Pipeliner.
The company’s proficiency was recognised early on, with PPH forging a close relationship with leading PE pipe manufacturers Iplex and Vinidex.
PPH supplied specialty vacuum lifting equipment to each company’s respective stockyards, and later factories.
“That was a big break; it gave us an inside connection to what pipes were being developed for the market,” Dridan said.
“As demand grew, so did the need for larger diameters and lengths of pipe, so we were able to have our finger on the pulse there.
“We worked with these companies to design and engineer the best way to handle these larger pipes.”
And since the early days, PPH’s capabilities and expertise have only deepened. Fast forward to 2025 and the company is delivering custom solutions to a large chunk of the pipeline market all over Australia.
In the PE pipe handling space, a typical transaction begins with a customer approaching PPH with a project.
“The first thing we do is figure out what the project is, what the client is trying to achieve, what kind of terrain they’re working in,” Dridan said.
“We also look at the equipment – the pipe, the pipe wall thickness, its degree of ovality, what sort of flexibility it has, and so on.
“From there we can design and supply the best piece of equipment for the job.”
While the exact specifications of this equipment varies between project, the two most common base models are the integrated type and the quick-hitch attachment type.
For more heavy-duty pipeline projects, PPH offers vacuum lifts integrated into excavator host bodies. These machines have the greatest lifting capabilities and are ideal for dedicated pipeline projects.
The quick-hitch attachment type is a vacuum lift that can be easily affixed to third party excavators.
“We developed these attachments for cases where asset owners don’t have need of a full-time vacuum lift on site,” Dridan said.
“They have a lifting capacity of 15 tonnes and will cover virtually any pipe you’re likely to encounter on a project.
“And weighing only around 750kg, they’re a lot cheaper to freight across the country than a 30-tonne machine – which is handy if you’re working at a remote site.”
Perfect simplicity
“All of our gear is designed to be simple, serviceable, and robust,” Dridan said.
“Our machines aren’t designed with complicated components and computers; there’s push buttons, and seven core cable connecting A to B – the reason being that you can get it at the roadhouse.
“What you don’t want is to have half a dozen trucks lined up in a desert on a $300 million project, only to realise ‘Oh, where’s the remote control? This thing won’t work today’. That’s not an option. It’s as though you send the equipment to Mars. It has to work.”
Simplicity in design also makes the machinery serviceable by the average worker, which is another philosophy of the company. This ensures that the machine can keep operating in even the most remote locations, where sourcing a technician may not be possible.
This simplicity, ironically, has only been achieved through meticulous engineering and thorough after sales support. PPH offers nation-wide training for its customers’ field staff to ensure they know exactly how to use the machinery for their specific application.
“There is no substitute for local support and training,” Dridan said.
“Number one, our customers get the right tool for the job. Number two, they get the training, certification, and proficiency to use that tool. Number three, they get the technical support along the way.
“When they ring, we answer the phone, and you talk to the guy who built it. It’s as simple as that.”
In terms of robustness, PPH machinery is Australian made, designed for harsh outdoor conditions, and built with galvanised BlueScope steel. It can handle the hardest environments Australia has to offer.
Why vacuum lifting?
“Vacuum lifts are one of the rare exceptions where both safety and productivity go up,” Dridan said.
“Before vacuum lifts, workers used to climb down into the trenches with slings and chains, and they’d winch these pipes together.
“It was a tough job on a nice day, let alone in inclement weather and unstable and tough ground conditions.”
Fortunately, vacuum lifting has made these dangerous practices a relic of the past.
In one project, Dridan recalls seeing a PPH vacuum lift being used to install 1800mm diameter fibreglass pipes in a 20-foot-deep shaft.
“They were able to just snatch the pipe straight off the truck, reach down the hole and plug these pipes together without anybody in harm’s way,” he said.
“It’s an extremely efficient method of installation, saving a significant amount of time and money.”
And when asked what makes PPH a premier choice for vacuum lifts, Dridan kept it simple.
“For us, the proof is in the pudding. Our vacuum lifts have been out there for 15 years without dropping pipes and causing headaches,” he said.
It’s a sentiment echoed by PPH Director Gerard O’Brien.
“PPH is a company with Australian pipeline dust under the fingernails,” he said.
“We have a proven track record of providing the right tool for the job and the technical support to back it.
“Our vacuum lifts are simple, safe, serviceable, and robust machines with many runs on the board, accrued over many years.”
For more information, visit the Pipeline Plant Hire website.
This feature also appears in the January edition of The Australian Pipeliner.