Pipeline Plant Hire riding the crest of industry wave with VacLift

Pipeline Plant Hire (PPH) Director Gerard O’Brien and business partner Global Pipeline Equipment Manufacturer Mat Dridan spoke to The Australian Pipeliner on how, for more than 20 years, PPH’s VacLift equipment has been among the gold standard for safety and efficiency on Australian pipeline construction projects.

“Australia is home to some of the driest inhabited areas on the planet, which makes access to safe and reliable water supplies vitally important, especially for remote communities,” Pipeline Plant Hire Director Gerard O’Brien said.

As existing pipelines are expanded, transportation of large volumes of water over greater distances with minimum evaporation loss plays an increasing role in supporting Australia’s future, and Pipeline Plant Hire’s expertise is more in demand than ever.

One example of this is the Wentworth to Broken Hill Pipeline, a project that saw Pipeline Plant Hire’s unique VacLift equipment achieve a record-breaking rate of pipe laying.

“Our vacuum pipe handling equipment creates distance between the workers and the pipe, reducing the risk of injury and dramatically improving the cycle time for each pipe movement,” O’Brien said.

“And that in turn enables our customers to complete their work faster without compromising on safety.”

VacLift works by using a vacuum to suck pipe lengths into the grasp of an attachment fitted with rubber seals called a ‘shoe’ that raises lengths of poly pipe or steel pipe weighing up to 15 tonnes without causing damage during the lifting process. 

Global Pipeline Equipment Manufacturer Mat Dridan said that this results in enormous time and cost savings for customers because the VacLift cycle time is under 40 seconds per pipe length, whereas conventional methods take between five and ten minutes.

The VacLift system is available for customers to hire as a fully integrated, ready-to-use system consisting of an excavator fitted with a VacLift unit mounted on the counterweight of the machine to provide maximum safe lift capacity, but Pipeline Plant Hire’s services don’t stop there.

“We’ve also developed a VacLift attachment that can be fitted to the customer’s own machine using auxiliary hydraulics to power and control operations,” Dridan said.

“And because the equipment has been designed to only lift or release the pipe lengths in a grounded position it’s almost impossible to drop the pipe, and also safeguards any personnel involved and protects the lifting equipment.”

Traditional methods of pipe handling put workers at risk when attaching and detaching slings and hooks, but VacLift significantly reduces the dangers involved.

“Removing workers, slings and hooks from the process allows the VacLift operator to lift and, for water pipelines, lay the pipe themselves,” O’Brien said.

“We’ve invested millions of dollars in making pipe handling safer and in doing so we’ve enabled tens of millions of safe pipe movements, without so much as a paper cut attributed to our equipment.”

And Pipeline Plant Hire has a lot of equipment, providing everything from buckets, rock breakers and augers to material adaptors, beams, and shoes.

“All our equipment is designed and manufactured in Australia,” Dridan said.

“Our range includes small units used to feed poly pipe, fusion welding machines lifting hundreds of kilograms each, and large units capable of lifting large diameter, high pressure steel pipe at weights that exceed 12 tonnes.

“With the combined development of our rear mounted vacuum lifts, patented throughput of vacuum at the rotator, expanded range in pipe diameter per shoe and many other proven technical advantages, we’ve contributed massively to efficiency gains in the pipeline industry.” 

As a leading supplier of plant machinery and construction services, the company has been providing long term solutions to tier one companies and civil clients for over 30 years and is looking forward to setting the benchmark for many years to come.

“Working with manufacturers, suppliers and customers, we continue to provide improvements and innovations wherever we can,” O’Brien said, “There’s plenty more in the pipeline.”

For more information, visit pipelineplanthire.com.au.