Can you describe Vermeer’s core competencies within the pipeline industry?
The two areas where Vermeer operates are trenching and horizontal directional drilling (HDD). The equipment we sell ranges from equipment with 6,000 pounds of pullback up to 1.3 million pounds of pullback, so we cover a pretty big range.
More recently, vacuum excavation has become a big part of our business. This involves location of pipes and clean-up of any spills or drilling mud onsite.
Which projects have you done that sort of work on recently?
There isn’t much pipe getting laid in Australia at the moment that hasn’t got some Vermeer equipment associated with it. We have people out in the field in the Surat, Bowen and Cooper basins, down to the top of South Australia.
Is there any specific equipment you’d like to highlight that has been supplied to the three major projects underway in Queensland – the Queensland Curtis LNG Project, the Australia Pacific LNG Project and Gladstone LNG Project?
We have supplied trenchers ranging from 45-100 t in weight. We have also supplied drilling equipment to various contractors, and we have supplied a lot of vacuum excavation equipment both to the pipeliners and to their subcontractors.
Did you work in any other industries before becoming involved in the pipeline industry?
I have been associated with machines that are involved with laying pipes my whole working life. I’m a diesel mechanic by trade, and I worked around pipeline equipment in the construction and dredging industries before getting involved with Vermeer.
Have you observed any changes in the industry over time?
The industry embracing HDD with regards to river crossings and environmental areas has probably been the biggest factor. No-one wants to cut river banks nowadays – that is a really big
no-no. I have also noticed that the size and horsepower of trenchers has got a lot bigger. They are much more efficient than what they were in the early days.
What are some of the most exciting projects you’ve worked on during your time?
Coal bed methane has been a great thing for everybody in the pipeline industry and has certainly kept us busy. This area is exciting because of the volume of work available and the amount of work to be done. It’s always nice to be involved in an industry that is buoyant.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for the pipeline industry?
The big challenges for me are human resource-related – getting the right people for the projects, competing with the mines for staff and making sure that your people are trained – it’s an ongoing project.
We train on product in-house. We bring out training engineers from the United States to train on specific products. A lot of our management training is done by AIG.
What are your plans for the future?
I enjoy what I’m doing and my partners like the business so I don’t see a reason why we would be doing anything else. It’s a good business – it’s exciting, it’s interesting – we’ll stick with it.
