Pipeline Plant Hire is helping the pipeline industry rapidly expand water and gas infrastructure around Australia, without sacrificing on safety.
Since its inception in 1991, Pipeline Plant Hire (PPH) has forged a reputation as an industry-leading plant and equipment provider to the water, gas and civil construction sectors.
With a modern fleet of well over 120 machines, PPH offers a broad range of earthmoving and lifting machinery, and specialised attachments such as rock breakers, augers, and more.
“As a market-leader in plant machinery hire, we can provide the latest and most innovative plant and equipment for everything from dry-hire to long-term pipeline construction and civil construction projects across Australia,” PPH Director Gerard O’Brien told The Australian Pipeliner.
This expansive toolkit gives PPH a similarly broad remit, which sees its machines deployed on everything from remote outback installations to metropolitan infrastructure upgrades.
In the realm of water and gas pipeline construction, the star of the show is the VacLift, the company’s own expertly manufactured and highly optimised vacuum lift.
The VacLift can raise lengths of polyethylene or steel pipe weighing up to 15 tonnes without causing damage during the lifting process. Notably, these machines have a cycle time under 40 seconds per pipe length, whereas conventional methods take 5–10 minutes.
This dramatic gain in efficiency is evident in major projects like the FMG water and slurry pipelines. The VacLift is equally indispensable to the water sector, with major utilities utilising the machines for treatment, distribution and irrigation projects.
On the safety side of the equation, VacLifts can assemble pipes in-situ using a guidance system that eliminates the need for ground crew to be in or even near the trench. A unique shoe design also means the pipe cannot be released unless in contact with the ground, significantly reducing the risk of a drop. The result is much faster and safer pipeline construction. All of this comes in a highly optimised, lightweight package.
“Through careful consultation and engineering approval from the relevant manufacturers, we have been able to safely maximise the lifting capabilities of our machines,” Global Pipeline Equipment (PPH’s research and development partner) Matt Dridan said.
“This is the key to getting a job done efficiently. You can send an 80–90-tonne machine out to a project, but it will be extremely expensive. Alternatively, you can send out one of our 40–50-tonne VacLifts to do the same work for significantly less cost, by maximising its lifting ability while retaining the necessary safety factors in line with Australian standards.
“This is something we’ve specialised in for many years.”
Indeed, PPH has been in the vacuum lifting space for over 20 years, first cutting its teeth working with the likes of Vinidex – a relationship still ongoing to this day.
“Pipelines aren’t the place to experiment or cut corners – you want machinery with a proven track record that you know is going to work,” Dridan said.
“That’s exactly what we represent.”
The VacLift is just one spoke on the wheel for PPH, a company deeply immersed in the pipeline industry. Representatives from the company will be in attendance at the upcoming APGA Convention and Exhibition. Here, the team is hoping to strike up a few conversations, exchange knowledge, and strengthen ties.
Whether laying thousands of metres of water mains in the arid outback or installing high pressure LNG or natural gas infrastructure, PPH’s blend of engineering excellence and industry immersion secures its position as a partner of choice in pipeline and civil construction projects.
For more information, visit the website.
This feature also appears in the September edition of The Australian Pipeliner.