Project Overview
Located 25 metres below ground level on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, construction of the new Barangaroo Station included extensive tunnelling and excavation works – and a lot of heavy lifting in a seriously congested area. Construction partners, John Holland CPB Ghella (JHCPBG) joint venture, engaged The Men From Marr’s during the tender process to develop a craneage solution that would allow them to install heavy pre-cast elements and reduce the construction programme.
THE CHALLENGE
A heavy lift solution for the excavation and construction works – including the removal of TBM sections weighing up to 255 tonnes – within a congested site with limited access and real estate for the movement of equipment around the site.
OUR SOLUTION
By installing a M2480D and M1280D on purpose-designed foundations in and outside of the station box our solution provided lifting capacity across the entire project – taking up 90% less room than the originally proposed traditional crawler crane and gantry set up.
THE RESULT
Using our higher capacity cranes gave JHCPBG the option to build with precast beams allowing for increased modularisation and fewer lifts which in turn reduced congestion, improved site utilisation, and reduced complexity, risk and time on the project.
Located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour at the western edge of the CBD, the new Sydney Metro Barangaroo Station will connect the Sydney Metro line between the city and northern suburbs via a kilometre-long twin tunnels under Sydney Harbour.
Construction partners, John Holland CPB Ghella (JHCPBG) joint venture, engaged The Men From Marr’s during the tender process to develop a craneage solution that would support the extensive tunnelling and excavation works required and their proposed construction methodology – which included the installation of heavy precast elements – for the new underground station and large crossover cavern.
Flanked by the Harbour, a rockface and another development to the south, the already congested site posed significant access and mobility issues for JHCPBG. The originally proposed craneage scheme was to use multiple mobile cranes and a 600-tonne capacity crawler but this was inefficient in such a congested space.
Marr’s solution was to install one of our M2480D and M1280Ds sitting alongside the station boxes to provide lifting capacity across the project. Set on purpose-designed foundations in and outside of the station box, the cranes took up 90 per cent less room than the proposed traditional crawler crane and gantry set up
In addition to the excavation, tunneling and general construction works, JHCPBG’s scope of works also included launching and retrieving the cutter heads and shields of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs). With our M2480D installed inside the station box at the exit point of the tunnel and configured with a 55-metre boom and six fall 330-tonne hook block, we were able to remove the 255-tonne TBM sections in a single lift. It was the first time a tower crane had been used to lift a TBM component of this weight – and set a world record for the heaviest lift by a tower crane.
After the TBM was dismantled and transported offsite, the M2480D was reconfigured to continue general construction works on the project. Using Marr’s higher capacity cranes gave JHCPBG the option to build with precast beams allowing for increased modularization and fewer lifts. Marr’s approach has also reduced congestion, improved site utilization, and reduced complexity, risk and time on the project.
“The M2480D heavy lift tower crane was the only solution for the job. With a very limited footprint and heavy loads to lift, the M2480D saved time on the program by minimising the number of crane lifts required, without impacting construction activities of the Barangaroo Station works adjacent,” said Dan Caldicott, JHCPBH Barangaroo Station Site Superintendent
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