As we made our way to the edge of the site and looked down at the machines 60m below – resembling Tonka Trucks from where we stood – it became pretty evident that this was no typical excavation.
I was soon informed it was the largest excavation currently happening in Sydney and one of the small-looking machines below us down in the pit was actually the largest and only 70-tonne machine in Australia at this point in time.
We were lucky enough to be on site in Rhodes at the Rhodes Central Development for Billbergia, and I am talking to Daniel Moit, Site Supervisor for Moits.
Daniel is a pretty calm and collected character, but I notice his well-trained eye scanning around the site to make sure everyone and everything is where it’s meant to be and doing exactly what they are meant to be doing. We casually talk about the site and the last few weeks of heavy rain across the Sydney basin and the effect it had on the site. Running a project like this calls for a pretty organised and efficient individual, but make no mistake this is a very well-oiled machine, and with a site of this size and the amount of people and heavy machinery operating it really has to be.
Moits began as a small family business in 1983 by brothers Tony, George and Michael Moit. The company has grown in experience and today employs a diverse group of more than 300 staff in a number of positions with over 30 years of experience on a wide range of major construction and development projects throughout New South Wales. Focusingon demolition, excavation, remedial and civil works, Moits’ extended and vast array of services include demolition, tipping and haulage, civil works, rock and dirt recycling, rock sawing, capping beam, platforms, underpinning, earthworks, remediation, shotcrete and piling and anchors, project management and traffic services.
I was keen to try to find out what it took for a company like Moits to be so successful in the industry, so when I had a chance to scratch beneath the surface with Daniel he happily shared some home truths, “All Moits employees are focused on delivering a high level of care and expertise to our clients. This is a consistent trait amongst all of our staff and something we look for when adding new members to our team. There needs to bea level of personal integrity and care factor in everything our team is involved in. As important as the right attitude, expertise andlevel of care is in our staff, our equipment is the other equally important element of our business that enables us to complete substantial, high-quality projects both on time and within budget. We have a large fleet of our own machinery that allows us to get this done.
With a requirement for the integration of a host of emerging and existing technologies, such as integrated machine control, ICT systems, fleet management, drones, artificial intelligence and cloud-based solutions, Moits has chosen a fleet of Komatsu machinesto tackle the many significant projects they currently have up and running. Equally important are attachments and they have a long-standing (10-year) partnership with Australian Hammer Supplies and in particular Epiroc (previously Atlas Copco’s Mining and Rock Excavation Division) and Erkat attachments.
As we descend the 60m lift down to the floor of the worksite to check out Moits’ new Erkat special drum cutter, Daniel informs me that this site they are working on for Billbergia has included bulk excavation, shotcrete and ground anchors with a total 24,000m³ of bulk excavation removed. It is seriously impressive stuff.
One of the main areas EEM was interested in checking out was the new Erkat Series ER 1500 Transverse Drum Cutter supplied to Moits by Australian Hammer Supply. This new drum cutter plays a significant role in the operation because it is designed to be attached to excavators between 20-40 tonnes. The attachment weighs in at 1750kg and is rated to 120kW. The cutter has been integral in trimming back the walls of the site after excavation to allow clean, and even shotcrete render to shore up walls of the excavation, as well as fast and even levelling of ground areas and trenching to specific heights – to which the attachment is equally efficient at cutting both wall and floor angles and heights.
The Erkat Series ER 1500 Transverse Drum Cutter is a beast! It rips through solid rock like no other attachment I’ve seen before. It’s no wonder the team at Moits are so happy with it. Its uses include excavation work, refurbishment, demolition, trenching, underwater works, quarrying, mining, road construction and tunnelling, but I’m sure there are some operators out there that will be able to add to this list.
The ER Range includes double head drum cutters (profiling and tunnelling cutters) and includes features that make the Erkatmachines reliable and long lasting with low maintenance. These features include over engineered drive train, secure attachment of cutter drums, rigid and water-resistant gear housing, as well as pick boxes with hardened wear sleeves.
The Erkat brand officially belongs to Epiroc.
With numerous large-scale projects that Moits have scattered across Sydney and NSW, we can see why their relationship with Australian Hammer Supplies has been so rewarding. Bruce Pernell from Australian Hammer Supplies is a key element to this relationship with Moits and plays an important role in ensuring the team at Moits are ahead of the game with the latest and best technologies and equipment available.