38 March 2017 E N V I R O N M E N T ONGARUE RIVER SAFELY LAUNCHING STEEL ACROSS WATER Downer’s custom-engineered steel bridge launching nose, features a bespoke design controller (yellow components in picture). This was developed in partnership with Downer and Jonel Hydraulics to maximise safety when launching bridge sections over the Ongarue River as part of a major KiwiRail infrastructure project. The new Ongarue Bridge launch nose controller, was a feature of a seven-bridge project involving a host of other Enerpac bolting, pumping, heavy lifting and positioning and fine control technologies available throughout Australasia and globally. The KiwiRail project by Downer, completed this year, will permanently improve the country’s main trunk rail network and allow more freight to be carried over strongly refurbished structures to busy destinations including ports and intermodal facilities. “Safety was a keynote of the entire project, extending over nearly five years. The longitudinally launched Ongarue bridge sections posed unique challenges in this regard, compared with the rest of the bridge launches, which were lateral launches involving shorter distances,” says Jonel business development manager Shane Quigley. Downer and Jonel worked through a range of pivot positions and leverage points to ensure precision guidance and placement of bridge sections, employing the cantilevered nose incorporated in a bolted steel frame (below) driven by Enerpac Hydraulics. The entire launch, tension, position and lowering systems developed by the partnership comprised:
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