Construction World March 2015

EQUIPMENT

IMPROVED SOLUTION Torre Industries is adding Elephant Lifting Equipment to the Plant and Equipment Division

The acquisition was announced on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 20 November 2014 and Competition Commission approval is expected in January 2015. SA French and Elephant will continue to trade under their own names for the foreseeable future, however inte- gration between the two entities will commence from 1 January 2015. Elephant Lifting Equipment is headquartered in Centurion and has branches in Durban and Pemba, Mozambique, as well as a manu- facturing facility in Pretoria West. Its products include EOT cranes, monorails, electric chain hoists, chain and lever blocks, winches and wire rope pulling machines, lifting and spreader beams, mechan- ical grabs and clamps, slings (chain, polyester and steel wire rope), shackles and rigging accessories. “For every tower crane we supply, new or used, there is probably another 20% of the total value of the crane that we can offer in add-on services,” Quentin Van Breda, managing director, SA French, says. “The acquisition will allow us to offer a genuine one-stop shop for tower cranes, from slings to shackles, concrete buckets and pallet forks, for example. We can now even offer foundation bolts and spreader beams in-house.” SA French offers both European and Asian versions of the Potain tower crane range. It has been recognised as an Elite Dealer by Potain of France, which means a guarantee of 80% availability of spare parts on first call. “We have not dropped below 85% over the past three years,” Van Breda says. SA French’s hoist range includes Orbit and Torgar brands, while it also offers Dieci telescopic handlers and self-loading mixers. It has a rental fleet of 20 cranes and 27 telescopic handlers and hoists. Recent new-crane sales include a MC235 conventional crane and two MCT205 topless cranes for the WBHO/Tiber Bonvec JV building the new Discovery Health head office in Sandton. SA French also sold two new MC125 cranes sold to M&T Developments. Repeat customer Trencon Construction acquired a MC125 crane for a university in Kimberley, following its purchase of an IGO 50 self-erecting crane a year ago, in addition to an MC205 crane that is still active on the KPMG extension project off Empire Road in Johannesburg.

of its group of companies, along with SA French, Manhand and Kanu Equipment.

The ultimate aim is to combine SA French and Elephant Lifting Equipment under the umbrella brand ‘Torre Heavy Lifting’ which, combined with the extensive distribution network of the Torre group, will allow Torre to offer a total lifting solution from consumables to tower cranes to its customers across Africa. >

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CAT E-BOOK DOWNLOADS Caterpillar’s e-book versions of the 144 page ‘Guide to Asphalt Compaction’ and the 124 page ‘Guide to Soil Compaction’ are now available and can be downloaded for free.

The popular Paving Production Calculator app helps estimate trucking needs, paving speeds, compaction and other factors.

“Thesee-bookstakeapracticalapproach to the complex topics of compaction and provide examples of how to use their principles to maximum effect,” explains Johan Hartman, industry manager: global paving at Barloworld Equipment. Each guide covers the basics of compaction and then discusses the science and techniques involved. Android calculator app The popular Paving Production Calculator app is now also available for Android devices. (An IOS version of the app was previously released.) This app helps estimate trucking needs, paving speeds, compaction and other factors. Other features include the ability to build a library of specs from prior jobs for later refer- ence, as well as e-mailing job summaries from your device. >

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: A 5 t WLL (Working Load Limit) under slung overhead crane from Elephant Lifting Equipment. WLL refers to the maximum load that the crane can lift. A 15 t/5 t WLL double-girder electric overhead travelling crane from Elephant Lifting Equipment in operation at a mine. A ‘C’ hook from Elephant Lifting Equipment that is used for lifting steel coils.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD MARCH 2015