SC&RA NEWS
66
INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
OCTOBER 2013
of the tough tasks that so many companies
must overcome in the face of challenging
geographical areas that often emerge with
the job.
DOMINICI:
There is no doubt that the
toughest tasks to overcome are those
related to poor infrastructure. It has
been almost 15 years that Brazilian
infrastructure has not received significant
investments. Despite the fact that 80 %,
if not more, of transportation in South
America is via roads and highways, our
roads, and mainly our bridges, need
immediate recovery if we expect to comply
with even heavier transportation.
BHANA-THOMSON:
Some of the more
recent challenges evolve from New
Zealand now being connected into the
global business marketplace that we all
find ourselves part of. We’re now part
of a supply chain with project owners’
requirements being met by global
providers of plant and equipment. This
results in goods being supplied and
shipped from all parts of the world. Take,
for example, construction equipment
for roading projects and transmission
hardware for electricity generation where
these items are being commissioned out
of Asia for supply into New Zealand. One
such current project is the Waterview
Connection – to complete a highway
ring road, including 2.5 km twin tunnels
under part of New Zealand’s biggest city,
Auckland. A boring machine was supplied
out of China for this job, and the largest
single load of 260 tonnes was transported
across Auckland from the port to the
drilling site earlier this year by Association
member, Multi Trans Ltd. This included
removal of a number of roundabouts,
traffic signals, signs and pedestrian
islands on the prescribed route. It involves
significant negotiation and consultation
between the partners involved in the
project and the local roading authority –
to gain permissions and roading changes.
CHALMERS:
What would be some advice
you might give to fellow SC&RA members
and to all readers, as to how they should
address and overcome various challenges
and obstacles in the industry – from both a
“boots-on-the-ground” perspective, and as
an executive?
DOMINICI:
To move heavy cargo, or
perform a rigging job, it is vital for the
executive or planner to have knowledge
of Brazilian Vehicle Department laws,
resolutions and related procedures.
Authorisation to move heavy cargo
through roads or rigging requires
participants to attend to regulatory
compliances, which are tangled among
various road departments much of
the time. My advice is to plan way ahead
of the move day. Strong investment
and comprehensive planning of all
operation phases is key to having a
successful operation.
BHANA-THOMSON:
Having been involved
with this industry sector for a number
of years now, my best advice about
how to achieve the outcomes that we
want to see is persistence, persistence,
persistence. This is both from an
operator’s perspective, and from a national
Association perspective. From the point
of view of industry overall, we want to
see innovation and evolution within our
regulatory bodies to try to keep pace with
the technological and demand-driven
requirements by clients within the sector.
It is the role of an industry body to take
this demand and try to persuade, cajole
and convince regulatory bodies to match
this with permit systems and controls
that evolve to allow this. This includes the
need to keep coming back to the table with
enhanced ideas about how to allow for
innovation while keeping safe and proper
controls in place.
CHALMERS:
What can you both say about
the value of an SC&RA membership and
what it means to companies, and the
industry overall, to belong to an organisation
like the SC&RA?
DOMINICI:
SC&RA has become an
unlimited resource for the cranes and
specialized transport segment. The
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Chalmers is editor-in-chief at Thrive
Creative Services, a creative copywriting
agency based in Chicago, USA. For more
information see
main advantage of becoming an SC&RA
member is to have access to all produced
material that SC&RA makes available to
its members. Access to new technologies,
examples of other heavy transport and
transportation laws and permits, certainly
makes us all better. A membership allows
us to expedite some actions that make the
whole heavy transportation process work
safer, faster and more efficiently.
BHANA-THOMSON:
As a partner in the
World Crane and Transport Alliance,
which SC&RA founded, the NZHHA
is very grateful to be able to call on
the worldwide resources of our sister
organisations in Australia, Brazil, Canada,
Europe and the United States. Over time,
we each build up strengths in dealing with
situations that others have possibly not
experienced. While we are each fighting
the good fight in our respective areas of
the world, we all share the same concerns.
At an organisational level, as well as
a personal level, to have built up the
relationships with the executives in these
organisations means that we are connected
into the best that the world can offer.
Hopefully we can also offer something
back to these other organisations when
they need our assistance.
■
João Dominici, Sindipesa
executive vice president,
speaking at the Cranes
and Transport Latin
America conference in
São Paulo, Brazil
