Allfasteners Hold Down Lendlease's Trust for Gantries to Gawler in South Australia.

The Challenge

The Gawler Rail Electrification Project (GREP) in South Australia will modernise the rail line between Adelaide and the town of Gawler, approximately 44 kilometres northeast of the state capital and down to Seaford, 35 kilometres southwest.

Lendlease were appointed as head contractor on the project, which includes the installation of overhead gantries for electric cabling.

On these gantries, several heavy fastening products were specified that needed to adhere to a few key requirements:

• Compliance with standards AS4291, AS1214, AS1112-3 and AS112-4 (applying to different fasteners types).
• Short turnaround time for sourcing - according to dynamic needs for supplies as the project progressed.
• Supplier's track record with similar projects.
• Australian steel and manufacture.

The Solution

Based on observations of work done for the Melbourne to Ballarat line upgrade project, the Level Crossing Removal Project in Melbourne and products supplied to laing O'Rourke and Novo Rail in Sydney, Lendlease approached AF Industrial - a specialist division of Allfasteners - for consultation and an RFQ.

The full array of products scoped and supplied were hold down bolts, pre-assembled with nuts and washers as well as anchor plates. And as an added element for project specific requirements, the more critical bolts and square anchor plate components were made from Australian steel at AFI’s Melbourne fabrication facility.

The Result

AFI were chosen as the heavy fastening supplier for the project, thanks to a willingness to not only supply and deliver products, but to also get involved with the project at every step to make sure that Lendlease were supported with advice and technical information.

And AFI have one of the most logical and transparent RFQ processes in the field, so Lendlease were supplied with quotes before the project’s completion time became a concern. Add to this, a readily available supply of samples, and Lendlease could rely on AFI as an ‘always stocked’ fastening shop when presented with new challenges that required NATA tests and certifications.