Avopiling has received the delivery of the first two of six Kobelco lattice boom hydraulic crawlers from TRT Australia. Avopiling’s General Manager David Tevanian explains how the new cranes will fit into the company’s existing fleet.
Using more than 48 years’ experience in piling and ground engineering, Avo Tevanian set out to establish a foundation specialist provider for some of Australia’s largest projects.
Which is why in 1989, Avo Tevanian founded Avopiling. Avo’s son David Tevanian says his family’s humble beginnings set the groundwork for Avopiling’s operation in the modern era.
“We were a migrant family and arrived in Australia with $1200 and the clothes on our backs. Dad was determined to make a go of the opportunity and he went about what he knows best and that is construction,” he says.
“Our mum, Jackie, worked in the business from early on, managing the administration side of things as well as us three young boys. Through hard work, determination, and some good fortune, we’ve managed to build the Avopiling business into what you see today.
“Back in 1989, dad purchased his first crane, which was a 35 tonne Hitachi KH 125. He went to an auction expecting to pay $120,000 and came away paying double. This crane was the start of his commitment to the construction sector. He then purchased a couple of mechanical cranes, a P&H and an NCK. After this we started to move towards the hydraulic lattice boom crawlers.”
Today, Avopiling has expanded its operations into Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth, and recently opened a branch in Victoria.
As David Tevanian explains, he moved into the business shortly after finishing school, completing a trade certificate in carpentry and civil engineering studies while working full time.
“Dad gave me a mobile phone, notepad and a pen and told me there were a couple of jobs he wanted me to supervise. While working in the business at 18, most of my co-workers were well and truly twice my age, with more than 20 to 30 years’ experience in the industry.
“It wasn’t long before I was running major projects and I spent the next 20 years working on site. During the last 10 years, I have continued to run major projects, and I have also had the National Operations Role.
“In 2021 I took over the General Manager position and my brother, Masis, who has also worked in the business since 1998, took over the role of National Operations Manager,” he says.
From day one, Avopiling has targeted infrastructure projects. David Tevanian says his father always saw the opportunity, as well as the security, in working on government projects.
As a result, 80 per cent of Avopiling’s current work is on government-funded infrastructure, with the other 20 per cent spent working with the larger builders, outside of the civil infrastructure realm.
“We have over 170 plus employees, including a few contractors, and we operate a large fleet of piling equipment,” says David Tevanian.
“The fleet includes everything from a 11-tonne piling rig up to a 180-tonne piling rig. We operate and internally maintain our modern fleet. When we have visitors from some of our major suppliers, they are quite amazed at the set-up of our workshop facility in Wollongong, New South Wales. We also have fabrication capabilities for the piling aspect of our business.”
Rising capabilities
David Tevanian says Avopiling has had plenty of experience with the Kobelco brand, a deciding factor in the purchase of the new cranes.
“Some time ago, we bought a Kobelco CKE800-1F into the fleet and added a CKE900G. We really like the quality of the Kobelco brand. The cranes are based on traditional Japanese values, such as high-quality engineering and manufacturing qualities.
“They are engineered to last. They are manufactured from the highest quality steel, so they are extremely rugged, and, in our experience, you only have to service them to the OEM requirements and replace the occasional part. Their performance is outstanding, they’re reliable and our operators love them,” he says.
Tevanian says the move to hydraulic crawlers has been “task specific”, due to recent projects featuring low headroom.
“We’ve worked on several large infrastructure projects which include the construction of massive diaphragm walls. A few years ago, we were working on lift plans for diaphragm wall cages which were weighing up to five tonnes. We’re now working on more complex arrangements that include topping and tailing operations.
“With recent projects, the cages are getting longer and larger, weighing between 32 to 40 tonnes. We’ll be working with 50 tonne cages on future projects. So, the panels are getting deeper, and the cages are getting heavier. Our clients are also asking us to stay under the 75 per cent of the lifting capacity of the crane and, if we don’t stay under this percentage, the lift studies will be increasingly scrutinised.
“This isn’t a problem, but as a business we decided to have a few more safety factors in play and having extra capacity in the crane was one of the factors, especially when you are working with heavy lift projects,” he says.
“The other factor for ordering so many cranes is the volume of new work we’ve secured. This includes a significant amount of work on Melbourne’s North-East Link project. These works will go for two-and-a-half to three years and include another massive diaphragm wall package involving heavy lifts,” he says.
Avopiling decided to purchase the cranes for the North-East Link project, as well as other works in Sydney. These include a Kobelco CKE900G-2, a 100-tonne capacity crane with a maximum boom length of 61 metres, and two Kobelco CKE 1100G-2s cranes, featuring a lifting capacity of 110 tonnes and a boom length of 70.1 metres.
A Kobelco CKE 1350G-2 was also purchased, which features a lifting capacity of 150 tonnes and a boom length of 76.2 metres and two Kobelco CKE2500G-2s, featuring a lifting capacity of 250 tonnes and boom length of 91.4 metres.
“The CKE900G-2 was purchased for Western Australian works and a second CKE900G-2, which is already in our fleet, will be used for those works,” Tevanian says.
“One of the CKE2500G-2 will be working on the major infrastructure projects in New South Wales. The second CKE2500G-2 along with the CKE1350G-2 and the two CKE1100G-2s, are headed to Victoria for the North-East Link project.,” he says.
Avopiling has recently purchased 10 cranes in total, with the North- East Link project alone requiring four MC series cranes from Bauer to run the cutters and grabs.
The North-East Link project will construct a new motorway between the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough and the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen Road.
It will also widen and upgrade the Eastern Freeway, providing Melbourne with a complete orbital road connection for the first time, increasing the capacity on the Eastern Freeway. The project will also improve access and reduce travel times for both freight and commuter traffic and will take trucks off local streets.
The TRT way
Tevanian worked with Troy Hand, TRT’s Crane Sales & Pacific Islands Manager on the order and delivery of the cranes, with the duo already having an existing professional relationship.
“I’ve known Troy for some time, and I’m delighted to see him move from the service and maintenance of Kobelco’s, to the sales and management side of the business,” he says. “He understands the Kobelco product from a technical perspective. He also understands what we’ll be doing with the cranes, so he’s able to make recommendations in terms of the models and their capabilities.
“Troy and his team have been totally professional throughout the process. The negotiations were robust, but I would like to think the outcomes for both TRT and Avopiling have been positive.”
Tevanian says the delivery process has been straightforward, thanks to clear communication between both organisations.
“I know TRT had not received an order for six Kobelco cranes in the one deal before, it doesn’t happen every day, but we were happy to provide security around the order. We understood it was going to mean a big commitment from TRT,” Tevanian says.
TRT has serviced, supplied parts and provided advice to the crane industry for more than 50 hears. The crane OEM trained service and support team at TRT is recognised for its expertise in crane service and repairs, including inspections, rebuilds and maintenance programs.
To support its customers and reduce crane downtime, the team at TRT is focused on delivering crane, heavy machinery, truck crane, and heavy transport trailer parts at competitive prices. TRT stocks a large range of genuine and OEM parts across most crane and equipment classes, makes, and models. The company also operates an extensive crane parts supply network throughout Australia to ensure even the most obscure crane parts can be located.
Both the CKE900G-2 and CKE1350G-2 have been delivered and commissioned for immediate works. The CKE1350G-2 and the second CKE1100G-2 were delivered to Avopiling’s Wollongong workshop for commissioning mid-July, before being sent for works on the M6 extension project in Sydney.
The estimated $2.6 billion M6 extension will provide a new motorway connection between the New M5 motorway at Arncliffe and President Avenue at Kogarah, in Sydney’s south-east. The project includes twin four-kilometre tunnels linking the new M5 motorway at Arncliffe to Kogarah and ramps between the main motorway tunnel and the surface intersection at President Avenue.
Tevanian has been involved in the engineering aspects of the work and used to be responsible for all of the lift studies.
“I love this aspect of the business,” he says. “I don’t have the time now, but I do keep a keen eye on what’s happening and being planned. The engineering in some of these projects makes the job so worthwhile.”
“When you plan a complex dual crane heavy lift and watch it be executed exactly as you had planned and engineered, it’s a brilliant feeling. It makes the hours of work behind the scenes, which nobody sees, so worthwhile and I know it provides our team with a sense of fulfilment.”
This article was originally published in the September edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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