27.09.2011

Australian crane conference breaks records.

The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) has broken its previous records at this year’s annual conference, held at Surfers Paradise in mid-September. 415 delegates registered, 42 companies took display booths, while 23 mobile cranes were on display.

CICA chief executive Alan Marshall said: “Despite the challenging economy domestically and internationally, the industry has stepped up to celebrate the industry progress and get on with business. The conference is our only national industry gathering for the year, so it is full of various activities such as the CICA AGM, industry forum, crane display, lift of the year awards, evening dinners, spouse tour, as well as the speaker programme and exhibition”.

CICA president John Gillespie added: “On behalf of CICA I would like to publicly thank our many supporters, sponsors and exhibitors, especially Terex Cranes our platinum sponsor. The conference committee has done a wonderful job and I thank the CIAQ as the state hosts, and the strong line-up of speakers, many who travelled from overseas to attend the event.”

Karni Liddell, one of Australia’s most respected Paralympic swimmers, gave the opening address, while international guest speakers and panellists included: Christoph Kleiner of Liebherr, Klaus Meissner and Thorsten Helwes from Terex, Gilles Martin of Manitowoc, Alexander Knecht of Tadano, Bill Stramer from Link-Belt, Grant Moffat the CANZ president and Stuart Anderson of Chortsey Bar.

The Lift of the Year Award nominations and winners were as follows:

Category A (Lifts over 130t)
Nominations
1. Samaras Engineering /Aztec Analysis: Bridge Beam, River Torrens, Adelaide
2. Universal Cranes: Airport Link, Bowen Hills, Brisbane
3. Gillespies Crane Services: The Darling Walkway, Darling Harbour, Sydney.

The winner was: Universal Cranes - Phil Dayman accepted the award
Runner-Up was: Samaras Engineering /Aztec Analysis, Craig Blandford accepted the award

Category B (Lifts under 130t)
Nominations
1. Fullers Mobile Cranes: Clock Tower, Central Station, Sydney
2. Fullers Mobile Cranes: Steel Lift, Hunters Hill, Sydney

The winner was: Fullers Mobile Cranes for the Clock Tower lift. Larry Fuller accepted the award.

The Bill Shaw Memorial Award and perpetual Cup, for the ‘Best Overall Lift’ across Category A and B, went to Universal Cranes and was accepted by Albert Smith.

And last but by no means least, CICA awarded life membership to Jeff Brundell in recognition of his many years in the industry, his 25 volunteer years on the CICA board including being a past president and for his role as the current CraneSafe director. “What wonderful service to CICA and our industry,” noted Marshall.

The 2012 conference will be held on September 5th to 7th at the Adelaide Convention Centre.