01.02.2016

Sennebogen dragline for RDR in NZ

Sole distributor for Sennebogen Cranes in Australia and New Zealand,
Pace Cranes has delivered a Sennebogen 655 dragline to Rangitata Diversion Race Management (RDRM) located to the south of Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.

The crane replaces a 50 year old dragline which has been used to clear flood sand and gravel debris from the Rangitata Diversion Race - a 67km long canal that feeds water to 750,000 acres on the Mid Canterbury plain. The Sennebogen 655 duty cycle crane was delivered with a 29 metre boom and configured for dragline operations with a two cu m bucket.
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Pace Cranes has delivered a Sennebogen 655 Dragline to Rangitata Diversion Race Management (RDRM) located to the south of Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.

The Rangitata Diversion Race was a dream in the minds of the pioneering farmers in Mid Canterbury when the plain was first farmed in the mid-19th Century. Regarded as the largest area of nearly flat land in New Zealand, all development was closely linked to water problems.

Construction of the canal that spans the breadth of Mid Canterbury started in 1937 and was completed in 1944. Today river water is derived from two alpine rivers the largest - the Rangitata - provides about 90 percent of the canal’s capacity. The mean flow in the river is 80 cu m per second, but it often floods to ten times that amount and occasionally far beyond. When the river floods a large quantity of sand and gravel enters the Race and without the ability to clean the entrance to the canal it would quickly become choked and limit the amount of water able to be abstracted.
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(L-R) Neill Stevens, operations manager RDRML, Anthony Heeks, managing director Pace Cranes, Erich Kolzer, Sennebogen, Ben Curry CEO RDRML and Greg Muller, service manager Pace Cranes

RDRM’s management spent some time assessing a number of options for a replacement, but ultimately decided upon the Sennebogen 655. “Making such a significant capital investment meant detailed analysis of all the facets of the various options,” said CEO Ben Curry. “Whatever option we went with, the solution had to be long lasting. Again and again, the Sennebogen came out on top of our list for value for money, reliability, serviceability, practicality and safety. In the end the decision was a pretty simple one.”