Air force fighter bombers now safely refuelling at Darwin RAAF Base

April 26, 2012 - PRLog -- The fuel line needing replacement at Australia’s most northern RAAF facility just outside Darwin lay beneath 600mm of concrete apron that was used by air force fighter bombers during refuelling stops.
The work required a team with experience and as Super City Concrete Cutting knew these issues well, having completed work at RAAF Bases around Australia, they were a likely choice. The company works on many large-scale infrastructure projects around Australia and recognises the danger involved in cutting through concrete designed to withstand the force of an aircraft weighing  between 10,000 and 20,000 kilograms.
Key to the company winning the job, apart from their expertise, was some innovative thinking by Jason Franken who owns and operates Super City Concrete Cutting.
“The contract awarded to Macmahon contractors for this upgrade allowed a six-week program to complete all the works. Our component of the work which was sawing and drilling was completed in three weeks. It was this commitment to complete all sawing and drilling within this time frame that won us the job as it saved downtime for the fighter bombers as well as time and money,” said Jason Franken.
As with most major projects, unknown factors always play havoc with projects. With a committed time frame of three weeks, the team from Super City Concrete Cutting had to move fast when rain hit, reducing their timeline by two days.
“Another aspect that slowed production rates was the strength of the concrete which came in at 80mpa. It was more than three times the mpa of normal concrete,” said Jason Franken who overcome this challenge with help from their operators on the ground.
“We were also aware of the need to make sure there was no debris left lying around because if an incident does occur and the cause can be attributed to a contractor or sub-contractor, those involved can be liable for repairs to the aircraft.”
“While the tender documents specified anchor bar/dowell bar holes to be diamond core drilled, we knew it couldn’t be done within the time frame they wanted.”
Super City Concrete Cutting used a Minnich Drill System and its production rates are ten times those of conventional core drilling for this type of application.
So after drilling 3,800 holes, cutting 1.4km of concrete measuring an average depth of 500mm and Macmahon contractors removing 865,000 kgs of concrete trench, cut and burst by the Super City team, they fulfilled their tender obligations allowing RAAF fighter pilots to do what they do best at the Darwin base – land, re-fuel quickly and hit the skies again.