Construction

Condra works on second crane order (PHOTO CREDIT: Condra Cranes)

South Africa’s Condra is to manufacture a second overhead crane for Tongaat Hulett’s Maidstone sugar mill in KwaZulu-Natal

The order is for a 23-metre-span double girder electric overhead travelling crane with 25-ton main hoist and 8-ton auxiliary, to work in conjunction with the existing millhouse crane and a 10-ton Condra crane commissioned in the bagasse store in March 2024. The value of the order was not disclosed.

Maidstone is one of four South African sugar mills operated by Tongaat Hulett, a leading agriculture and agri-processing company.

In the bagasse store, the 10-ton crane is already used to move and position conveyors feeding fibrous raw residue (bagasse) into Maidstone’s secondary processing system. Left over as waste after harvesting juice from the sugarcane, bagasse is used after processing as a biofuel, and in the manufacture of paper pulp and building materials.

The new 25/8-ton crane will help operate and maintain the mill house.

“Condra was able to meet Tongaat Hulett’s technical requirements for Maidstone’s new crane because of modular products that facilitate manufacture of a customised lifting solution; this instead of having to shoehorn a standard machine – often imported – into the application, an approach frequently followed by rival firms,” the company said in a 3rd February statement.

“Such modular design comes very close to the theoretical ideal: all elements of the crane – hoist, crab, end-carriages, drives and controls – are themselves assembled from a wide array of component parts. Only the crane girders are manufactured from scratch.

"For Tongaat Hulett’s new mill house crane, Condra precisely tailored its design to match the specification, paying particular attention to combinations of rope, drum and pulley to achieve the necessary hoist reeving arrangements for accurate load positioning over the considerable lifting heights of 12 metres on the main hoist, and 12.2 metres on the auxiliary.”

A striking feature will be the air-conditioned control cabin with docking station for the remote control instead of the more usual hard-wired control panel.

This will allow the operator to use the same control unit for remote operation from the floor, from overlooking office, or docked within the cabin as an integral part of the cabin’s dashboard.

There will be digital read-outs from hoist loadcells, while an independent pendant control will provide back-up and additional flexibility.

An ultrasonic anti-collision system will reliably prevent accidental contact with the existing mill house crane that will remain in the bay.

Other features include frequency drives on the long travel, cross travels and hoists, full-length walkways with fibreglass grating on both sides of the crane, IP65 brakes, IP65 panels, stainless steel fasteners, floodlights, safety lights and siren, full seam welds with rounded edges, lifting lugs and a special paint finish.

Besides the installed 10-ton crane and 25/8-ton crane on order, Condra has previously delivered a monorail hoist and crawl to Tongaat Hulett’s Zimbabwe mill.

Delivery of the new 25/8-tonner is scheduled for April, with installation and commissioning to be executed by authorised agent Natal Cranes & Hoists.

Read more:
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Work is underway on the Guinea railway (Image credit: WCS)

US-based Wabtec Corporation has landed a US$248mn contract to supply locomotives for a rail line that will support a high-grade iron ore project in Guinea

The New York-listed group won the order from Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), a Baowu & Winning joint venture, to support its rail operations to the mine site, which is located in the east of Guinea.

The agreement follows a locomotive order a few months earlier from SimFer, a Rio Tinto joint venture, to serve its operations at Simandou.

The combined orders for the project, valued at more than US$500mn, represent one of Wabtec’s largest international locomotive agreements in recent years.

“As the world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit, Simandou represents a transformational economic opportunity for Guinea, and Wabtec’s commitment extends beyond delivering advanced locomotive solutions to ensure the success of this critical initiative in partnership with WCS and SimFer,” said Wabtec’s regional vice president of sub-Saharan Africa, Mpilo Dlamini.

“We are also committed to the development of Guinea by fostering local employment, developing indigenous talent, and empowering local businesses to support the operation and maintenance of this vital rail network.”

Wabtec will supply its Evolution Series ES43ACmi locomotives, a dual-cab locomotive with a 4,500HP Evolution Series engine. The locomotive provides exceptional fuel efficiency and proven performance in harsh, high-temperature environments, like eastern Guinea.

It is also capable of meeting UIC 3a and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 3 emission standards.

The company will begin delivering locomotives for the Simandou project in 2025, when first production from the mine is also expected.

“This locomotive order with Wabtec is another important milestone for the Simandou project,” said WCS CEO Zhang Cheng. “As work continues to build the TransGuinéen railway, we will have the equipment resources in place that support the high international standards that we’ve committed to deliver.”

The 600-km TransGuinéen Railway is under construction to connect the Simandou mine and the Port of Morebaya. The Simandou mountain range, located in the southeast of Guinea, contains the world's largest untapped reserve of high-grade iron ore. WCS is developing blocks 1 and 2 of the Simandou iron ore deposit, which currently account for more than 1.8bn tonnes of estimated reserves.

Rio Tinto also expects to commence production this year through its Simfer joint venture, which holds rights to blocks 3 and 4. After first output from the Simfer mine this year, production is expected to ramp up over 30 months to an annualised capacity of 60mn tonnes per year. The mine will initially deliver a single fines product before transitioning to a dual fines product of blast furnace and direct reduction ready ore.

Simfer's capital funding requirement for the Simandou project as a whole is estimated to be approximately $11.6 billion, of which Rio Tinto's share is approximately $6.2bn.

Read more: US$15bn Simandou project closes in Guinea

Steel is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of construction equipment. (Image source: Volvo CE)

Volvo CE has started integrating low-carbon emission steel into the serial production of all articulated haulers manufactured at its Braås facility in Sweden

The company stated that this initiative aligns with its commitment to reducing carbon emissions across its value chain—both in machine operation and material sourcing—as part of its goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Steel is a significant contributor to the carbon footprint of construction equipment, accounting for about 60% of an articulated hauler’s total mass and over half of its emissions in the cradle-to-gate life cycle.

Cradle-to-gate refers to a model that evaluates a product's environmental impact from raw material extraction to the point it leaves the factory.

Expanding sustainability efforts

Volvo CE first introduced fossil-free steel in 2021 through a partnership with Swedish steel producer SSAB, unveiling a concept hauler built with the material. In 2022, it became the first company to deliver a construction machine incorporating fossil-free steel to a customer.

Now, Volvo CE is scaling up by incorporating low-carbon emission steel—produced using recycled steel and powered by fossil-free electricity and biogas—into mass production.

Currently, 13% of the total steel mass in articulated haulers built at Braås has been replaced with this material, with plans to increase this percentage as supply chain availability improves.

This transition is expected to cut Volvo CE’s CO₂ emissions by around 13,000 tons annually, reducing more than 5% within the cradle-to-gate scope.

Rickard Alm, head of Volvo CE’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) programme, stated, “We are proud to lead the way in the industry and move forward towards minimising our climate footprint across the entire lifecycle of our products. While emissions from product use represent the vast majority of carbon output in our industry, it is important to also act to cut emissions in the production phase, including materials like steel, in close collaboration with our global supply partners.”