Council on firm footing with new Komatsu

Ken Grierson has seen firsthand how technology has changed roadworks.

The works programmer for roads at the Sorell Council in Tasmania and his brother Neville (a plant operator) have been the main carers of the Sorell Council roads for the past 45 years and started their careers using picks and shovels.

Part of that responsibility involves maintaining 152 kilometres of narrow gravel roads and lanes that line the historic area.

"Most of the gravel roads are on a 12-week maintenance cycle and all see a blade at least twice a year," Ken said.

"For the past 10 years we've had a grader with a 14-foot blade and it's been difficult. It was too large for the roads."

This year the council budged included a new grader and the Komatsu GD555-5 was chosen specifically for its 12-foot blade.

"It allows far more precision and it offers a lot more visibility from the cab in every direction," Ken said.

Sorell Council hired two new operators at the time of the grader purchase and they were training in using the Topcon machine control software which plots and calculates optimum run-off from the crown of the road.

Ken favours a four to six per cent camber change on his roads, taking into account rainfall and drainage requirements in Tasmania's climate.

"There's still a need for seat-of-the-pants feel, but to have GPS plotting on board introduces a new accuracy that improves precision," he said.

Ken expects the Komatsu to clock up 800-1000 hours in its first year on a nine-day-a-fortnight work cycle, with the 10th day used for planned downtime and maintenance.

"We're doing as much work as we did previously, but we're doing it easier and with greater efficiency," he said.

Ken has not yet commissioned Komtrax, Komatsu's satellite-based machine monitoring system. It's an action item for the next service.

"When Neville and I were on the shovels we learned to be nice to the grader drivers because otherwise they'd make sure they heaped the roads with rocks and rubble which we had to clean up," he said.