Forging Ahead

08 August 2004

Newcastle engineering company Forgacs dump truck

When it comes to the heavy engineering industry, quality and reliability are paramount. So when leading Newcastle engineering company Forgacs commenced the fabrication of ten dump trucks for the Mount Arthur coal mine, they turned to BlueScope Steel and Bisalloy.

Established 45 years ago, the Forgacs Group is Australia's leading ship repairer and a major ship construction and engineering company. With approximately 460 employees working from nine sites, Forgacs' dedication to professionalism and integrity has stood the company in good stead.

The Forgacs Group comprises four main divisions. Forgacs Ship Repair, Forgacs Shipbuilding, Forgacs Engineering and Forgacs Defence.

Forgacs Engineering in Tomago is the biggest fabrication and construction site in Newcastle. Purpose built for the construction of large structures, the site has 16,500 square metres of undercover workshops, as well as an extensive hard stand assembly area, access to direct loading of ocean going barges, onsite blasting and painting, travelling cranes and high bay workshops. With 32 cranes on site, sufficient space and cranage is available for trial assembly of equipment and dispatch of structures by sea transport.

"We specialise in construction of heavy and high structures, industrial plant construction and assembly, mining equipment construction, mining truck bodies and smelter equipment construction," says Bill Stuart, Shipyard Manager at Forgacs Engineering. "We offer a great deal of flexibility to our customers, we will build to a client's existing design, or we can provide design services to them in addition to fabrication services."

"One of the biggest jobs we've taken on was the fabrication of two 200 metre long tunnel boring machines, for the Sydney Parramatta rail tunnel," says Bill.

But it's not just Forgacs' state of the art facilities that make Forgacs a market leader. According to Bill, Forgacs' focus on old fashioned customer service has been a major contributor to the firm's longevity. "Obviously, customer service is a key value at Forgacs, that's why we've been around so long," he says. "Our comprehensive infrastructure means that we can offer a one stop shop for design, machining, and fabrication."

"We're committed to maintaining an extremely high standard of safety and quality," he adds. "So much of our work is for the marine industry, where the reliability of our work is absolutely critical. And we are continuously looking at new technologies to help improve processes. We employ full time engineers, we have two naval architects and four engineers, as well as an on site welding engineer. We provide in-house training for all of our staff, and will even bring in outside training for individual jobs, if necessary."

Forgacs is currently working on a A$3 million contract for the fabrication of a series of huge dump trucks for the Mount Arthur Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley. Forgacs are producing ten of the trucks, each measuring 5.2 metres high. "It's a big job for us," says Bill. "Three of the trucks have already been delivered, and we will be delivering one every two weeks."

Construction of each 50 tonne truck takes about 12 weeks from start to finish. The trucks are made from Bisplate80® and Bisplate400® grades of steel. Bisalloy is made from XLERPLATE®, a brand of high quality hot rolled plate steel from BlueScope Steel, which has been through a secondary tempering process to lift the tensile strength. Bill says that the service provided by BlueScope Steel was helpful and efficient, particularly given the job's tight timeframe. BlueScope and Bisalloy Steel worked together to ensure that steel delivery for the dump truck bodies was a priority, which resulted in reduced lead time on key components. "Our customer needed the first four trucks in a very short time in order to meet their programme. With BlueScope Steel and Bisalloy's help, we've achieved that."

Another of Forgacs' current jobs is the fabrication of a new RTA ferry for Wisemans Crossing. The ferry measures 30 x 11.8 metres, with a 15 metre ramp at either end. 153 tonnes of XLERPLATE®, is being used in the ferry's construction.

"We use XLERPLATE® from BlueScope Steel wherever possible," says Bill. "Firstly, we are an Australian company, we'd always prefer to use Australian product. Secondly, the quality is excellent and consistent. The consistency of plate steel is very important in this business and there are no surprises with XLERPLATE®."

Bisplate80® and Bisplate400® are registered trademarks of Bisalloy Steel.