Redmont Handrail Project
A 6.5 KM Handrail Project on a tight deadline to ensure the safety of Train Drivers in the Pilbara
The Project
While striving to meet the increasing demand for iron ore in China, BHP had a bottleneck – due to safety issues, train drivers could not operate safely between Newman and Port Hedland – a main route for iron ore shipments.
In order to make it safe, the train schedule was reduced to 25% of normal production – a major restriction. This meant that finding a solution was of critical importance.
To resolve the situation, BHP decided that handrail would be placed along side the track, painted in Golden Yellow to allow maximum visibility and prevent safety incidents.
The Challenge
In order to get more trains running as fast as possible, the handrails were given a deadline of two months. The painting was the last stage in the process, and fabrication was running behind schedule.
The handrails were painted to the BHP Specification G/2, which consists of an Epoxy Primer and Catalysed Acrylic.
There were over 2,600 panels, making up 6,500 meters of handrail to be painted, packed and dispatched – on time.
Luckily, the fabricators knew where to turn…
The Solution
Ferro-Clean – The Handrail Experts.
With very little time to get prepared, Ferro-Clean designed a custom-built system to process the handrails.
The final day was running to schedule when another two truckloads turned up from the galvanisers – if these were not processed, the fabricator would have incurred serious damages for BHP’s lost production.
Ferro-Clean rose to the challenge and with a team effort, despatched the last bundle on Friday night – 31st August.
