Marr Contracting

On the eve of Anzac Day we honour those who have lost their life or loved ones to war. We also acknowledge the courage of people, including those in our business, who have bravely served for their country.

Meet Tony Marsden: Mobile Crane Operator, larrikin and ex-Commando with the Australian Army. He's a familiar face on Sydney construction sites with Tony and our Grove GMK6400 playing an essential role in erecting and installing our tower cranes working across the city. Tony has been part of Marr's team on-and-off for the best part of a decade and in the crane and rigging industry for more than 30 years. Before he gained his riggers ticket and crane operator’s license, he spent three years working as a part of what is now the Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Tony joined the ADF as a ‘young fella with a lot of energy’, a sense of adventure and a history of military service in his family. Although he refused to swear on the bible or take an oath of allegiance to the Queen, he did make a ‘promise’ to Australia that continues to this day in his role as Vice President of Malabar RSL where he supports returned servicemen, war veterans and their families.

Tony’s training as a Commando and experience working as part of a highly skilled, elite team in a high-risk environment set him up with valuable skills that draws upon in his civilian career. Operating specialist equipment, following precise instructions, embracing a physically demanding job, and working as a part of a tightknit team are just some of the core competencies that come with Tony’s work.

His career has taken his from working with BHP in Western Australia and across the world to us, and he says working at Marr is the best job he’s ever had.

“What Marr does really well is employ the right people, invest in them, and then have faith in them to make decisions. There’s a strong sense of mutual trust which is really important in an industry like ours,” Tony says.

Marr has been awarded the contract to deliver specialised heavy lifting crane services on the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) in Cheshire, United Kingdom.

A joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and FCC Environment, the 60MW energy from waste (EfW) plant will have the capacity to process 600,000 tonnes of waste per year capacity – producing enough power for 125,000 homes.

Working in conjunction with the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor, Black & Veatch, Marr developed a two-crane solution utilising the world’s largest capacity luffing tower crane, the .

Offering lift capacities of up to 110 tonnes and a reach of up to 73 metres to lift the 70-tonne drum and boiler waterwalls weighing 85 tonnes, the solution will support Black & Veatch’s preferred / methodology by allowing larger sections of plant and equipment weighing up to 85 tonnes to be installed in fewer lifts.

“We’re excited to be working in the UK with a client like Black & Veatch who can see the benefits that the right cranage solution can deliver to a project. With the ability to lift in larger, heavier components, our approach will reduce the number of lifts required, helping to deliver a safer, more productive site,” said Marr’s Managing Director, Simon Marr.

“Marr’s experience in the successful delivery of similar large-scale EfW plants in Australia and the Middle East is ideally suited to emerging trends in the UK. Larger plants demand more efficient construction solutions and can really benefit from the use of technology such as the Marr Transit System,” said Steve Ryder, General Manager – International, Marr Contracting.

Read more at: https://www.marr.com.au/news/marr-contracting-awarded-heavy-lifting-contract-on-lostock-sustainable-energy-plant/

WE'RE HIRING: YARD LEADING HAND/ SUPERVISORS
LOCATION: SOUTHWEST SYDNEY (FULL-TIME)

Reporting to our Cranes & Rigging Yard Superintendent, we have two new positions at separate facilities (in Sefton and Villawood) where you will oversee and coordinate the activities of labourers, painters, boilermakers, and riggers to ensure the safe and efficient operation of our yard. This includes planning and assigning daily tasks, providing guidance and training to yard personnel, monitoring work progress and quality, ensuring compliance with safety regulations, and fostering a positive work environment.

We are looking for someone who has relevant Leading Hand/ Supervisory experience & can successfully lead a small team to get the job done.

Find out more and apply at:
https://www.seek.com.au/job/74246076?ref=search-standalone&type=promoted =c1cb939a049615a42f6a3f341ef32bdc4fa19a7c

CASE STUDY: Eighteen months before construction started on the new Sydney Metro Crows Nest Station, Marr’s team was approached by the end-client, Sydney Metro, during the front-end design phase to develop a craneage methodology for the project. Leveraging Marr’s experience in successfully delivering on a number of other Sydney Metro station projects where similar approaches to cut-and-cover method of station box construction had been employed, the goal was to align the cranage solution to Sydney Metro’s preferred precast and modular construction methodology.

Construction of the new station came with a number of challenges including: - a constrained site with limited space for positioning the cranes & delivery of materials & equipment;
- it's location adjacent to one of Sydney’s busiest arterial roads & a built-up retail, commercial and residential precinct;
- heavy lifting requirements (up to 120T); and
- the construction schedule driven by where this project sat within the overall delivery schedule for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project.

As a result of the solution developed – using two installed within the station box - Sydney Metro issued a considered and evaluated design for the construction tenderers with a suitable cranage solution built into it. Marr was subsequently awarded the heavy lifting contract by A W Edwards.

“Our early engagement on this project supported Sydney Metro’s desire to adopt a designed for Manufacture & Assembly ( ) approach. Then it was about aligning the cranage to that approach & using it to help secure the programme with a safer, more effective & cost-efficient solution,” said our Managing Director, Simon Marr.

Read the full case study: https://www.marr.com.au/projects/sydney-metro-crows-nest/

IN THE MEDIA:
https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/mmc-news/cranes-from-australia-modular-construction/136617/

How giant cranes from Australia could usher in a new era for UK construction Offsite manufacturing has been hit by a number of high-profile company closures. Could doors opened by the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement allowing larger, record-breaking cranes from Australia to boost the sector by allowing for bigger, bolder modular projects?

WE WON! International Cranes and Specialized Transport have announced Marr as the winner of the TopLift 2023 competition. The winning entry was one of our M2480Ds working with BESIX Watpac during our first major lift on Brisbane City Council’s Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.

https://www.internationalcranes.media/news/toplift-2023-the-winner-is-announced/8033640.article

TopLift 2023: The winner is announced Who claimed victory as this year’s winner of the fabled IC TopLift contest?

MEET OUR ENGINEERING CO-ORDINATION TEAM: With Marr increasingly being engaged at the front-end engineering design stage of projects, our Engineering Co-ordination Unit plays an important role in how we deliver value to our clients and end-clients.

The team of qualified mechanical engineers and lift analysts specialising in tower crane solutions brings a world of experience to how we approach a project.

The team works closely with our clients’ in-house engineering teams and engineering partners including to design solutions to the construction challenges that come our way every day.

"Early engagement with us not only allows us to work with clients on developing a cranage solution that suits their preferred construction methodology, but also provides the opportunity for innovative solutions to major logistics challenges," says Marr's Engineering & Design Manage, Andrew Coffin.

WANT TO WORK WHERE THE SKY IS THE LIMIT? We're recruiting for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year , , ,

Find out more and apply at marr.com.au/careers


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MARR Contracting has moved up the ranks to be 12th amongst the world’s largest tower crane fleets according to International Cranes and Specialized Transport (ICST) magazine’s Tower Crane Index for 2023.

Expanding our fleet lifting capacity by 10 per cent, Marr has moved up from 13th position in 2022 in the annual international index which calculates rankings based on the total maximum load moment rating, in tonne-metres, of tower cranes in a fleet.

Marr’s Favelle Favco M2480D Heavy Lift Luffer (HLL) also holds onto its position as the world’s largest capacity tower crane with a total lift capacity of 330 tonnes.

“In the past year we’ve grown our fleet to the meet the increasing demand for our cranes on international projects, particularly in the UK,” said Steve Ryder, General Manager – International, Marr Contracting.

Read more: https://www.internationalcranes.media/news/ic-tower-index-2023-largest-tower-crane-owning-companies/8033327.article

Meet the Team: Kelly White is one of our Rigging Supervisors. He’s also a proud Queenslander, Cherbourg man, husband and father.

Like many of the men from Marr’s Kelly has rigging in his blood. “My Dad was a rigger, so I grew up around cranes and rigging and becoming a rigger just felt like the natural thing for me to do. I love the sense of freedom that comes from working in a tightknit crew high above the rest of the world – there’s a feeling of serenity that comes with that,” Kelly says.

This , Kelly is shaving his beard and growing a mo for his brothers to help raise awareness for .

“It’s a good cause to support, especially when it comes to talking about and ***deprevention. Every year, 190 Australians working in the take their own lives. I’ve lost mates and know that it’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” Kelly said.

Support Marr’s Mo Challenge at: https://movember.com/m/14977328?mc=1

Happy 50th birthday Sydney Opera House!

Like most of the iconic buildings on Sydney’s skyline, Marr was involved in its construction, but not in the capacity you might imagine. Back then, Marr was a mobile crane and haulage business, not the heavy lift tower crane specialists we are today. The main contractor, Hornibrook, engaged us to support the er****on and dismantling of the three cranes working on the project. Marr’s contract also included the haulage and logistics associated with the movement of the precast elements that formed the distinctive ‘sails’ from the holding yard to the construction site.

A decade later, our problem-solving skills came to the fore in helping to address the challenge of how to clean the Opera House’s vast windows. Our solution was ‘the travel tower’ – a huge six-wheeled all-hydraulic vehicle with a powerful telescopic arm with a 45m reach used to lift window cleaners and inspection engineers to the heights of the city’s tallest buildings at the time.
[pictured excerpts from Sydney Opera House 10th Anniversary newspaper feature, 1983].

VOTE FOR US in International Cranes and Specialized Transport (ICST)'s TopLift 2023 annual competition of the 10 most impressive lifts from the last 12 months. ICST has nominated us for our completing the first heavy lift on the construction of Brisbane City Council’s Kangaroo Point Green Bridge in February this year - working with BESIX Watpac on the install of the 25 x 25m working platform.

Vote for us (Entry 8. Bridging Brilliance) here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9WHCYBY

MEET THE TEAM: Our Services Manager, Mark Casey, has ‘boomeranged’ back to us after living and working in Canada for the past 4½ years.

A qualified rigger and carpenter, Mark has worked his way up the construction industry ladder from his first role as an apprentice carpenter more than 30 years ago. Since then, he’s held numerous foreman and superintendent roles with Lendlease and Multiplex in Australia, and the Omni Group and CapWest Build in Canada. Most recently, he was the General Manager for Preston Rentals | Canada in Vancouver where he was responsible for establishing and managing Preston’s Canadian operations.

Mark previously worked with us in the role of Projects Manager where he oversaw the day-to-day project management and operations for the installation, climbing and dismantling of our cranes working on major construction and infrastructure projects here in Australia.

Now back at Marr, he will be responsible for managing, coordinating and developing the growing demand for the post-installation services provided to our clients including crane crew labour, rigging, lifting equipment, ancillary plant and equipment.

Want to learn more about our post-installation services? See https://www.marr.com.au/our-services/ or email [email protected]

Built in 1965, the former TCN-9 TX transmission tower at Willoughby was one of Sydney’s most recognisable landmarks for more than 50 years.

The 233-metre lattice tower replaced what was Sydney’s first television tower, built in 1956, and was one of three towers known as ‘the Artarmon triangle’ that broadcast television on behalf of major media companies before being decommissioned in February 2021.

When our client, Mirvac, acquired approval to redevelop the site into a new residential community in 2017, they knew they needed to remove the tower – they just didn’t know how.

After an exhaustive global search to find the best experts, Mirvac Residential assembled a team of leading Australian and international engineers and contractors including Marr Contracting, Robert Bird Group and critical infrastructure experts, Kordia, to come up with a solution for designing and managing the process of dismantling the tower.

See the case study here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dlfJRVIbmo&feature=youtu.be

TCN-9 TX TOWER DECONSTRUCTION - A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO DISMANTLING A SYDNEY LANDMARK Built in 1965, the former TCN-9 TX transmission tower at Willoughby was one of Sydney’s most recognisable landmarks for more than 50 years.The 233-metre latt...

Every day in Australia, nine people die from su***de (that's double the national road toll) and in the last 10 years to 2019, male su***de rates have also increased by more than 40%. Those are alarming statistics, especially for a male-dominated industry like ours and something we need to talk about - not just today, but every day.

In our work, we know that safety and looking out for each other is paramount. And sometimes that means asking 'RUOK?' is just as important as 'are you clipped on?' Thanks for the reminder that you don't need to be an expert to reach out to someone who might need support. It could be the conversation that changes – or even saves – a life.

***deprevention

FLASHBACK: MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND (2002-2006)

Affectionately known as the ‘G to Melbournians, the MCG is Australia’s largest capacity stadium and has been the ‘home of sport’ and other major cultural events in the city since the 1850s.

When the stadium was redeveloped for the 2006 Commonwealth Games it needed to keep at least 80% of seats open for matches during construction. That meant that all construction had to take place from the rear of the building with no incursion onto the arena – posing a significant challenge for the principal contractors, Grocon.

Grocon initially planned to undertake job as a staged project with each of the five stages requiring two tower cranes and a large mobile crane. But plans changed when Grocon’s plant manager heard about Marr’s first 100T capacity M1280D that had been working on the Barrinjuck Dam upgrade in NSW and engaged Marr to come up with a solution for the ‘G.

By that time, we had collaborated with Favelle Favco to develop an even higher capacity tower crane – the 200T capacity M1680D. The solution included using two Favco M440Ds to do the traditional tower crane work, with the larger two cranes (a M1680D and M1680D) to handle the heavy lifting normally done by crawler or mobile cranes.

With the tower cranes standing outside the footprint of the grandstand with reach across almost all of the site, it not only meant that the stadium could stay open but that Grocon had a solution that eliminated the need for expensive ground preparation works, reduced congestion and improved safety on site.

It was a game changing solution for the future of how stadia could be built using our heavy lift fleet. And now, with the trend towards and , Marr’s solutions are helping to accelerate construction by reducing the number of critical path lifts required by:
- Increasing the capacity to lift larger and heavier pre-assemblies and modules; and
- Removing the interface between crane location and playing field construction.

Find out more about our specialist solutions for stadia construction at: https://www.marr.com.au/stadia-construction/

Today, if you look up from almost any vantage point in the Sydney CBD you are likely to see a Marr crane. But if you look down, you might see a manhole cover like this which date back to the late 1800s when our great-great-grandfather established an iron foundry business in Sydney after immigrating to Australia from Scotland. It was working for that same business, then run by our great-grandfather in the late 1920s that our grandfather, Gordon Robert Marr, built what was one of Sydney’s first cranes out of necessity to support the foundry in delivering cast iron components such as grates, fences and water tanks to clients around Sydney. That was the beginning of the Marr family’s journey into the crane business and we’ve been helping to build the Sydney skyline ever since.

We're hiring! Financial Accountant (Sydney)

We're looking for a CA/ CPA qualified (or equivalent) Financial Accountant with at least 2-3 years post qualification experience to join our team. Reporting to our Chief Financial Officer, this newly created position will be responsible for assisting in a range of full-cycle accounting and finance activities whilst supporting the Finance team with monthly close and reporting activities. Construction industry experience is advantageous, but not essential.

For more information and to apply visit: www.marr.com.au/careers

Careers - MARR Contracting Want to work where the sky is the limit? We’re proud of the diverse and talented team of people who wear Marr’s badge with pride. We are problem-solvers who love cranes, construction and the challenges that come with working on some of the biggest and most complex projects around. Our culture is...

In 2020, one of our heavy lift tower cranes broke the world record for the heaviest tower crane lift when we lifted a 255-tonne section of one of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) working on Sydney Metro Barangaroo Station. It was the first time a tower crane had been used to lift a TBM component of this weight and we knew it would be a game changer for large-scale infrastructure projects around the world.

It's a great example of how our unique approach and heavy lift fleet can make a complex task very simple - and we've done it again. This time working with joint venture partners CPB Contractors and Ghella on the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport, Station Boxes and Tunnelling Package where one of our M2480Ds made light work of lifting the front shield of a weighing 265 tonnes in a single lift.

Find out more about our fleet at: https://lnkd.in/gScG3Dye

“Ever since our grandfather built that first crane, innovation has been at the heart of everything we do,” says Simon Marr in this interview with Tim Boreham for Fairfax Media’s ‘Entrepreneur Essentials’ series.

Read the article here: https://www.smh.com.au/business/entrepreneurship/innovation-in-its-dna-marr-contracting-keeps-family-traditions-alive-20230601-p5dd5p.html

Innovation in its DNA: Marr Contracting keeps family traditions alive The third-generation family-owned crane hire company, founded in the 1920s, has done the heavy lifting on many of Australia’s important nation-building projects including the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme.

FLASHBACK: BARRINJUCK DAM (2000)

Although our is the ‘power horse’ of our fleet, the M1280D was the first of our heavy lift luffers to be developed and introduced into our fleet. The first M1280D was developed in 2000 during construction of the Burrinjuck Dam hydro-electric power station in Yass, NSW.

Working with our manufacturing partner, Favelle Favco, we designed what would become the heaviest lift capacity tower crane in the world at the time in response to the challenge of how to lift heavy components to the bottom of the dam wall where there was little room to establish a large crane either on the dam wall or below.

It was the start of a new chapter for Marr’s innovation – which would eventually lead to even bigger cranes and our expansion into international markets.

[Pictured: Gordon Marr (Senior) with Gordon J. Marr and the first M1280D at Barrinjuck Dam in 2000]

Learn more about the M1280D here: https://www.marr.com.au/cranes/m1280d/

CASE STUDY: HINKLEY POINT C TUNNELLING & MARINE PROJECT

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC), being built by EDF (UK), is one of Europe's largest and most complex construction projects and the first new nuclear power station to be built in Britain in more than 30 years. In 2017 Balfour Beatty were awarded the contract to deliver the tunnelling and marine works as one of three major packages of works the contractor is delivering on Hinkley Point C.

Balfour Beatty's open approach to early engagement with their supply chain, was ideally suited to Marr's way of thinking about cranage solutions on large, complex infrastructure projects.

“Although we are well-known in Australia and elsewhere, this was our first project in the UK. It was great to work with a team that is as forward-thinking and innovative as Balfour Beatty. As problem-solvers who love a challenge, we always tend to think differently – so it’s been fantastic to work with a client that is as willing to embrace our heavy lifting technology as Balfour Beatty,” said Tom Batley, Director, Marr Contracting.

Identifying the opportunity to place one of our Heavy Lift Luffing (HLL) tower cranes in a location where it could offer a single solution for all the lifting requirements resulted in:
- lowered construction complexity by reducing the number lifting and handling activities on site
- enhanced productivity through the ability to pick and place segment bundles in one activity.

"The two stand out benefits of the crane were flexibility and dual hook lift ability. The boom length and very high lift capacity enabled operations to be flexible to the changing site configuration, allowing us to pick and place all plant, equipment and materials over a very large area of the site," said Patrick Brady, former Temporary Works Manager, HPC Tunnels & Marine Contract, Balfour Beatty Major Projects.

Read the full case study here: https://lnkd.in/eUNHnGdN

HINKLEY POINT C TUNNELLING & MARINE PROJECT - MARR Contracting A heavy lifting solution for the UK’s biggest construction project