New machinery makes the grade

Published on 06 April 2021

New vehicles at Gracemere Depot

Two brand new graders and a loader have arrived at Rockhampton Regional Council’s Gracemere Depot and will soon be used to improve the Region’s rural roads.

The three new machines form a significant part of Council’s road network capital and maintenance program. 

With approximately 1000km of unsealed roads to maintain, Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Tony Williams said the graders carry out maintenance, gravel re-sheeting and bitumen construction projects.

“The machinery is replaced at the optimum time of balancing productivity and machinery down time, which helps us to optimise our operating costs and leads to efficient road maintenance and construction,” Mayor Williams said. 

“This means less money for ratepayers, faster response times and higher quality roads.

“The Caterpillar 950M Wheel Loader and 2x Caterpillar 150-14A Graders will help to deliver major benefits for road maintenance in the region. 

“The benefit of having new machines means more horse power, the addition of ergonomic operator’s cabins, and increased productivity in the new graders which come with 14 foot blades as opposed to the previous models which were fitted with 12 foot blades.

“The graders also have much newer technology than their predecessors, which means better fuel economy and ease of operation. 

“A fun fact about the new graders is that they do not have a steering wheel, and instead use a joystick to control most of its functions. This allows for greater accuracy while operating.

The contract for the machines was awarded to Hastings Deering (Australia) Ltd to supply Caterpillar machines as part of a competitive tender process. 

“It’s great to see Rockhampton Regional Council adopting some of the latest Grade Control Technology which comes standard on our Caterpillar Motor Graders,” Greg Hewlett, Sales Manager – Government at Hastings Deering said.

“As a large local employer in the region, Hastings Deering enjoy working with Council to supply modern equipment which assists in building higher quality roads faster due to increased productivity that the new machines provide.”

Council’s operators have been inducted on the new machines from the team at Hastings Deering and are looking forward to getting out on the road in the new machines.

The new machines will be used to further improve our rural road network.