Toa Civil Construction are experts at earthworks, drainage, roading, and landscaping. That expertise keeps them in demand and frequently includes the type of work that lasts long into the night, when there’s less disruption to traffic. For Waven Hapi, Toa Project Manager, there’s other considerations, too. Night work has to be efficient to keep costs down, and every crew member is busy operating a piece of equipment or driving a truck.
“We’ve been doing stabilization work on State Highway 2 and have found the SiteMaster 2000 to be really good. It’s an innovative bit of equipment and lets us kill two birds with one stone – using it as a water trailer and as a lighting tower.” says Waven.
This is exactly what the SiteMaster was designed to do – it makes work easier. Combining a water trailer, lighting tower, and generator, all into one unit, means a single machine only needs a single operator to do multiple jobs. “The type of operation we’re running means all our guys are either operating a piece of equipment or driving a truck. The SiteMaster saves the hassle of coming back and forth, doing multiple trips.”
The Toa crew uses the SiteMaster, moves it, and uses it again. Every use saves time and increases efficiency. It sounds straightforward, and it is, but it also takes a bit of forethought. Try to move lighting towers with Halogen bulbs, and they’ll blow unless you’ve waited for them to cool down. So we fitted quick-cooldown LED lights to stop the standstill between on-site movement. It’s a little thing that adds up to a big difference over the course of a long night.
Critically, the SiteMaster works every time, too. The night crew is busy and can’t afford to waste time with faulty equipment, as Waven explains: “The challenge with nightworks is getting machinery that is reliable. There’s no mechanics.”
Reliability comes from a Honda engine known for being as bomb-proof as they come. The rest of the SiteMaster follows suit. For example, the lighting tower is winch-driven so there’s less to go wrong, and it’s easier to maintain. Having a reliable power source is important too, and the 5kVA Electric Generator provides more than enough power for the crew to power through the night and plug in the tools that help them get the job done. Maybe even the kettle for a warming brew in the cold, early hours.
“The generator is super helpful. The drainage crew uses them for their breakers – it’s easy. And as a contracting crew that’s what we’re looking for. The SiteMaster is easy to use, simple to use, and we know it’s going to work every time we need it.”
“It’s been a huge help – you notice a difference on site. With these stabilising operations you move from patch to patch, so it’s good having this with the light tower and water trailer together as you can move it as one operation, without having to double up on another ute to go and move to the next site. We couldn’t do without it.”
