THE KOMATSU EXCAVATORS BUILDING SYDNEY'S ICONIC NEW BARANGAROO POINT

"Komatsu excavators have played a key role in transforming this site"

Currently nearing completion and due to open in 2015 is Sydney Harbour's iconic new Barangaroo Point, which involves the transformation of one of Sydney's oldest industrial sites into a six-hectare harbour foreshore park.

Barangaroo Point is located at the northern end of Barangaroo where it meets Millers Point.

Named after Cameragal woman Barangaroo, an influencing voice in the early days of colonial Sydney and the second wife of cross-cultural Bennelong, the area is rich in history and symbolic for Australians across all cultures.

An international tender process was held for the park's design in 2009/2010 with Johnson Pilton Walker in association with Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architecture, winning the contract.

The winning design juxtaposes a rugged sandstone topography inspired by the naturalistic pre-1836 shoreline of the historic Port Jackson area, against a flourishing and modern CBD.

In the process, it transforms a disused shipping container yard into one of Sydney's most stunning green headlands, visually linking the headland archipelagos of Balls Head, Goat Island and Ballast Point.

Incorporating native Sydney plants such as large Angophoras, Banksias and Port Jackson and Moreton Bay fig trees, the vegetation element is very similar to the natural bush when the Aboriginal Gadigal people were living there.

In line with Barangaroo's commitment to sustainability, the Barangaroo Point foreshore edge and the northern cove has been created from sandstone extracted from the site. Up to 37,000 cubic metres of Sydney's iconic Hawkesbury sandstone is a key feature, reminiscent of the naturally occurring sandstone foreshores throughout Sydney Harbour.

And from when construction started in August 2012, Komatsu excavators have played a key role in transforming this site.

According to Rueben Newnham, Komatsu Australia's Sales Manager, NSW, over the nearly three-year construction program, multiple Komatsu customers plant hirers and contractors have made Komatsu excavators the machine of choice on the project.

"At least 20 Komatsu excavators have been on site at any one time, and at certain times every single excavator on this busy site has been a Komatsu," said Rueben.

"Machines on site have ranged from PC138US-8s, up to a PC1250-8 fitted with a ripper, along with multiple sizes in between.

"These excavators have been used for a wide variety of tasks, including general excavation both digging and hammer work, grinding using twin headers and rock placement using grabs."

Rueben said a key role for the Komatsu machines has been in rock saw work on the project.

"Komatsu's HydrauMind hydraulic system has proven ideal for rock sawing, due to the system's unique ability to combine optimum hydraulic power with precision control while multiple hydraulic functions are actuated.

"Precision rock sawing has been a critical element of the project; sandstone from the site has been carefully excavated using larger Komatsu excavators such as PC600-8s fitted with rocksaws.

'It was then transferred to a "rock factory" where the rock is cut into precisely sized blocks using smaller machines such as PC138US-8s and PC228US-8s," he said.

Each piece of cut rock is then numbered, barcoded and stored in a "rock warehouse" for placement using GPS co-ordinates according to a carefully developed site design with the end result being a rocky foreshore that closely resembles the original foreshore of over 200 years ago.

When complete, Barangaroo Point will provide a new vantage point for Sydneysiders and visitors alike to soak up the action on Sydney Harbour while revelling in lush naturalistic parkland.