June Cummings reports
The two vehicles go beyond conventional towing. They can lift heavy trucks and semi-trailers over 2.5t from the roadways of south-east Queensland and clear their loads in one third the time it previously took. Three hours was the average, but the HVRUs have pulverised it to 45 minutes.
When the trucks were in the design phase, the first was nicknamed Big Artie, after footballer Artie Beetson because of the muscle he brought to the footie field.
The self contained HVRU clean-up vehicles have very special features. They are fitted with five hydraulically controlled winches and associated anchor points to roll and move heavy vehicles. A hydraulic blade clears road debris. A hydraulic safety barrier reduces the risk of operator injury.
They have dedicated stowage space for ancillary tools and equipment and are equipped with traffic warning signs and lights, fire extinguishers and remote cameras at each end of the vehicle.
The design and manufacture of the HVRUs are considered a world-first and are a local innovation by Ekebol Engineering and Dellgale Cranes, which supplied the base cranes.
South-east Queensland road network has very heavy congestion levels recording 176 major incidents involving heavy vehicles in the Brisbane metro area in the past 12 months including 32 truck rollovers.
Premier Anna Bligh pledged $12.3m in an election commitment to a Fast Incident Response Plan, involving a range of congestion-busting initiatives including the HVRUs.
In being able to quickly remove an immobilised, rolled or damaged heavy vehicle and their load, leaving the owners or insurance company to reclaim the vehicle at a time when traffic volumes are minimal, is a big step forward in managing road congestion. And the service is free.
The big brutes will patrol a territory in south-east Queensland extending north to Caloundra, south to Nerang and west to the Cunningham and Warrego Highways between 4am and 6pm weekdays and are on call all other hours.
They are supported by Open Roads legislation introduced last year which gives authorised officers power to remove abandoned vehicles, loads or other hazards from all roads across the state.
The HVRUs are the heavy end of a roaming service of 11 vehicles providing quick clearance solutions and traffic control for breakdowns, road crashes and spillages. Additionally a Motorway Breakdown Response Service of 12 tow trucks and three safety vehicles patrol seven motorways and remove vehicles from major arteries free of charge.
A barrage of 200 CCTVs and 14 web cameras cover the network from Traffic Management Centres 24 hours a day and a network of satellite new incident response depots holding tools, equipment and materials allow field staff immediate response.
