In the heart of the TransLink industrial estate opposite Launceston Airport at Western Junction, Crisp Bros. & Haywards has built a workforce that can tackle the big stuff when it comes to steel construction projects.
A few months ago company chair John Lord and project manager Shaun Brown proudly watched the final massive steel beams bound for the West Gate Tunnel Project in Melbourne, Victoria, roll out of the massive, custom-built workshop.
The contract was awarded in May 2021, and required a new purpose-built facility that increased overhead lifting capacity from 80T to 160T to enable manoeuvring of the giant lengths of steel.
All together 69 individual steel bridge girder sections were built, making up three bridge assemblies to serve as distribution lanes from the tunnel into the western end of the city.
Tasmanian Heavy Haulage driver Brodie Shearer had the honour of delivering the final massive load to Devonport and roll it onto a Searoad ship to cross Bass Strait.
Of the 69 sections transported, the largest section moved was 110 tonnes, 35m long and 5.5m wide.
According to Mr Brown, who delivered the project to the October 6 deadline, an average of 40 tradesmen and five apprentices were involved in working on the bridge components every week with 145,000 man hours required to get the job done.
“I could not be more relieved, nor more proud, of what we have achieved and it all comes down to the skills of the workers here at Haywards,” he said.
“In total 5000 tonnes of steel was handled in the production, that is approximately 250 trailers of raw material coming into Tasmania and 69 large sections being delivered to the site in Victoria.
“Very few shops in Australia have the capacity to handle this type of work – four to be exact – and only two can build the wind towers that are also a specialty of ours.”
From a mining underpass in the Tanami Desert to roof sections for Amy Park and Southern Cross Station, Haywards has been going from strength to strength and now employs more than 300 people.
Subcontractors included Infrabuild, Fusion NDT, Survey Resources, McElligotts, GJ Engineering, P&D L Engineering, Searoad and Tasmanian Heavy Haulage.
McElligotts, a painting business over the road from the Haywards workshop, grew from nothing just to meet the needs of Haywards and have prospered along with its contractor.
“One of the most satisfying outcomes was seeing all of our 15 apprentices spent some time working alongside our skilled tradesmen, gaining valuable experience working on the project,” Mr Lord said.
“We’re in the value business – you’re only as good as your last job and we’ve got customers coming to us, sitting down and they don’t even haggle over things, because they know that the people here can do what they want and do it well.”
The second world war was drawing to a close when two brothers ventured north from Hobart to purchase their uncle’s concrete business in Launceston.
By June 1948, Gerald and Noel Crisp had expanded the welding and cutting equipment outfit by buying a local spray-painting business. It was not until 1961 that Crisp Bros. Pty Ltd was officially established by Lloyd Scott; a farmer from the property Somerville at Birralee.
He had arranged with Gerald Crisp to swap Somerville for the Wellington St business of Crisp Bros. with the appropriate cash adjustment. Lloyd firmly believed he was a better estimator/steel fabricator than farmer!
The company operated successfully manufacturing a range of products such as shower screens, blinds, fly-wire and security doors, wrought iron products and steel fabrication. Over the years, the business became increasingly involved in major fabrication projects throughout the state.
By the late 1970s, Lloyd recognised retirement was looming, but he didn’t have a succession plan in place. In 1979, he facilitated and financed a management buyout – the template of which is still instrumental today.
It is an ethos where directors and management believe that, apart from operating with excellent people, the ownership strategy is a significant factor in the success of the company and essentially requires all shareholders to be involved full-time in the management and operation of the company.
In 1965 Johns Perry Ltd (then Johns & Waygood Ltd) bought Phoenix Foundry Ltd and its subsidiaries. Johns Perry already had a steel fabrication factory in Hobart, and in 1972 all the Tasmanian operations were renamed Johns Phoenix. Major restructuring and re-naming took place within the Johns Perry group in 1978.
The foundry at Franklin Village was renamed Johns Perry Castings. The machine shop in Frankland Street, Launceston and the Hobart steel fabrication works were closed, and the Launceston steel fabrication was combined with the Hayward crane operation to become Johns Perry Hayward. In 1982 Johns Perry Hayward moved to new premises at Western Junction.
In 1995 the steel fabrication company Boral Johns Perry Hayward placed its Western Junction-based operation on the market. Kings Meadows-based Crisp Bros. signed a contract to buy Boral Johns Perry Hayward’s plant and equipment.
The take-over was fnalised in August, 1995, with the new business, Crisp Bros. & Haywards becoming the state’s biggest steel fabrication and construction group.
Joining forces and expanding meant the bigger jobs started to flow and workshops were built at Wynyard and Margate.
The Margate site was crucial to cater for the building and repairing of aquaculture fish feeding barges and to provide a 600-tonne slip to both launch and dry dock vessels.
Crisp Bros & Haywards built the bridge over the Domain, a ship loader at Burnie, handled some shutdown work for smelters, worked at West Coast mines, completed some work for Tas Ports and also worked on big tanks that bring liquid fuel to the state.
The company name is on the Tahune Airwalk, Mona, Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre, Royal Hobart Hospital and Three Capes Track, just to name a few.
It was charged with constructing half of the roof at Amy Park soccer stadium and also part of the Southern Cross Station roof.
“I realised we were a major player on the national stage when I went to the meeting about Amy Park, and I sat down with the builder to get a feel for what the job involved,” Mr Brown said.
“There was no negotiating, he said I want you to do the job,” before I’d even wrapped my head around it.
“It was the first time I saw how valued our skill base was in the Melbourne market, it was a great moment of clarity.”