Flinders Street Station is among Australia’s and Melbourne’s most recognisable landmarks. The terminus was the first city railway station in Australia and is the best-known railway station in the country. Over the years, Flinders Street Station has become a famous Melbourne landmark, emerging as a symbol of Victoria’s capital city and is an institution in the daily routine of nearly a quarter of a million people.

This is why the reconstruction of dual tram tracks on the corners of Flinders and Swanston Streets was always going to be difficult. This project required the closure of Melbourne’s busiest intersection to enable the replacement of old worn tram tracks and roadway with new infrastructure including electrical conduits, cable pitts and crossovers. Timing was also critical and the job needed to be done fast. This work was crucial to ensure the safety and reliability of Melbourne’s train and tram network system that carries millions of commuters annually in Australia’s second biggest City.

Coleman Rail was formed in 2002 to undertake construction and maintenance contracting in light rail and related activities in Australia, South East Asia and New Zealand; with sub-contractors also employed to carry out demolition and construction work on all major projects. For this assignment, Coleman Rail was the major contractor employed to break out the old tram tracks and out-dated infrastructure, but due to the strict guidelines for Melbourne’s Tram and Road system, reconstruction work had to be carried out over an extremely stringent period of time. They also faced substantial fines if the project was not completed on time.

For this reason up to seven excavators and different contractors were employed to get the job done – and when they turned up, ALL were equipped with an Indeco Rock Breaker. With productivity crucial to getting the job done on time, all contractors were determined to set high standards and quickly set about breaking up the road and tracks. Casabene Excavations and Drainage were one of the major sub-contractor employed, and are also one of the largest Indeco customers in Australia. Located in the Western Suburbs of Victoria, Casabene’s run a fleet of twenty three Indeco Rock Breakers, ranging from HP 150 for small domestic work up to HP 7000 for deep trenching projects.  Pip Casabene formed a relationship with Indeco Australia in 1995 and has complimented his excavator fleet with Indeco Rock Breakers for drainage and excavation work in Melbourne ever since.

Working along side each other, each contractor compared notes on their Indeco breakers, but more importantly were successful in meeting the stringent deadline to complete one of the most vital projects the footsteps of Flinders street has seen.