Genesis GXT shear is on the job in Australia

Liberty Industrial, a demolition firm based in Glebe, Australia, has commissioned a new Genesis GXT 2555R mobile shear, which it calls the largest and most powerful mobile shear ever built.

With a cutting force of more than 3,000 tonnes, the custom-made GXT 2555R attachment is designed to mechanically shear large heavy steel structures with ease and to be capable of cutting through a 1.2-metre (48-inch) steel I-beam in a single bite.

The shear was designed and manufactured in Superior, Wisconsin, by Genesis Attachments LLC specifically to work in tandem with Liberty Industrial’s Liebherr R994 demolition excavator.

Weighing in at more than 31 tonnes, the shear—when paired with Liberty Industrial’s Liebherr R994—brings the combination to a gross weight of more than 260 tonnes. The shear itself is 7.85 metres (25.75 feet) in length and 2.9 metres (9.5 feet) tall. It has a jaw opening of 1.4 metres (4.6 feet) and a depth of 1.4 metres (4.6 feet).

Through investment machinery like the GXT 2555R Shear, Liberty Industrial says it can safely and efficiently deliver the largest and most technically challenging demolition projects heavy industry has to offer.

Liberty Industrial Director Clinton Dick says the GXT 2555R is perfect for heavy industrial demolition projects like the demolition of oil refineries, power stations and mining infrastructure. "This technology will make the demolition environment a safer and more efficient workplace,” he comments.

“The recently refurbished 994 and the new GXT2555R is the most formidable demolition rig anywhere on the planet,” adds Dick. “In the few weeks we have seen it in action the results have been eye watering.”

The shear is making its debut at Liberty Industrial’s Munmorah Power Station Demolition Project. The project involves the removal of a 1,400-megawatt coal-fired power station and is the largest power station demolition project to be carried out in Australia to date, according to Dick. The shear will be put to work processing large structural steel members associated with the heavy boilers, turbine hall, precipitators and filter fabric structures.

“The obvious key advantage is that we can now demolish substantially larger and heavier structures without the need to preweaken them, reducing any reliance on working at heights and removing the risk of personnel preweakening structures,” says Liberty Industrial Director Simon Gill.

“Reducing the need for working at heights and the removal of personnel from the demolition work face has been the corner stone of our risk minimization strategy,” adds Gill. “The arrival of the GXT 2555R further reinforces and strengthens that strategy.”

Liberty Industrial describes itself as a provider of deconstruction services serving the government, mining, oil and gas and power generation sectors as well as other heavy industrial customers in Australia.