Three generations of earthmoving and construction

The current director, Michael Waters, said the family owned business delivers a range of civil construction works, from minor hourly rate works to major government infrastructure projects.

“We have the experience and equipment to cater for the largest to the smallest jobs, carrying out road works, premier excavation, demolition, civil contracting and industrial recycling of concrete, brick and asphalt.” Michael said.

“Much of the work is carried out for the local Council and the water authority, as well as some work for private clients.

“Pipe laying is our specialty and forms the majority of our work across stormwater infrastructure and smallscale PVC pipes to large concrete stormwater drains. We handle pipelines of every size and type of materials for drainage, sewerage and crop irrigation.

Complex infrastructure projects

“We take on complex civil contracting tasks that many other contractors avoid, such as challenging work on seamless sewer infrastructure installation, construction of deep sewers and pump stations, excavating up to nine metre deep caissons. In addition, our team is equipped to handle demolition projects that range from zero setback multi-story town buildings to cottages and large-scale industrial site clearance.

“The Waters Excavations team includes thirty five staff who work with a diverse fleet of 140 machines that includes five 35-tonne, five 25-tonne and two 50-tonne excavators. The machinery fleet also includes loaders, motor graders, scrapers, watercarts, tippers, rollers, skid-steers and crushing and screening equipment.

“It is important to evaluate any new technology that can make the business more efficient and attractive to customers. Visiting the 2016 BAUMA Expo I saw engcon tiltrotators being demonstrated. These tools were being used extensively throughout Europe and I immediately realised the benefit to our business and subsequently purchased our first engcon tiltrotator. “Having seen a tiltrotator for the first time on rail work, I was blown away with its versatility. What particularly took my interest was the use of a 4:1 bucket on this machine.

“The tiltrotator is just like an extension of your hand. Subsequently in 2010 I bought my first tiltrotator (a different brand) and installed it on a wheeled excavator. “Since then, I have seen huge improvements in tiltrotator strength and technology and seeing it demonstrated at the BAUMA 2019 Expo convinced me in 2020 to purchase an engcon EC226 and EC-Oil with the sandwich hitch.

“The ability to drop the rotator off to do normal excavator work without destroying the rotator is a real win. Not to mention using 3D GPS and auto’s through it as well is simply amazing.

Accuracy and saving time

“I have been hugely impressed with the accuracy, which prompted us to purchase another engcon tiltrotator system in 2024. Being able to change hydraulic attachments from the operator’s seat saves so much time. In fact, it reduces the number machines needed on site because it is so easy. No messy hoses anymore!

“Two EC 226 engcon tiltrotators have enabled us to boost productivity and safety, being fitted to two 25-tonne Kobelco SK 250-8 machines that are assisted by a dual engcon EC-Oil hitch and fully automatic Trimble systems. A third engcon system is deployed on a 1.7-tonne Takeuchi TB216 excavator which is used as a gardening machine.

“We have six operators with various skill levels who use the engcon systems. All these people took a just a couple of days to become fully competent, particularly when they discovered how easy it was to use the engcon tiltrotators with the GPS system.

Great for demolition clean up

“Operators particularly liked the tiltrotator for demolition tasks where the engcon saves a lot of time. With its tilt and swivel capability it's easy to swing the bucket around to pick up the stubborn remainder of concrete fragments off the ground.

“The tiltrotator enables the perfect engcon bucket position to accomplish this job a lot faster than using a conventional hitch and bucket. Similarly, when unloading the bucket into a truck the tiltrotator makes it a lot faster and easier to evenly spread the load.

Major landfill development

Waters Excavations is undertaking major work on expansion of cells at the local Council’s Landfill & Community Recycling Centre which is approaching its current capacity.

Josh Waters, manager of engineering systems, said the company is constructing a new 220,000 cubic metre capacity cell which is an environmentally friendly waste disposal which will become the primary regional landfill. “Water Excavations is the principal contractor; therefore, we are managing the complete project that involves construction and lining of the cells, building three Three generations of earthmoving and construction Centre: Waters Excavations director, Michael Waters with co-founding brothers John and Peter Waters. large industrial sheds, new road construction and the complete site infrastructure.

Excavator operator, Ben Schultz said he had been using the engcon tiltrotator system for many years. “The engcon system It gives us many benefits, such as allowing precision angles to be formed, while the integrated grab is particularly useful for situations where objects need to be picked up during the process. “Moving between trenching and mud buckets is a breeze and takes a couple of minutes so there is no loss of productivity. Sites such as this one involves a lot of gradient work, basins, trenching and road batters, so along with the GPS system, the engcon tiltrotator really speeds up the work and helps us deliver high quality detail work that our customers really value.”

The engcon edge

Michael’s son Josh said the business has benefited in terms of efficiency particularly where there's not a lot of space on some sites.

“Having the engcon tiltrotator allows us to use a larger machine. Because we don't have to constantly reposition the excavator tracks, this saves considerable time in terms of having the higher capacity excavator and reducing ground impact by less machine movement. “Where we are required to excavate a trench in the middle of a road, having the engcon tiltrotator minimises machine movements. It also delivers a better quality job outcome as a result of the angles of the engcon bucket.

“Car park construction is where the benefits of the engcon tiltrotator system really become obvious. Being able to set the engcon system to fully automatic (with GPS) to read the car park model makes the work quite easy. The greatest benefit is efficiency for the level of accuracy required by this type of work as you don’t need anyone to keep checking the levels.

“On another project we used our engcon grading beam on a cut and fill residential construction that involved about 3,000 cubic metres of earthworks that had to be reshaped. The engcon grading beam did a great job of spreading the topsoil around with a good standard of finish that provided an excellent compaction for laying top soil.

“Having an engcon tiltrotator all our excavators is a graphic demonstration to our customers that we're prepared to invest in the latest technology to deliver the most efficient work and is just part of the overall appeal of the business.

“Our engcon tiltrotators give our customers an extra level of comfort when they can see us using the latest gear.” Josh added.