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Draft:Richard Crauford

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Richard Crauford
Crauford with four completed hydraulic cylinders in the Janox shop in 2017.
Born
Richard Haigh Cambie Crauford

(1945-03-20)20 March 1945
NationalityAustralia
EducationUniveristy of New South Wales (BE, Mechanical Engineering)
Occupations
  • Engineer
  • Entrepreneur
  • Businessman
Years active1969 - Present
Spouse
Mary Agnes Crauford
(m. 1977)
Children2

Richard H.C. Crauford

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Richard Haigh Cambie Crauford is an Australian hydraulic system consultant based in Canada at Janox Fluid Power in Delta, British Columbia. For 50 years Crauford has worked in the hydraulics industry.[1] providing hydraulic systems to clients including BC Hydro, SNC Lavalin, Peter Kiewit Sons, and BC Ferries, working on notable projects such as the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal[2] and Port Mann Bridge[3]

Engineering Career

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1969-1971

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After graduating with a BE in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in 1969, Crauford began his engineering career working as a Mechanical Engineer for Hammersley Iron Ltd. in Dampier, a large iron ore mining and exporting company in West Australia. Over the span of two years, Crauford handled projects including a major revision of rail car dumper discharge hopper systems and the design of heat exchanger systems for water cooled steel structures in and iron ore palletizing plant.

1971-1974

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In 1971, Crauford moved to Canada and worked for SNC Lavalin in Montreal, playing a critical role in the lead smelters blast furnace in Bathurst, New Brunswick, as well as the automatic transportation and stripping system of zinc cathodes in the electrolyte zinc refining process in CEX Valleyfield, Quebec. Crauford would go on to leave SNC Lavalin and work elsewhere while remaining in Canada.

1974-1984

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After leaving SNC Lavalin, Crauford joined Magneto Hydraulics as a partner in 1974. As a partner, Richard was involved in all major projects taken on by Magneto. After 10 years as a partner, Crauford would go on to buy out his fellow partners and established Janox Fluid Power Ltd as the sole acting principal.

1984-2023

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As the sole principal of Janox Fluid Power, Crauford was involved in every major project taken on by Janox. Over the better part of 50 years Crauford and Janox began specialized in the design and supply of hydraulic powered machinery for heavy industry. After 39 years as the principal of Janox Fluid Power, Crauford sold[4] Janox to Boundary Equipment.

2023-Present

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After selling Janox, Crauford remains an integral part of the team at Janox and continues to manage specialty hydraulic projects taken on by Janox. In June 2024, Richard celebrated the 50th anniversary of Janox Fluid Power.

Notable Projects

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Seven Mile Dam[5]

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BC Hydro wished to install anchors in the Seven Mile Dam near Trail, BC, as part of a dam safety upgrade. The solution involved installing approximately 57 anchors, with each anchor installed in a hole, drilled through the concrete dam, and into the rock below the dam. The longest anchors were approximately 400 feet in length. Each anchor consisted of 92 strands with each strand having a guaranteed ultimate tensile strength of 58.6 kips. A large hollow rod jack was required to tension each tendon anchor precisely. The jack was required to stress the anchor tendon to 80% of the guaranteed ultimate tensile strength, and must elongate the anchor with a single movement, without resetting of the grippers on the individual strands. 92 strand anchors were larger than any anchors previously used in the world, and hence the 2200-ton capacity strand jack was larger than any previously built. Janox developed a unique solution of a deflection compensating sealing system for this jack, to achieve sealing in these critical areas. The jack worked perfectly, and the 57 anchors were installed without problem.

BC Ferries Swartz Bay Design Build[6]

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In 2004, BC Ferries called for tenders for design and build of a new berth at Swartz Bay Berth 2, complete with foot passenger loading facilities at Swartz Bay Berth 2 & Swartz Bay Berth 3.

Janox joined a consortium with Ramsay Group (steel fabrication), Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd.(marine construction), Hebden Engineering (design). The consortium was successful and was awarded the work.

The berth consisted of a large concrete float (approx. 6,000 tonnes). The double deck two-lane ramp was supported at its seaward end by the concrete float. The concrete float was anchored to the seabed at the shore end, by means of a large pylon attached to the seabed and by large mooring chains attached to concrete anchor blocks at the seaward end. This concept eliminated the need for a large number of piles driven into the seabed.

A unique feature of this berth was the use of large hydraulic dampers, to absorb the energy of impact of a vessel. The benefit of the hydraulic dampers is that the compression force is relatively constant over the full deflection distance of the damper, whereas with conventional rubber fenders, the compression force is approximately proportional to damper deflection. The use of hydraulic dampers resulted in significantly smaller reaction forces on the concrete float, which permitted the use of a more lightly constructed float, with resultant cost savings.

The two decks of the vehicle loading ramps, form a large steel truss, which is supported from the concrete float by means of four ramp lift cylinders, connected in pairs, with the two outer pairs cross connected, and the two inner pairs cross connected. This concept permits the float to roll with respect to the ramp, due to wave action, or change in attitude of the float, due to load on the ramp.

The ramp lift system is active lift type, which means that the ramp height can be adjusted, while carrying full live load.

The ramp is fitted with an automatic levelling system, which slowly raises or lowers the ramp, when the apron is in FLOAT on the vessel, in order to maintain the optimum driving transition between the ship’s deck, apron and ramp. This system uses inclinometers on the apron and ramp and a PLC to process the information, and issue commands to the hydraulic system.

This system has been in use since 2006.

Port Mann Bridge Cable Stay Winches[7]

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Peter Kiewit Sons required a fast and reliable method to install approx. 15,000 construction steel strands into the approximately 250 cable stays for the Port Mann Bridge. Each stay tube contained between 45 and 75 strands of .62” Ø. Janox worked with Kiewit on the conceptual design of the system. The strand installation system consisted of a shuttle, which was moved up and down inside the stay tube, by means of two winches. Two sections of strand were attached to the shuttle, which were then pulled up inside the stay tube, by means of a primary winch, which was located on the roadway adjacent to the bridge tower and connected to the shuttle by means of a ¼” Ø wire rope and several blocks.

After the two strands had been locked and tensioned, the shuttle was returned to the roadway by means of the secondary winch, which was located near the outer end of the cable stay. The wire strand was delivered on large wooden spools, which were placed on uncoilers adjacent to the secondary winch. The uncoilers were fitted with hydraulic brakes to prevent overrunning of the spool at the end of the pull-in operation. The spoolers could also be powered in the line-in direction to wind on surplus strand. Each system consisting of two winches and two uncoilers was controlled by a single radio control. This eliminated the need for control wires on the busy bridge deck. A total of 8 sets of these installation systems were manufactured (16 winches and 16 uncoilers in all). The systems worked perfectly, and the strands were installed in all the cable stays without problems or delays.

The year following completion of the Port Mann Bridge, there were problems with ice which had built up on the cables, falling into traffic as vehicles traversed the bridge. Kiewit engaged in discussions with Janox at that time to retrofit the winches to serve as de-icing devices which would be used to scrape ice from the cables in the event a severe ice-up occurred in the future.

Personal Life

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Richard Haigh Cambie Crauford was born on May 20, 1945 in Sydney, Australia. Crauford has 3 sibilings and was named after his great uncle, Henry James Cambie, a prominent figure in the completion of Canada's transcontinental railway.

From 1965-1969, Crauford completed his Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New South Wales, in Syndey Australia. He would go on to move to Canada in 1971 to continue his engineering career.

Crauford married his wife, Mary Agnes Crauford, on May 21, 1977. Mary is a retired physiotherapist who owned and operated her own practice over her career. Richard and Mary went on have two children, James Cambie Crauford (b. November, 1981, d. June, 2017), and Anna Eileen Crauford (b. December, 1983). Ana is currently a speech language pathologist out of Pemberton, BC.

In his spare time, Richard enjoys travelling and outdoor activities such as cycling and downhill skiing. Richard has travelled for cycling trips through the Baltics, Italy, Australia, and South Africa. Additionally, Richard has skied at many world-class downhill ski resorts including Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, Zermatt in Switzerland, and Val d'Isère in France. In addition to Richard's rich travel history for cycling and skiing, Richard has visited many other destinations including China, Japan, Anastatica, Turkey, the Galapagos Islands, Egypt, and Marrocco to name a few.

Notes

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  1. ^ Janox experience: Custom designed hydraulic projects. Janox. (2024, May 21). https://janox.ca/janox-experience/
  2. ^ Fender panel system: BC Ferries Swartz Bay Loading Ramp: Ramsay group. Ramsay Machine Works. (2021, December 7). https://ramsaymachineworks.com/portfolio/swartz-bay-design-build-berth-2/
  3. ^ Admin. (2024, May 7). Port Mann Bridge. Janox. https://janox.ca/project-portfolio/port-mann-bridge/
  4. ^ "Boundary Mining Group Strengthens Position in Critical Infrastructure with Acquisition of Janox Fluid Power". August 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Sutton, J. J., Frenwick, G. J., & Stephenson, N. G. (2004). Seven mile dam: dam stability improvements. Canadian Dam Association Bulletin Spring 2004, 15(2), 12–17.
  6. ^ Fender panel system: BC Ferries Swartz Bay Loading Ramp: Ramsay group. Ramsay Machine Works. (2021, December 7). https://ramsaymachineworks.com/portfolio/swartz-bay-design-build-berth-2/
  7. ^ Admin. (2024, May 7). Port Mann Bridge. Janox. https://janox.ca/project-portfolio/port-mann-bridge/

References

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