PROJECT OF THE MONTH | NOVEMBER 2021


purpose, the order for a double 750t lifting system was a first. Until now, a standard order was in the 160t to 180t range but whatever the lifting capacity the architecture is basically the same. It’s a matter of calculating how to spread the load,” said Benoit Nakul, director, Nuclear Production, REEL. According to Nakul, the first challenge when designing a crane capable of lifting such heavy loads is to keep the deadweight of the crane itself as low as possible to reduce the forces that are exerted on the building structure in normal operating conditions and to mitigate the consequences in case of a seismic event. REEL handled the manufacturing of the


four 375t trolleys but due to limited lifting capacity at its site in Villefranche-sur- Saône, fabrication of the four girders was subcontracted to Asturfeito in Spain. “We’re dealing with structures that are almost 50 metres long, with tolerances in the millimetre range. Welding is a particularly delicate operation as the heat/energy loads involved can cause irreversible deformations, and we need to butt-weld 12m-long, 60mm-thick steel plates and still achieve perfect planarity,”


www.hoistmagazine.com | November 2021 | 11


said Nakul. “The girders that come out of the factory have a slight, deliberate curvature. This ‘counter-boom’ is precisely calculated to allow the girders, once in place, to straighten under their own weight. The design still allows for some flexibility as each crane will lift a wide range of loads, from a few dozen to hundreds of tons. “The quest for the best ratio between


deadweight and strength has resulted in a mass of approximately 600 tons per


overhead crane (including the girders, their auxiliaries and the trolleys). This means we have a crane system weighing 1,200 tons that is scaled to lift up to 1,500 tons—25% more than its own weight. And this huge mass needs to be manoeuvred and positioned with millimetre precision.”● As ITER enters the next phase of development it plans to hold a Business Forum at Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, France, April 5 -7, 2022.


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