BELOW THE HOOK Ӏ SECTOR SNAPSHOT


Project in the Irish Sea. Harland and Wolff is responsible for unloading and assembly of the clean power generators, and then also for loading them back when assembled onto barges for installation at sea. The need, therefore, was for a rig that could multi-task. Modulift’s remit was to design a rig which could lift the individual turbines and towers both separately and assembled, but which could also lift three wind turbine blades in one go to enable the blades to stay in their calibrated sets for each turbine. Modulift engineered a safe,


lightweight, and cost-effective solution allowing Harland and Wolff to continuously store and load for seven months - until the task was complete. The rig consists of two elements


which could be used in various configurations. The first is a giant 500 tonne lifting beam that's six metres long.


Due to the nature of the lift, and the need to minimise the overall weight of the rig itself, Modulift had to design and build the beam to weigh less than 40 tonnes without reducing its capabilities. The lifting beam included inspection hatches and was designed and built to ensure that these would not compromise the strength of the beam. The project was a milestone


for Modulift in designing highly- engineered lifting equipment for lifts of this size. A second element of the project was another feat of engineering: it was the design and fabrication of a 48.5 metre spreader beam that had to weigh no more than 9.6 tonnes in order to maximise the capacity of the cranes. The spreader had to be easy to assemble in situ and to be capable of lifting the wind turbine blades, which, in their sets of three, weigh 75 tonnes and span 61.5 metres. “We spent a lot of time planning the best solution for Harland and Wolff’s requirements and still turned this project around in record time,” says Sue Spencer, sales engineer at Modulift. “With the barges already on their way from Germany we had to battle against the weather to get the components finished and


26 CRANES TODAY


transported to Belfast on time to enable the project to stay on schedule. As demand for heavy lifting is set to increase Harland and Wolff is expecting to use its new 500 tonne lifting beam on many projects to come.


In addition, Modulift has now


standardised its new ‘giant’ lattice spreaders for customers looking to lift long loads up to 100 tonnes. UK-based lifting beam


manufacturer Britlift is also involved in the offshore wind sector. Certex, a leading provider of lifting solutions for the offshore industry, reached out to Britlift when its client required a rapid turnaround on the delivery of a range of custom products for the safe installation of wind turbines on a major European renewables project. Certex is involved in major North Sea wind farms including Dogger Bank – the world’s largest – and the Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal farms in the UK’s Greater Wash cluster off the Norfolk coast. “Offshore wind is a rapidly


evolving industry,” says Jason Griffen, sales manager for Certex


UK. “Turbines are increasing in size and scale, meaning new lifting beams and frames are required to ensure high standards of lifting safety.”


Britlift was able to design,


engineer, and manufacture the first batch of bespoke beams and frames in six weeks. The second suite followed


eight weeks later. In total, Britlift supplied ten beams and frames covering five new designs, including one for lifting a custom 175 tonne three-point T-piece which connects the turbine to the tower.


PIPE LIFTING


Pipe lifting is another common task, for both offshore and onshore projects; and pipes are another awkward-to-handle load. RAM Spreaders, headquartered in Singapore, provides a wide range of lifting attachments for all types of cranes. Its products include special below the hook attachments for pipe handling, as well as spreader beams, bulk handling grabs, and container handling spreaders.


ROPE AND SLING SPECIALISTS TAKES DELIVERY OF PEWAG LEVO LOAD BALANCER


UK headquartered company Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) has added a 20 tonne capacity Pewag Levo load balancer to its hire fl eet. The product, rigged below the hook of a crane, is suitable for various applications where the object to be hoisted has to be lifted horizontally or at a certain angle. It is often used in construction to position steel or concrete structures and bolted connections accurately, tilting and moving profi les in the air rather than on the ground or manually to reduce damage and labour. It has been used for precise positioning of wind turbine blades and components. A shackle and a drop chain are required to attach the load balancer to the


crane's hook.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53