ExEcutivE REPORt AP Day at GGR The GGR Group recently hosted a Lead AP Group Open Day,
where interesting kit was shown and many important presentations were made. Nick Johnson reports.
M
uch has changed for the better in the UK lifting industry over the years.
Safety has improved, procedures enhanced, new roles (such as Appointed Persons) created and more innovative equipment developed. All this was very evident at the recent Industry Lifting Lead AP (Appointed Person) Group open Day, hosted by the GGR Group in conjunction with Skanska.
Attended by around 160 industry professionals, the event was staged at the GGR Group’s large facility at Haddenham. Here visitors could update themselves on the latest industry developments and initiatives by attending the many informative presentations, checking out company displays and looking at some of the latest products being launched by GGR and others.
One new product dominating the outside display area was GGR’s new Sky Robot 1500. This company has played a pivotal role in getting glazing robots established in this country and it traditionally exhibits some of its smaller units at the annual Executive Hire Show. But the newcomer really raises the bar and it would be difficult to display internally at Coventry!
Developed in conjunction with GGR in China, the Sky Robot 1500 utilises a self- propelled boomlift fitted with an eight sucker
head on an articulating arm. The head has a wide range of movements including 360 degree powered rotation, 80 degree powered slew left and right, as well as 90 degree powered upwards tilt and 30 degrees downward tilt.
The Sky Robot 1500 weighs 19,500kg, its maximum lifting capacity is 1,500kg, and its maximum working height (when used for horizontal glazing) is 26.16m. The impressive machine is powered by an 80V 520Ah lithium battery with an 110V 32A built-in charger.
GGR is finding that its small Sunward crawler cranes and Libro counter balance beams are proving increasingly popular with hire customers. The beams feature a remote controlled counterweight saddle that allows loads to be lifted on the hook at the other end of the beam under overhangs that prevent direct lifting with a crane hook.
Use of counter balance lifting beams was covered in two of the presentations during the day. One was by Janus Brtiz of the GGR Group and the other was an interesting site application detailed by Kumar Pallanti of Skanska SCS, who had pioneered the use of two counter balance beams during a tricky tandem lift on the HS2 project.
Interestingly, the use of helicopters for lifting in this country is on the increase. A number of recent jobs, including some in the centre of London, were revealed by Teddy Holt of the Radius Group (which is best known for its hire of tower cranes).
A new Unic spider crane fitted with a hydraulic luffing fly jib being prepared for its Bauma debut.
Peter Bolton of the HSE gave a talk in which he stated that the Government remains committed to Net Zero by 2050 and to incentivise innovation and investment. Other aims include further embedding the use of BIM and facilitating the move to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
The arrival of the Sky Robot 1500 takes the use of glazing robots up to a new level.
Paul Taylor, Head of Card Schemes at NOCN, provided information on forthcoming changes to the CPCS operator card scheme. Devised to reduce bureaucracy and unnecessary costs, these are likely to include more use of online application forms, moving the operator logbook online, new standards for the eight most popular categories of plant, bringing trainer cards back and reducing the theory test time.
Spotted in amongst the significant stock of compact Unic spider cranes inside GGR’s spacious Haddenham facility was a new unit with a hydraulic luffing fly jib destined for launch at the big Bauma exhibition in Munich at the end of this month. GGR is also understood to be staging the major launch of a new Unic with a new style boom / fly jib configuration designed to increase operational flexibility. n
A Libro 2500 counter balance beam and glazing head being carried by a Sunward crawler crane.
30 Executive Hire News - October 2022
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