London data centre work for Wolff

London, UK-headquartered global construction company Mace is using five Wolff tower cranes from crane manufacturer Wolffkran on the construction of a data centre, the Powergate Data Centre, in west London.

The cranes are currently operational ten hours per day, although the site is likely to go 24 hours per day in the future. Wolffkran is also suppling the eight tower crane operators and two crane coordinators to oversee and carry out all lifting operations.

According to Wolffkran the Powergate Data Centre project posed various challenges. The site is large with an intricate and delicate network of data cables and other services which cannot not be disturbed during the project. Additionally it was established that heavy lifts would be required right across the site. For this Wolffkran’s planning team determined that five cranes with large lifting capacities should be used.

The cranes in use are: three Wolff 630 Bs; one Wolff 700 B; and one Wolff 500 B.

Four of the cranes have 70m luffing jibs, whilst the fifth has a 60m jib. Cruciform bases are used for four of the cranes, but with twice the usual ballast of between 140t and 195t. This is to ensure the maximum possible stability with such long luffing jibs, during the anticipated heavy lifting operations.

Later this month the Wolff 500 B will be dismantled using a 500t mobile crane, moved to a new location on site and then reassembled in just three days.

To maximise crane usage and minimise downtime Wolffkran has installed the 1Guava app in each of the cranes. This is designed to facilitate the seamless management and monitoring of lifting plans, allowing for real-time progress tracking, monitoring of equipment usage, and evaluation of contractor performance.

“We at Mace have been appointed to manage construction of this hyper-scale data centre set in West London,” says Andrew Wiggins, operations director (construction) at Mace. “The sheer scale of this project reflects the demand for an enhanced digital infrastructure, and we are delighted to have tower crane experts Wolffkran working with us.

“Having successfully tendered for the project, the team at Wolffkran advised on the placement and specification of the cranes needed to meet the site requirements, including working around existing services whilst achieving the desired reach and lift capacity.

“Simply having the right cranes and operators in place is only half the challenge though. Mace have also been really impressed with the crane management app Wolffkran use – 1Guava. The app has really streamlined crane time allocation and simplified lift management on site. This is a big step forward and has been incredibly beneficial for site efficiency.”