A 280t tight fit

It's a type of job that the Italian-owned heavy-lift and special transport firm has a lot of experience in. But that didn't stop it being a challenge.

Replacing large pieces of equipment in restricted environments like this involves overcoming numerous obstacles. The replacement of old stators in warehouses comprises a plethora of obstacles starting from the restricted area in which they are usually positioned.

Fagioli used two sets of hydraulic gantry cranes, 48m of rail for skidding operations, two strand jacks, a cross beam, a swivel, rollers and auxiliary material to lift, skid with longitudinal translation, rotate and perform the replacement operation of the old stator and the final positioning of the new one. The stators weighed 280t each.

The old stator was lifted from its foundation and skidded onto tracks for 15m and back onto foundations where temporary supports had been previously positioned. The client then removed some parts from the stator reducing the weight of the whole structure.

With the overall weight reduced, the old stator was lifted again and skidded on tracks for 10m, and then rotated 90° in order to allow it to be lowered into a hole giving access to the building. The stator was moved for 5m more over the hole, where it was lowered for about 20m directly onto a trailer.

Installing the new stator required performing the same operation in reverse.