Airpes spreader beam for wind farm lifts
7 July 2020Lifting, weighing and below-the-hook equipment manufacturer Airpes has shipped the first in a series of 75t adjustable spreader beams to a wind turbine manufacturer. Airpes says the beam can also be used beneath the hooks of mobile cranes in the field.
The beam, manufactured at Airpes’s main factory near Barcelona, Spain, weighs approximately 5t and measures approximately 10m. Its flexible design allows it to be deployed beneath the hooks of overhead cranes as well as mobile cranes with capacities ranging from 100t to 400t.
The device has a three-way adjustable balance mechanism that allows for different operating environments. The bale that rigs the beam to the hook can be shifted forward and aft, when unloaded, to adjust for new types of loads with different weight distributions.
While its primary use will be to lift turbines in the final stages of manufacturing and assembly, Airpes says the spreader beam could also be used to lift turbines for wind farm repowering projects. Repowering involves the replacement of older wind turbines and components with newer generation ones.
Airpes added that Buckner and Barnhart, both mobile crane and rigging firms, could use the product in the field.
