Weight of the world

Loads are getting heavier. Prefabricated modules are getting bigger. Lifts and moves that just a few years ago would have seemed out of the question are now, if not routine, at least possible and practicable, and are being performed around the world.

As witness, see Chinese heavy lift company Sinotrans Heavy Lift’s recent heaviest-ever move of an entire building, a 7,500 tonne hotel, which they picked up, rotated a bit to the right, shifted 500 metres, twisted back to the left again, and then set down on new foundations (see Job of the Month, page 9 of our April issue). Accepted these are primarily moves, rather than lifts, and cranes per se are clearly not the only tool for such tasks; we are in the province of SPMTs, strand-jacks, gantries and the like. So given the heavier and more complex tasks in the pipeline it is not surprising that the heavy lift and move sector is developing improved versions of the tools of their trade.

Take heavy lifting specialist Enerpac as an example. It has a new hydraulic telescopic gantry: the Super Boom Lift (SBL) 600. It is a three-stage gantry with lifting capacity of 6000 kN and maximum lifting height of 10.6m.

It has a special feature: a foldable boom – which allows it to be transported easily on standard flatbed trucks. Enerpac has been putting its SBL600 through a rigorous testing regime ahead of shipping it to Australia.

The regime was witnessed by a representative of Lloyds as thirdparty proof of testing. The static load test was to certify the first stage lifting capacity of 6000 kN, with 5000 kN at the second stage, and 3700 kN at the third.

Each gantry leg was subjected to 125% of its load capacity at all three stages.

The static test was followed by a Factory Acceptance Testing which included lifting with 110% of the safe working load of the SBL600 in the upper third stage to 10.6m and testing all gantry movements including the travel of the machine along skid track.

Earlier type approval sideload tests had ensured compliance with ASME B30.1, the industry standard that covers heavy lifting equipment such as hydraulic jacks, hydraulic gantries and strand jacks.

The SBL600 is fitted with Enerpac Intellilift wireless controls: with no cables, there are no tripping hazards or risk of incorrect connections. Built-in safety alarms are included which stop gantry operations in unsafe conditions, and each gantry leg has a builtin hydraulic pump which again eliminates trip hazards by removing the need to connect hoses and makes the equipment easier to set up.

WIND WORK

Heavy lifting and transport company Fagioli also has a new heavy-duty jack-up and transport system. The system is designed to be used with Fagioli’s fleet of selfpropelled Cometto SPMTs.

A prime application is for the transport and load-out of oversized offshore wind farm jackets (See our article, page 16). Such jackets can have heights of up to 80 metres.

The system has three main elements: 96 axle Lines of Cometto self-propelled modular transporters, with a combined payload capacity of 4,608 tonnes; a jack-up system, with four electronically synchronised lifting towers with a capacity of 2,400 tonnes; and specialised modular transport beams, fabricated by Fagioli, each with a 23-metre span in standard format.

The three elements each have the potential to be adjusted to suit various project requirements, allowing a smooth and costeffective roll-on operation plus internal yard movements in compliance with standard DNV-GL requirement for load-out projects. With this setup Fagioli has already safely and successfully completed the load out operations of 32 jackets weighting up to 1,800 tonnes each.

The jack-up units form a fully integrated and synchronised system which allows the lifting of entire jackets without any risk of overloading. Modular ‘barrels’ are inserted into each lifting tower to elevate the jacket by one metre increments. The overall combination, despite its size and capacity, is nevertheless very agile and safely permits up to four degrees of lateral movement.

“The jack-up system proved to be the perfect solution for load out operations, especially where locating cones fitted to the jacket legs required accurate insertion into the grillage of the vessel and the standard SPMT stroke is insufficient,” said Alberto Magni, Fagioli general manager for the Asia-Pacific region. “The jackets were safely transported at the full height, then upon reaching the final set down position on the roll-on/roll-off vessel the jackets were safely lowered down into the grillage.”

Tomasz Milewski, Fagioli engineering manager for the Asia- Pacific region, said: “Due to the extreme manoeuvrability of the Cometto SPMTs this set up can be used in very congested areas such as fabrication yards, even when simultaneous activities may be going on, and with a ground bearing pressure equal to 10 tonnes per square metre.”

In this configuration the SPMT can be used with either a threepoint hydraulic suspension or with four-points if a higher level of stability is required.

Fagioli, of course, is Italian. Enerpac’s gantry, as we said, was destined for Australia. And the hotel move was in China. The trend for heavier moving is worldwide.

BRIDGE BUILDS

Engineered Rigging (ER), a company based in Indiana, USA, provides heavy lifting and trailer equipment rental and sales, as well as contract consulting and in-house design and build services. In a public statement ER references report data released in December 2022 by the US Census Bureau according to which the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of construction spending across public and private sectors in the US has been on the rise since 2019 and currently stands at $1,800 billion dollars. ER describes this figure as ‘whopping’. The company’s projects for the year reflect the boom, and it says demand for its heavy lifting equipment rental and sales is reaching an all-time high.

ER’s most popular equipment rental in 2022 was its Enerpac strand jack system which has load capacities of up to 1,405 tons per jack.

Among other applications, the system has been leveraged in: an airport project in Louisville, Kentucky; the demolition of the Wittpenn Bridge in New Jersey; the dismantling of port cranes in Portsmouth, Virginia; the construction of the McClugage Bridge in Peoria, Illinois; and the launching of the tallest bridge in Kentucky: the Pond Creek Bridge on US460 in Pike County.

HEAVY LIFT TOWER CRANES

In Australia, Marr Contracting designs and delivers heavy lift luffing tower cranes and services. It was recently awarded a subcontract for its specialised heavy lifting crane services on the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge over the Brisbane river.

The 460-metre bridge will be among the longest cable-stay pedestrian bridges in the world and is expected to become a must-visit destination in Brisbane.

A key challenge has been how to construct the bridge mast while minimising potential impacts on the many public ferries and private vessels that use the river daily.

Marr’s experience working on the construction of the 318-metre towers on Turkey’s 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, Perth’s signature Matagarup Bridge, and Dubai’s landmark Water Canal Bridges provided a reference frame for the challenges of constructing the 83-metre-tall mast of the bridge.

The company was engaged early in the design phase to develop a lifting strategy that supported the preferred construction methodology. After comparing barge crane and tower crane options, the design team confirmed that Marr’s M2480D Heavy Lift Luffing (HLL) tower crane was the most suitable crane in the Australian market capable of lifting the fully assembled mast head.

The crane, with a 64-metrelong boom, was installed on a platform in the middle of Brisbane River. The heaviest lift it will undertake for the project will be the 28-metre-tall prefabricated steel masthead at 180 tonnes.

“Reaping the benefits of modularised construction, with fewer but heavier lifts, is helping to deliver a safer, more productive site,” said Marr’s managing director, Simon Marr.

Marr’s scope of work will include more than ten major lifts as well as general construction lifting over a period of 12 months. Marr’s M2480D arrived onsite in January, has been erected and commissioned, and has completed its first lift: a 25 metre by 25 metre wide working platform.

Construction of the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge is anticipated to be completed in 2024.

DATA CENTRES

Bridges, wind farm jackets, and refinery modules are classic heavylift loads. Less expected, perhaps, but increasingly in demand are data centres. Marr has an innovative approach based on removing complexity from construction.

Marr’s bespoke solutions for data centres and giga factory projects aim to increase access to multiple work fronts while simultaneously reducing the total number of cranes on a project. This, it says, results in faster completion, reduced costs, and higher quality and ‘greener’ construction. The approach is to reduce the number of critical path lifts by providing the capability to lift larger precast components and increasing the capacity to lift larger and heavier pre-assemblies and modules. How each cranage solution is shaped depends on the requirements of the job but Marr’s fleet of heavy lift luffing tower cranes, including the 330-tonne capacity M2480D, can provide high volume construction lifting with a long reach (up to 120 metres) and heavy lift capacity from a single position. This brings an increased capability to lift larger pre-cast components such as columns, beams, and panels. As a result, fewer cranes are needed. This, matched with a small crane footprint, releases laydown and onsite construction areas.

There is also the potential to build structural steelwork with equipment pre-installed, or to build pre-cast in part- or full-room modules and install large plant equipment including data-handling and storage equipment.

A key feature that has been successfully applied to data centre projects is the Marr Transit System, a modular rail system that provides full crane capability with minimal ground preparation. Ideally suited to the installation of product streams or trains, the system offers increased site coverage, a reduction in the number of cranes required, and fewer de-rigs and re-rigs compared to traditional craneage, avoiding the need to decommission and move cranes as the build continues.

“In one data centre project, the contractor used traditional methods with crawler cranes which sat outside the building,” explains Marr. “The site became congested and confused. Service infrastructure such as power or water couldn’t be installed because cranes were sitting in the way.

“In contrast, we worked closely with a client on a recent project, who adopted our craneage philosophy, and its project was completed in half the time of the other build.

“Now that client has become the partner builder for a data centre provider, and every data centre they build is being completed faster. The last one was completed in just 35 weeks, using our cranes.”

So it seems that the future of modular construction, with fewer but heavier loads, is bringing economies of cost and of time.

Enerpac JS-250 for bridge deck installation by Aertssen Cranes

Antwerp based, Aertssen Cranes has completed the installation a new railway bridge for Eiffage Génie Civil in Laudun L'Ardoise near Avignon, France, using an Enerpac JS-250 jack-up system to raise the 220-tonne bridge deck for SPMT installation. The stability of the jack-up lifting system enabled bridge installation preparations to continue uninterrupted even during high winds.

Measuring 24.80 metres long and 4.80 metres wide, the bridge deck was assembled on site resting on two header beams. Working at ground level rather than at height ensured a safer working environment. Aertssen Cranes was tasked with first positioning two abutments, each weighing 350 tonnes, and then installing the bridge deck, over a weekend. The tight timing and compact construction site made the JS-250 jack-up system the most efficient lifting system.

The two JS-250 lifting beams were connected to the header beams supporting the bridge deck by round synthetic rope slings. It was then raised to 10m, raising up the bridge deck to 7.8m. A SPMT equipped with climbing jacks was positioned under the bridge deck. After lowering onto the SPMT, the deck was transported and installed on the abutments.

“The JS-250 jack-up system's small footprint makes it advantageous for use in a confined construction site like we had here,” said Manuel Aertssen, business development manager, Aertssen Group. “At the request of the main contractor we needed to execute a test lift of all our equipment 48 hours before the fi nal installation with SPMTs. Due to high winds, we were able to lower the bridge deck to a safer height without losing valuable time during the fi nal installation preparations.”

The stability of the JS-250 jack-up lifting system enabled bridge installation preparations to continue uninterrupted even during high winds that would not be acceptable, and cause delays, when using traditional lifting methods with cranes.

The Enerpac JS-Series jack-up system is a multi-point lifting system comprising four jack-up towers, one positioned under each corner of a load. The lifting frame of each jack-up tower contains four hydraulic cylinders, which lift and stack steel barrels. The load is lifted in increments as barrels are inserted via an automated system and stacked, forming the lifting towers. Managed by a single operator, each tower’s lifting and lowering operations occur simultaneously, while the jack-up’s synchronous technology maintains the balance of the load.

mammoet methodology enables Heavy lifts in half the time

The Ma’aden Waad Al Shamal Phosphate Company (MWSPC), based in Saudi Arabia, operates some of the largest and busiest fertiliser plants anywhere in the world.

Take, for example, the Umm Wu’al Sulphuric Acid and Power Plant, located in a new industrial city in the extreme northeast of the kingdom. Structured around three sulphuric acid trains containing a total of nine vast process towers, it produces almost 14,000 tonnes of fertiliser a day.

As well as bringing wealth to this remote region, its integrated power plant provides 150 megawatts of clean electricity to the local population.

When the company was looking to upgrade the facility, and replace the original towers with cleaner, more efficient equivalents, it needed to keep downtime to an absolute minimum. To compound the issue, the towers had originally been stick-built, not designed to be lifted in one piece when they needed to be replaced. The conventional approach for dismantling them piece-by-piece would take several months for each train.

Fluor, the project consultant, reached out to Mammoet for a solution that could lift out the old towers in one piece. With careful planning, sophisticated computer modelling, the right equipment, and an experienced team, Mammoet was able to develop the solution to delicately lift out the old towers intact, then manoeuvre the modular replacements into position.

To convince MWSPC and Fluor that this unlikely operation could be achieved, Mammoet prepared a detailed engineering study. 3D digital models of each tower were supplemented by a series of ultrasonic tests to reveal their true structure and strength.

A finite element (FE) simulation showed how they would respond to the pressure of being hoisted out of the plant. And a series of bespoke frames and slings were designed to safely cradle the towers throughout the move.

A key requirement was to draft in the right equipment, and Mammoet had the tools for the job, in the shape of two crawler cranes – the 1,600t capacity CC8800-1 and 1,250t capacity CC6800 - and the 3,200t MSG-80 ring crane.

With this combination, it became possible to reach far above the tight confi nes of the site, extract all nine of the towers, move them to a central staging area, and hoist the replacements into position.

Abdullah Terkaoui, project manager for Mammoet, explains: “Our methodology enabled our customers to reduce the planned shutdown schedule for each train from 120 days to 45 days. Then, as the operation progressed, further time savings were realised: the complete shutdown of the fi rst train was completed in 30 days; in the second shutdown the lifts took only seven days, enabling completion in 22 days; and, for the third, the lift took just three days, with a total mechanical completion in 19 days.

“This meant that, thanks to the entire project team and everyone involved, all three shutdowns were completed two months (64 days) ahead of the original schedule - representing a time saving of over 50%.”

Heavy Lift projects secures funding to complete engineering phase of improved ring crane design for offshore wind farm components

Heavy Lift Projects (HLP), a provider of offshore windfarm logistics, has completed a funding round with private investors and opened its first offi ce in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Capercaillie (Investments) and Giles W Pritchard-Gordon & Co have committed a multi-million pound investment, which will be used to complete engineering work on its fi rst project, a new design of ring crane for assembling and loading offshore windfarm components.

HLP was founded in 2021 by Alexander Fyfe. Its aim is to bring a fresh approach to offshore windfarm logistics at a time when, it says, the equipment and expertise needed to meet the boom in installation is being stretched by a lack of capacity.

The company is in advanced discussions with a number of major windfarm developers looking to manage costs and maintain safety while enabling them to meet schedules for windfarm development and deployment. HLP says improvements will reduce crane mobilisation time for component assembly and marshalling and include an overall component logistics solution to help ports keep pace with increased demand.

“The offshore windfarm market is witnessing stellar growth but developers face challenges, requiring more and larger crane capacity to meet projected demand, as well as cargo vessels and other support equipment,” said HLP Managing Director Alex Fyfe. “Costs are rising but cost is not the big-gest issue, rather it’s a shortage of the right installation equipment. HLP believes innovative thinking is needed to provide the new technology solutions that can enable growth to continue.”

Great green giant ring crane

Sarens’ SGC-90 electric crane, the newest and greenest addition to the company’s fleet of giant cranes, has lifted two regenerators, each weighing over 1000 tonnes at the Balikpapan refinery project in East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, Indonesia.

The lifts were performed for the RDMP Balikpapan Joint Operation as part of the Indonesian government’s Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP), which aims to expand and upgrade five refineries and increase production by 150%.

The site provided adequate space for assembling the ring crane so it could perform lifts from two different positions.

All project equipment was transported via sea from the UK and Bahrain and was en route for approximately six weeks from each location. While the other cranes have been on-site since late 2020, the SGC-90 is the latest arrival, and rigging it took approximately 30 days.

The SGC-90 lifted a propane/propylene splitter a height of over 110 metres and weighed over 750 tonnes. It was easily the longest load to be installed at the site, and even as the SGC-90 utilised 130 metres of main boom, it was still a very tight boom clearance. A special spreader beam was designed for this particular lift, which also required the SGC-90 to hold the lifting points as a tailing crane crawled about 90 metres. Once the load was vertical, the SGC-90 slewed it clockwise onto its foundation. A total of 21 personnel were involved in this complex heavy lifting operation.