Shortlist spotlight 2023: Innovation Award

This award will be presented to the company that has developed an innovative piece of equipment or technology designed to improve the lift or transport of heavy and oversize cargoes.  

The shortlist for the Innovation Award 2023: 

Enduro Softslings 

Enduro Softslings has been shortlisted for its modular and ergonomic lifting system: Fastro. The lightweight alternative to bow shackles offers faster handling, making hoisting operations for heavy, difficult and large loads like piles and tubular structures significantly more efficient and easier to perform. The innovative element of the design is the octo –  A trunnion element in the shape of the figure eight that allows two so-called ‘split-eye’ soft slings to be coupled together in a few simple operations. 

Fagioli 

Fagioli was shortlisted for its maintenance work at the A7 viaduct, at Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi, Pavia, Italy. Fagioli was tasked with lifting several deck sections and repositioning them to allow for road maintenance. For this, the company deployed its bridge maintenance machine (BMM) 14000 – a tailor-made structure composed of a strand jacking system, beams, stools and SPMTs. With the solution a drop-in span, weighing 1,400 tonnes, was lifted from its supports on the cantilever beams in order to allow the recovery and restoration works to be scheduled and executed by the client. 

Goldhofer  

Also making it onto the shortlist was Goldhofer for its FT Series of trailers that offers increased flexibility for the heavy haulage industry. The system brings together semi-trailers in the heavy payload class with heavy-duty module combinations. With intelligent configuration and accessory packages, the FT Series can be combined with almost all Goldhofer modules, which enables a flexible response to changing market requirements and reduces the total cost of ownership. 

Liebherr-Werk Ehingen 

Liebherr impressed with its latest crawler crane, the LR 12500-1.0. The innovative design of the slewing platform and the main boom sets new standards; the uniquely wide main boom gives the crane the stability of a power boom. Named the HighPerformanceBoom, it comprises sections measuring 10 m long. It has been designed as an economical crawler crane for global projects – the unique transport capabilities mean that the whole boom can be transported in just two packages and can be easily demobilised. This is in addition to its enormous lifting capacities of 2,500 tonnes. 

MODEC Offshore Production Systems (Singapore) 

MODEC has developed a system to overcome challenges when lifting the flare towers of FPSOs. Increasing heights of 130 m and weights over 500 tonnes have made the typical approach of a crane hooking from the top implausible. MODEC therefore developed apparatus that includes dual boom floating cranes, two truss type structures connected to the middle of the flare tower. The hook points are designed as trunnions which are aligned with the main hook of each boom during lifting.  

Sarens 

Completing this year’s shortlist is Sarens. It showcased its bespoke gantry system to lift, transport and load-out gravity-based structures (GBS) weighing approximately 4,800 tonnes each. The gantry system consists of two different units, which are moved around site on SPMTs. After being positioned around each GBS, the load is secured by four lugs. Two parts of the gantry system are interconnected by data-cables to operate as a single unit.   

The winner of this year’s Innovation Award will be announced at the Heavy Lift Awards 2023 ceremony on October 25 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. To join the celebrations, book your space today.