Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) has supplied lifting and rigging gear, including spreader beams, slings, shackles and related Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) inspections, to a UK waste-to-energy construction site.
Ron Harrison, regional manager, Rotherham depot at RSS, said: “We provide the lifting gear, and they produce lift plans in-house, which are signed off prior to equipment usage, and typically utilised beneath the hook of the Ainscough mobile cranes already onsite. Everyone at our depot pulled out all the stops again to make sure every single item of gear was onsite ready to go for the latest lift.
“Over time they have built up a healthy stock of rigging items that can be reused in line with construction demands, while there are ongoing requirements for custom clamps and modular beam parts. We also hire beams for one-off and short-term use.”
In a recent series of top-and-tail lifts, two mobile cranes were used in tandem. Based on the rig, side-loading clamps were sourced from a third party. Under the first crane, the end user employed a one-over-two spreader beam configuration to lift one end of the panels for a new structure. Under the crane hook were two 8 m-long, 20-tonne capacity roundslings, connected at either end of a 7.5 m-long, 50-tonne capacity modular spreader beam. Additional rigging included end units, struts, drop links, and shackles.
Underneath, two 2 m-long, 20-tonne capacity roundslings connected via bow shackles to four 3 m-long, 15-tonne capacity roundslings that descended to either ends of a pair of 3.5 m-long, 24-tonne capacity modular beams. Again, additional rigging was required, including end units, struts, drop links, and shackles.
At the bottom of the cascading rig, four 2 m-long, 10-tonne capacity wire rope slings connected to four pick points on the panels via 17-tonne capacity bow shackles.
Beneath the hook of the second crane, a 130-tonne capacity Liebherr LTM 1130-5.1, two 7 m-long, 10-tonne capacity roundslings were connected to a 7 m-long, 26-tonne capacity modular beam. A pair of 10-tonne capacity roundslings completed connection to pick points at the other end of the load.
Harrison said: “The Ainscough cranes are at the heart of activity on the site — use of our rigging gear is commonplace with its national fleet — and it will continue to be for at least another year. This latest top-and-tail tandem lift is just one example of how our kit is being utilised by another landmark project in the waste-to-energy sector.”
