Belgian heavy lift and transport engineering expert Sarens demonstrated its expertise when installing locks at the Radicatel quayside in Notre Dame de la Garenne, France.
The Sarens technical solutions and engineering team developed and executed this significant project on behalf of client Matière. The massive locks had to be manoeuvred through difficult channels of water and clear low bridges, before being installed at a busy quayside in in Normandy.
The company installed its CC2800-1 crane on the Karel-Viktor twin barge, which would be coupled longitudinally for installation. Karel-Viktor was chosen because it had the capacity to transport and install the lock parts while respecting a 12 m width restriction. The barge also had to be low enough to pass underneath bridges, in some cases with only a 30 cm clearance.
The Sarens team was tasked with planning around frequent deliveries at the quay, but the biggest challenge would be stabilising equipment during a water-based operation that could include heavy winds and waves. Sarens also provided BE200 ballast pumps to ensure stability during load-in and installation, as well as hydraulic winches to position the barge correctly.
The engineering challenge facing the team was that loading the crane and lock parts onto an 11.6 m barge would create low stability conditions, and these would have to be carefully managed via a comprehensive pumping sequence that accounted for every shift in weight during the operation.
All equipment for the operation was delivered to the quayside via truck. Equipment for the barge arrived via 11 transports from Sarens’ yard in Ghent while all other equipment, from SPMTs to load-spreading mats, arrived via 17 transports from the yard in Wolvertem. Mobilisation took one week, with 1.5 weeks required for assembling the barges, SPMTs, winches, pumps, and other equipment. The equipment remained onsite for three weeks, in total.
Sarens then installed one 100-tonne lock platform and two 50-tonne discs. To install the platform, which measured 23.6 m x 3.2 m x 7.9 m, Sarens lifted and crawled for 2 m. Installing the discs, which measured 10.3 m x 1.8 m, required lifting and slewing.
The crew had to contend with high wind speeds at the quay, which threatened the barge with heavy waves and made it impossible to load the lock parts with the CC2800-1 until they subsided. Four people were involved during preparations, and six were present for installation: four to operate the winches, one supervisor, and one project manager.
