November 29 - Global heavy lift and transportation company ALE have completed three major projects using the 1,200 tonne capacity Gottwald AK912-1.
The first of the three projects was the lift and transportation of Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) as part of a combined cycle gas turbine project at the UK's largest power station to be built in the last 20 years in Pembroke, Wales.
ALE was contracted to carry out the erection and installation of five complete HRSG boiler units over a nine-month period using the AK912-1 crane and SPMTs for on-site moves.
Ground works were kept to a minimum by installing the five HRSG boilers with the AK912-1 from only three fixed positions, says ALE.
The engineers at ALE had located the crane in such a way that two boilers could receive the HRSGs without relocation of the crane, the transportation to the two additional locations was made with the crane fully rigged with 83 m main boom and 43 m back mast on 24 axles of SPMTs.
The solution ALE provided saved time, reduced risk and cost to the customer on the UK's largest CCGT power station project, the company claims.
The second project that ALE's AK912 -1 was involved in was the Thornton Bank jacket move, roll up and load-out.
The site move of the 775 tonne jacket was completed by use of 36 axles of SPMTs. The roll up was achieved using the AK912 -1 rigged with a 71 m Maxi Boom 300 tonne of Maxilift Ballast, lifting the jacket at specific points using specially designed tackle, and allowances made to ensure maximum headroom for the crane. The 37 m long, 23 m wide and 23 m high jacket was then loaded out.
The third project that the crane was involved with took place in London as part of the preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.
ALE completed the installation of the foot bridge that will be used by visitors accessing the Olympic facility for the 2012 games.
The installation required the Gottwald AK912 -1 fitted with 71 m Maxi Boom, 300 tonne Maxilift Ballast to lift the 196 tonne foot bridge into position creating access to the Olympic site from the Stafford coach/car park. The work was carried out during two night possessions to ensure minimal impact on traffic flow.
Andrew Hunt sales manager at ALE said "The AK912-1 is an important asset to ALE. Being able to relocate the crane fully rigged using SPMT's minimised the disruption on site and enabled the project to be completed quicker than alternative cranes could achieve as it would normally take six days to de-rig, relocate and re-rig the crane".
Andrew continued "Whilst the AK912-1 is permanently based in the UK, it is only part of our global crane fleet including the AL.SK fleet - the world's largest capacity land based cranes- available to be deployed to the UK when required."
