ESTA Awards 2016 Shortlist Projects

With the ESTA Awards taking place this Thursday (14 April), during the Bauma exhibition in Munich, here are details of the projects that made it to the final shortlist. IC will reveal the winners of each category on the night of the awards.

Cranes, telescopic, lifting capacity less than 120 tonnes

No nominations in this category, due to insufficient entry quality to the majority of the jurors.

Cranes, telescopic, lifting capacity more than 120 tonnes

BMS, Denmark

BMS was contracted to secure and salvage a collapsed tower crane resting on the rooftop corner of a boiler house at a power plant in Denmark. The 60 tonne tower crane had a very damaged and compromised steel structure resting in a 65 degree titled position against a chimney. The 25 tonnes jib was smashed across the roof top of two neighbouring buildings of approximately 55 and 45 metres high. The job was performed in two phases because the structural damage did not allow the tower crane to be lifted in one piece away from the building and chimney. This meant that the tower crane had to be cut into several pieces in the tilted position.

Koninklijke Saan, Netherlands

As part of the Schiphol Airport refit in Amsterdam, temporary walking bridges had to be placed over the terminal building, across the aircraft platform that also connected with the main building. With a tight time schedule, Koninklijke Saan had seven nights from 23.00 till 05.00 to place seven bridges, with all lifting done on a fully-operational airport. The airport also needed the gates next to the bridges to be in operation, almost 24 hours a day.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

A 150 tonne reactor at a petrochemical refinery in Fos-sur-Mer, France, was transported and lifted into position by Mammoet. The difficulty with this job was that the reactor had to be installed inside an existing unit on a concrete platform at a height of 5 metres. The platform was located in a very tight place at the end of a very narrow passage, which could only be entered in one way, with various pipe structures forming obstacles along the route. Since the AC-700 was not able to do the job, the proposal was to use a new LTM1750 as the main crane along with a 600 tonnes capacity tailing frame mounted on SPMTs.

Wagenborg, Netherlands

Wagenborg Nedlift took care of transport and lifting of a giant monopile gripper on behalf of the offshore wind industry. The various gripper pieces were constructed at a machinery yard in Genemuiden, Netherlands, transported to their yard in Ijmuiden, and put together there. Three cranes - 200, 500 and 700 tonnes - were used to lift the construction piece simultaneously along with 12 axle lines of SPMTs and ramps and supports.

Cranes, lattice boom

ALE, UK

For the Solan Oilfield Development Project, ALE was requested to perform the roll-up of two jacket frames with large and abnormal dimensions. During the project there were a number of different operations, including load-outs, general site moves, strand jacking and crane works. The jacket was 10,415 tonnes and the topside weighed 5,315 tonnes. ALE had to lift four bottles, lift frame B onto elevated supports then lift frame A onto elevated supports before finally lifting the mini-jacket onto the end of the jacket. Frame A weighed 2,685 tonnes and B weighed 2,543 tonnes and measured 115 m x 60 m x 44 m.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

Mammoet used the LR11350, CC6800 and two CC 2800 crawler cranes for the lifting of a 17,500 tonne jacket for the Gina Krog oilfield - the largest offshore structure ever built in the Netherlands. It was identified that limiting construction at height would contribute significantly to reducing costs and improving safety. Keeping this in mind it was decided that the row of the jacket would be constructed at ground level and, after completion, would be rolled-up. 120 axle lines of SPMT were used to move the components and underneath the SL trays of both crawlers. With a total weight of 4,200 tonnes per row this approach would require big cranes and a sophisticated tie-down system to be successful.

Sarens, Belgium

The new offices of the Antwerp Port Authority are a combination of an existing building and a futuristic steel and glass construction on top of it. Sarens was granted the job of lifting the five parts of the new building, of which the construction elements were weighing between 150 and 380 tonnes. Due to the lack of space on site and an underground parking lot, the CC6800 crawler crane was chosen for lifting the elements and a reinforced crane pad had to be designed.

TRANSPORT

Trailer and load under 120 tonnes gross weight

Friderici Special, Switzerland

Delivering a 43.5 tonne Siemens transformer from its factory in Trento, Italy to the FMV power station in Saas Grund, Switzerland became a difficult job for Friderici Special as the transformer had to be delivered on the other side of the river and the only bridge was limited to 7.5 tonnes. A fly-over bridge was engineered and the positioning of the bridge was done together with a local colleague, the company Clausen, which used a Liebherr LTM 1220-5.2 to put in place the bridge and also unload the transformer. An 8x6 Mercedes-Benz SLT and a 4 axle Faymonville Variomax were used to transport the transformer.

Koninklijke Saan, Netherlands

A Boeing 737-200 airplane was put in the hands of Koninklijke Saan to transport from Erfurt airport in Germany to a school located in Hoofddorp, Netherlands to be used as a training object for the aviation studies of the ROC Amsterdam school. For the transport of the fuselage, the wings, two stabilizers and the vertical stabilizer (tail) had to be removed. These were then transported during the night due to oversized transport requirements. The other parts (motors, landing gear) where transported in standard trucks. In Erfurt, Saan loaded the fuselage on the truck with a vessel bridge trailer and in Hoofddorp the fuselage was lifted from the truck.

TAG Transport, Poland

TAG transported four elements using multimodal transport from Oberhausen, Germany to Kozienice, Switzerland. The transport route required getting permissions, passing rail crossing with dismounting rail traction, dismounting or lifting electricity cables (which required specialist equipment) and passing/closing small roads. Each cargo was 25.00 m x 6.10 m x 5.80 m and weighed 80 tonnes. Because of the bad weather conditions and the 50 kilometres travelled each night, it required high concentration and the co-operation of all parties.

Trailer and load over 120 tonnes GCW (gross weight)

Collett & Sons, UK

For the extension of Burbo Bank Wind Farm, DONG Energy required the delivery and installation of two 200 tonne transformers at their onshore substation in St Asaph, Denbighshire. Collett & Sons unloaded the components from the vessel at the Port of Mostyn using a 750 tonne capacity crane. Each load was lifted from the ship and delivered to the awaiting 14-axle trailer ready to be positioned for storage. For the transport of the transformers a Scheuerle 550 tonne girder bridge was used to evenly distribute the weight of the 200 tonne cargo. In order to utilise the abnormal load exit at the Port of Mostyn the loads would have to travel over a level crossing. Collett & Sons successfully overcame problems with the size and weight of the load by obtaining official track possession and laying specialist rail line protection to prevent any damage, allowing the load to travel over the level crossing on modular trailers for transhipment to the girder bridge for onward transportation.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

The PCK refinery in Germany required Mammoet to transport a new regenerator with a total installation weight of around 700 tonnes. The four biggest items with heights and widths up to 95 m and weights from 75 to 265 tonnes were lifted by a 750 tonne telescopic crane in combination with a 550 tonne mobile lattice boom crane on 8 - 10 axle conventional trailers. Based on the cramped space inside the refinery, a special solution was evaluated to transport the items to the laydown area. They arrived on the laydown area where a 750 tonne telescopic crane set them down. Additionally, the heaviest item was jacked up 4m high by SPMTs for final preparation by client.

Ville Silvasti, Finland

The transport of two exhaust chimneys designed for a road tunnel built in a city of Tampere, Finland was awarded to Ville Silvasti. The 300 km route had the challenges of extreme winter conditions and the exceptionally large size of the cargo. After persistent planning work and route surveying, Silvasti found a solution to make such road transport possible. Despite several overhead power lines, bridges and other street obstacles, Silvasti was able to transport the chimneys in one piece.

Wagenborg, Netherlands

A new composite 45 tonne bridge part was needed to replace the deck of a moveable bridge, and Wagenborg transported it in one piece from the fabrication yard in Rotterdam to the construction site. Wagenborg Nedlift developed a solution to transport the bridge section, measuring 14 x 23 m, in an upright position through the city centre of Utrecht. A conventional trailer with 10 axle lines, a support construction, 200 and 500 tonne mobile cranes and a barge were used to complete the transportation.

Combined techniques

ALE, UK

Nacka Bridge, a curved arch bridge weighing 1,650 tonnes and measuring 140 m long, was installed by ALE in several phases using SPMTs, strand jacks and barges to transport the bridge and jacking equipment for the final installation procedure. ALE used a combination of techniques including jacking, strand jacks and rollers under challenging conditions, including working near open water and in a restricted space as well as operating within time constraints and difficult weather conditions.

BMS, Denmark

The transport and lifting of steel tower sections by BMS was completed by combining SPMT and a moveable gantry system for steel tower handling. This resulted in a solution where the transport frame and gantry system was constructed in a manner that made it possible for them to work independently as well as one unit. Normally transport and lifting of the steel tower section at the production site is split up in two separate operation involving both SPMT and cranes. However, by combining transport and gantry by designing a movable gantry this could all be done with the transport frame.

Fagioli, Italy

Fagioli used 16 axle lines of SPMT (two rows) and an SBL1100 hydraulic gantry for the installation of a 285 tonne hot leveller in Romania. The leveller was 9.2 m long, 5.5 m wide and 8.7 m high. This was a complex operation, which involved great safety precautions for the stability of the hot leveller during the transport, skidding and installation process.

Hareket, Turkey

A 256 tonne gas turbine generator, 305 tonne gas turbine and a 256 tonne steam turbine generator were transported 360 km by Hareket using a 22 axle line Goldhofer THP/SL, two 14 axle line Goldhofer THP/SL, a 10 axle Goldhofer PST/SL-E, a 400 tonne capacity spindle jack system and a strand jacks system. The project, travelling from Samsun Port to Kirikkale, took six months to complete.

Safety

Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, Germany

The LICCON 2 controller is a user-friendly automatic system that allows the luffing lattice jib to be erected easily. It guides crane drivers through the erection process step by step. Both visual and text instructions are output to enable intuitive control. This reduces the control complexity, which relieves the strain on the driver and ultimately means enhanced safety.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

The Reeving Reflector improves the contrasts between the sheaves at the top of the mast, the black hoisting rope and the dark rope guide pin – and makes it physically impossible to wrongly reeve the hoisting wire, which can lead to incidents and even accidents, because the hoisting rope can brake if not reeved incorrectly. The Reeving Reflector is designed internally by Mammoet and manufactured by a 3rd party company.

Manitowoc, Germany

Manitowoc have improved the rigging process of the GMK6400 luffing jib in two areas with a new handrail system developed for walking the boom, and preparation and rigging of the luffing jib foot section down at ground level. The MegaWingLift (MWL) is now attached to the foot section on ground and the hoist cable is also being installed on the ground as opposed to at height, which was previously the case. The first point required a new design. The second point changes the order of the rigging steps compared to what is usually done.

Tii, Germany

The Scheurle SPMT lighting system, X-Lite, aims to increase safety by better visibility of persons and general obstacles on the route, underground conditions and wheel/axle positions. The X-Lite system uses LED technology to improve the operators control over the vehicles by making obstacles like stones, bumps or holes on the transport route visible. The lights are installed directly over the wheels and can be switched and adjusted as needed, ensuring a good scope of the light beam.

Innovation, end user

Fagioli, Italy

Four MSC cruise ships required enhancement including the installation of a 1,997 tonne section and skidding of a 13,750 tonne bow section. Fagioli spent 11 weeks on each cruise ship using 22 skid shoes (each with 1000 tonne capacity) and 80 axle lines. The ships were cut by the client, their bows were moved ahead by means of Fagioli tailor made skid shoes, an additional section was transported by Fagioli between the bow and the stern and the bows were moved back by Fagioli skid shoes and the ships assembled.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

Needing to raise a high-voltage electricity pylon without taking it out of service meant that Mammoet had to come up with a unique approach. Jacking up the pylon remotely using the JS500 jacking system made it possible to maintain an ongoing power supply on the 380 kV structure whilst jacking. And, because of the remote operation, all personnel could remain at a safe distance. Raising a power pylon that was never intended to be raised in this way was possible because Mammoet remained well within the specified tolerance of 10 millimetres maximum variation between the individual feet during jacking.

Innovation, manufacturer

Goldhofer, Germany

Goldhofer has designed a module type, PST/ES-E 285, which is within the 2430 mm width common with SPMTs but offers a significantly higher crossfall stability of more than 19% compared to other designs. This means that it can be transported within container dimensions but can be used with much more safety in 2-file configuration, better meeting international safety standards and best practice guidelines.

Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, Germany

The new LTM 1160-5.2 from Liebherr is the successor to the LTM 1160-5.1 and has an increased load capacity of around 20 to 25 %. The width of the vehicle has been reduced from 3 to 2.75 m – a massive benfit not only for driving on public roads but also on constricted sites. The LTM 1160-5.2 has a total weight of 60 tonnes and a 12 tonne axle load; the new crane can carry its double folding jib, a 3-sheave hook block and a storage box with a generous payload.

Nooteboom Trailers, Netherlands

The Manoovr is the latest multi-PL semi loader for abnormal transport. It offers the most favourable dimensions, weights and axle loads in all European countries. For semi low-loaders the height of the floor is extremely important and the Manoovr has an ultra-low floor height of 780 mm without losing load capacity. Similar low semi-trailers have a rated load capacity of no more than 9 or 10 tonnes per axle, the Manoovr has 12 tonnes.

Terex Cranes, Germany

Following the market launch of the Boom Booster kit for the Terex CC 8800-1 crawler crane, Terex Cranes is now offering a Boom Booster for the crane’s smaller sibling, the Superlift 3800. The Boom Booster kit features a new set of lattice sections increasing the stiffness of the main boom boosting the crane’s lifting capacity by up to 30 %. The Boom Booster for the Superlift 3800 crane is available in lengths of 24, 48, 60 and 84 m.

SPMT

ALE, UK

When loading-out the lower part of a topside in Stord, Norway, ALE had to devise a suitable method to load-out such a heavy and large load - 135 m long, 40 m wide, 30 m high and weighing 11,460 tonnes. ALE used 452 axle lines of SPMT, and overcame the challenge of the design and integration of several support packs to stabilise and support the topside.

Fagioli, Italy

Fagioli was contracted for the transport and installation of an 882 tonne railway bridge in Bologna, Italy that was 82 m long, 11.6 m wide and 11.6 m high. The railway bridge was positioned over the highway A14 and the Bologna ring road. The operation - using SPMTs - was divided in several steps due to its complexity and the need to close the roads several times during the three nights required for the installation.

Mammoet Europe, Netherlands

The load-out of a 1500 tonne, 120 m long ship-loader from land to a Northsea barge was executed by Mammoet using 90 axle lines of SPMTs in the port of Gdynia, Poland. Because of insufficient ground bearing capacity on a large part of the site, Mammoet executed the load-out in steps - bridging the weak area of the quay using the length and the strength of the ship-loader’s structure itself. SPMTs needed to be assembled, split, and re-assembled in various configurations.

Wagenbord, Netherlands

A new railway bridge with a weight of 550 tonnes had to be positioned by SPMTs on the same position as the old concrete bridge. The concrete bridge was demolished in the week before so the new bridge could be installed. Because the final bridge position is above the abutments, SPMT sets had to take over the load from each other. Wagenbord used 2 x set of double 6 axle lines and 1 x set of double 4 spacer 4 axle lines.

Personality of the Year

To be announced on the night of the awards...