Second wave of cranes at London Gateway

Two more giant ship to shore cranes have been delivered to the DP London World Gateway port under construction in Essex, UK.

The cranes, built and delivered by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC) in China, were unloaded on Thursday 25 April 2013.

For the unloading process the cranes were fitted with bogies and a series of ramps and rails were welded and fastened into place between the ship and the port side; this was to form a bridge and route for the cranes to travel on. The cranes were then moved using a winching system from the ship to the port. The unloading process took more than 45 minutes per crane.

Weighing 2,000 tonnes each and measuring 138 metres tall at full height, the cranes are the largest in England. When put into operation during the final quarter of 2013, the cranes will be used to unload 0.5 km long ships that can carry more than 10,000 containers. In the future the cranes are expected to be able to serve container ships which are capable of carrying 18,000 containers. The cranes will operate on a 2.5 km quay wall that has foundations 50 m deep.

At full build the DP London World Gateway will cover more than 940,000 square metres and the port will be able to handle 3.5 million TEU per annum. The site will create approximately 36,000 jobs, with 2,000 workers employed directly at the port and around 10,000 in the logistics park.

A further 17 ship to shore cranes will be delivered.

Look out here and in International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine for more on this project as it develops.