TopLift 2007

Caribbean power

EQUIPMENT USER: Emmert International LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Emmert 85 foot (26 m) gantry rail, 60 foot (18 m) beams and strand jacks.LOCATION: Nassau, Bahamas

Emmert installed a fully assembled and operational low-speed diesel engine, weighing nearly one million pounds (454 tonnes), into an existing power plant in the Bahamas.

The engine was transported by sea from the Port of Houston in Texas, US and then driven off the ship on SPMTs to the entrance of the power plant.

An 85 foot (26 m) section of gantry rail was used with two 60 foot (18 m) main beams. There were 12 lifting points.

Airport clearance

EQUIPMENT USER: Mediaco LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Demag CC 2800 lattice boom crawler, Two Demag AC 700 telescopics, along with 10 further cranes with lifting capacities ranging from 35 to 250 tonnes.LOCATION: Paris, France

Mediaco was faced with the delicate task of deconstructing terminal two at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris after a central section collapsed, leaving four people dead. Gangways were constructed over the fragile 650 m long 31 m wide terminal building and scaffolding was placed inside. Over a seven month period Mediaco removed some 35,000 tonnes of material, including 3,000 tonnes of steel.

Giant in China

EQUIPMENT USER: Mammoet LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Mammoet Sliding Gantry MSG-80 LOCATION: Inner Mongolia

Mammoet built the MSG to lift 2,016 tonne reactor that would partly form the centre of a coal power station for a Chinese state company. The equipment had to be transported 1,250 km from the nearest sea port. At the site the tailing frame was placed on skid tracks to get the tank upright. It took 12 hours to lift the 103-R-201 reactor up on its foundations and few days later the team had completed the task. At the time of the report in June, the work was due to be repeated with a second reactor.

Getting physical

EQUIPMENT USER: VSL (Switzerland) Ltd LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Fixed gantry system LOCATION: Geneva, Switzerland

VSL installed the Compact Muon Soleniod (CMS) detector, part of a super conducting particle accelerator, into a purpose built cavern, likened to the size of a cathedral, 97 m below ground. Commissioned by CERN, the European particle physics laboratory, the 12,500 tonne detector was lowered into position in 15 segments.

VSL used a portal crane with a 28 m span and 25 m free height under the beams.

Tokyo nights

EQUIPMENT USER: Uchimiya LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Kobelco 7800 and SL13000 crawler cranes LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan

Uchimiya overcame high winds and a confined working area to install bridge beams on the new Wangan Line expressway in Tokyo. The company used its Kobelco lattice boom crawler models 7800 and SL13000, with 750 and 800 tonnes maximum capacity, respectively, to install the two bridge sections. One was 39 m long, weighing 253.6 tonnes, the other was 17 m long and weighed 82.2 tonnes.

Handling the heat

LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Demag TC 2000 lattice boom truck crane, Liebherr LT 1300 telescopic mobile crane, Liebherr LTM 1100 telescopic boom all terrain crane. LOCATION: Mersin, Turkey

Working for client Nooter/Eriksen, Agiris completed the installation of six heat recovery steam generator modules at Mersin Camis Soda ash factory on the Mediterranean Coast. The modules were lifted off Goldhofer THP trailers, raised to a vertical height of 46.2 m, with the Demag TC 2000 with the LT 1300 tailing, while a LTM 1100 all terrain acted as an auxiliary.

Remote replacement

EQUIPMENT USER: Tiong Woon Marine PteLIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Demag CC 6400 and Manitowoc 4100 lattice boom crawlers. LOCATION: Amamapare, West Papua

A new loader unit had to be installed at the Grasberg copper and gold ore open cast mine on West Papua, based 50 km from the nearest settlement, in a swamp with no independent infrastructure. Tiong Woon supplied a tug and a 5,000 tonne dead weight static ballast barge varying a 1,000 tonne capacity Demag CC 6400 lattice boom crawler.

Mast moves

EQUIPMENT USER: New Zealand Crane Hire LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Grove GMK6220L telescopic mobile crane, Franna AT-20 pick and carry mobile crane. LOCATION: Auckland, Australia

The company was commissioned to lift an AU$3 million carbon fibre yacht mast constructed by Southern Spars. The mast had to be moved about 1 km from the factory to the super-yacht Kokomo in Aukland's Viaduct Harbour. The 11.7 tonne, 65 m tall mast, was too long to be moved around street corners by trailer. Three lifts were planned to move it from the factory over buildings next to the yacht ready to be lifted into place.

Turbine tale

EQUIPMENT USER: Weldex Offshore LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Terex Demag CC 2800-1, Manitowoc 2250 and Liebherr LR 1200 crawler cranes. LOCATION: Nigg, Scotland.

Two 5MW wind turbine generators were installed in 40 m deep water, 23 km off the North East coast of Scotland as part of a European Distant Offshore Wind Farms With No Visual Impact (DOWNVInD) project to establish the viability of large capacity wind turbine farms in deepwater and offshore locations.

Weldex was contracted to complete the onshore assembly and the first phase of the installation at Nigg.

Survey salvage

EQUIPMENT USER: Bisso Marine LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: 544 tonne capacity lifting vessel D/B Lili Bisso, D/B Boaz and recovery vessel Pertinacia. LOCATION: Close to South March Island, New Mexico, US.

Bisso Marine completed the salvage of a 435 tonne survey vessel, which was found upside down, lying perpendicular across a 5 m pipeline after striking a platform toppled by Hurricane Katrina. The 121 m long Pertinacia recovered fuel and oil and placed the salvage bundle rigging. Once complete the D/B Lili Bisso and D/B Boaz arrived to complete the salvage.