W.O. Grubb team performs recovery operation
By D.Ann Shiffler02 March 2010
W. O. Grubb's Portsmouth crane and rigging team earned praise from International Paper's safety officials. After heavy storms caused a 180 foot (55 m) tall, 7 foot (2.1 m) diameter stack to collapse at a paper mill in Franklin, Virginia, USA the Grubb team and their equipment were called to action.
The intense recovery plan involved two of W. O. Grubb's cranes, and rigging crews from Portsmouth. A Grove GMK7550 was used to retrieve the larger portions of the collapsed stack.
One section of stack came down inbetween and on top of existing buildings at the paper mill and another section came crashing down onto the coal car shaker building forcing the paper mill to use alternative energy sources to keep the paper mill in operation while the recovery took place. The 550 ton (499 metric ton) all terrain's job was to lift the larger sections of the collapsed stack off and away without causing more structural damage to the paper mill. A 170 ton (154 metric ton) Demag AC140 was used to position the personnel basket for officials to inspect damage that was done to other sections of the paper mill near the stack as it came down.
The recovery plan had to be quick and precise with attention to safety and detail during the lifts. The job was completed sucessfully without incident.
