A troubled shared…

A problem shared is a problem halved… is the old adage.

Whilst that isn’t quite the factor of safety one would use for a complex tandem-lift, the principle holds true.

A client had a screening plant to be decommissioned, including a very heavy and awkward screen deck, mounted atop some internal plant.

The challenges to lifting it out and transporting safely included:

• Considerable mass, circa 16 tonnes + a factor of safety built in for the weight of unknown modifications added since it was originally installed, and an allowance for build up of contaminants and dust both external and internal i.e inside the hollow steel sections.
• Lack of overhead clearance, precluding a single standard crane lift from directly above due to insufficient clearance to rig the lifting tackle from a single point
• Lack of access from the surroundings, precluding a single or tandem heavy lift telehandler operation.

One of our ‘Appointed Persons’ attended the job site and a bespoke ‘Lift Plan’ was commissioned. The process involved:

• M.A.N 8×2 c/w 66 t/m FASSI (P.Simms)
• SCANIA 8×2 c/w HIAB 80 t/m (T.Hill)
• MERCEDES 6×4 double drive tractor unit c/w 34 foot flat trailer (B.Huntley)

The screen deck was safely lifted out and down, moved to the outside, loaded on to a trailer, roaded as an ‘Abload’ to a new location to be stored and then craned off to ground. All without a hitch.

Pictures courtesy of  Barry ‘the Moo’ Huntley