Crane Rental Corporation was hired to lift an 805,480-pound steam turbine generator and a 377,000-pound steam turbine onto a 44-foot-high concrete pedestal. The concrete pedestal was surrounded by structural steel with only one access point: a 45’ x 50’ long space, 37 feet in front of the pedestal. A large-capacity crane could have hoisted the equipment over the steel structure; however, there was not adequate room on the jobsite to accommodate a large crane.
Crane Rental Corporation’s unique solution combined select equipment into an alternative lifting tower (ALT) to accomplish the heavy lifts. The CRC ALT system used tower crane sections as a base; J&R Engineering’s 500-ton gantries to lift the loads; and Crane Rental’s own Jack & Slide Track, crossbeam and four 132-ton Strand Jacks to move the units into place. In addition, Crane Rental Corporation placed six large I-beams under the gantry tracks to span the 37’ of structural steel directly in front of the pedestal as it could not support the load.
The power plant components were delivered to the ALT system from a lay-down yard on Crane Rental’s self-propelled, 15-line Goldhofer Hydraulic platform trailer. Additional support equipment included CRC’s GMK5240 used to set up and disassemble the ALT; an employee with a level in a 100-foot boom lift to ensure the loads remained level during the process; and a crew of qualified riggers and signal persons to complete the lift. The entire project, from initial setup to moving off the site when done, took 17 days and was completed safely with no loss time injuries.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
