EQUIPMENT
millimeter,” Jeremy Stubbs, commercial director at Enerpac, told Breakbulk. “If they were doing it with a dial test indicator or a pressure gauge, you would have to go out and look at each jacking position every minute or so and check everything is OK. The other thing you can do with a synchronous system is weighing – confirming design weights of structures. And we can do that with our synchronous lifting systems.”
LOAD LEVELING
Wagenborg Nedlift deploys synchronous hydraulic jacks to lift a concrete bridge deck. CREDIT: WAGENBORG NEDLIFT
Nine pre-installed hydraulic cylinders connected to Enerpac’s EVO synchronous lifting pump are scheduled to be mobilized in two years’ time to lift up an 11-meter-diameter, 320tonne circular poloidal magnet at the base of the ITER’s tokamak, the hulking structure that will eventually host the fusion reaction. The EVO pump, with its built-in warning and stop alarms to improve safety, will enable each of the nine lifting points to be monitored and controlled by a single operator, with real-time status updates sent to the client. “The benefit for the customer is that the operator gets a complete understanding of what is going on with their lift from a central control position at the best vantage point. They do not have to worry about non-uniformly distributed loads. The system automatically manages the operator’s instructions safely and efficiently, within controlled load and synchronicity parameters to within a fraction of a
Allelys, the UK-based haulage company that often deploys synchronous lifting for its projects, recently completed seven installations of the largest aluminum die cast machines in the UK. The components, including a fixed plate weighing 57 tonnes and a moving plate weighing 87 tonnes, were delivered from Europe on a multi-axle transport vehicle and offloaded inside the project site. Due to space restrictions in the production facility, Allelys used two hydraulic lifting gantries with integrated synchronous lifting and lowering technologies to carry out the move. A 450-tonne capacity lift and lock system was used to transship the plates from the transport vehicle onto a 6-axle self-propelled modular trailer, or SPMT. The pieces were then maneuvered through the facility’s gangways and stanchions to the second lift stage using a 900-tonne capacity gantry with side shift technology links for precise final positioning. Charlie Latham, head of tendering and business development at Allelys, said synchronous lifting is preferred over traditional jacking in situations where it is imperative the load remain level. “Traditional jacking operations where the load is jacked at opposing points in succession, or end for end, cannot guarantee this,” Latham said. “The system also offers more accurate placement of loads whereas end for end jacking may result in the load shifting during the operation. “It will apply less unwanted stresses to the load and therefore may be
declared the preferred method of handling by the manufacturer.” Another key advantage of synchronous lifting is footprint, Ritchie said, where large or heavy loads can be lifted by hardware that fits into the back of a van. “We have found this particularly useful within the modular construction sector. We use a 200-tonne capacity jacking system with our split flow pump to raise buildings weighing up to 100 tonnes to a height of one meter to allow for loading to transport,” he said. “The system and the required timbers fit on the back of a small wagon and negate the need to send large mobile cranes to site. We are also not limited by location and working radius, which can so often be a limiting factor for mobile cranes.” Michel de Jong, senior project manager at Wagenborg Nedlift, a subsidiary of Dutch maritime logistics group Royal Wagenborg, said synchronous lifting systems are deployed in more than half the projects involving the company. Last year Wagenborg Nedlift used eight electronically controlled hydraulic jacks to lift a 900-tonne concrete bridge deck onto SPMTs in Groningen. The preparation, installation of the jacks, transfer to SPMTs and driving to the final destination was completed in one week. “We use synchronous lifting when the customer asks for it,” de Jong said. “But also where the load is critical to the capacity of our system – when you are close to the limit you want to know what you are doing, and be able to control it. It is also used in situations where you have more than four lifting points. We can go up to 32 lifting points, and you can imagine it is hard to control that manually.”
CAPACITIES AND SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT
The technology behind synchronous lifting is constantly evolving, with new systems being launched according to customer demands. Capacities are also rising – Wagenborg Nedlift can now lift up to 2,400 tonnes using synchronous and hydraulic lifting, de Jong said. www.breakbulk.com
BREAKBULK MAGAZINE 85
