Smart lifting solution in Salzbergen
Challenges
'Carrying out lifting work on a site like this has its challenges,' says Peter Eijffius, Senior Project Manager at Wagenborg Nedlift. 'Over the years, various installations have been added and rebuilt, so the routes around the site are quite narrow in places. In addition, the new tank farm is located between several pipe bridges and buildings'.
Lifting study
'We have also been involved in previous new build and expansion projects as well as maintenance shutdowns and that certainly helped in this case,' continues Peter. I know the site like the back of my hand and our engineers know exactly where the crane setup locations are.
But every project is different anyway: weight, dimensions, exact location of the foundation and many other factors determine the possible options. That is why we carried out a comprehensive lifting study in close cooperation with H&R and the main contractor, Wang GmbH, in which various options were examined.
Tandem lift
'The six storage tanks were 34 metres high, weighed 42 tonnes and had a diameter of 4.3 metres. Our lifting study showed that the most efficient, feasible and safe solution was for the tanks to be delivered in two parts from the manufacturer. At the Salzbergen site, they could then be assembled into a single tank, which could then be placed in its entirety on foundations using two cranes.'
Step by step
'We developed this concept further into detailed lifting and erection plans, which served as the basis for the implementation. The 500-tonne Demag AC 500 was used to unload and assemble the columns. It was positioned directly behind a building and had a small clearance between the building and the crane mast during lifting. After the storage tanks had been brought in and assembled, the 700 tonne crane was mobilised as the main crane and the 500 tonne crane as the 'tail crane'. The main crane (type LTM 1650-8.1) was set up between two buildings, with additional ground pressure reduction measures and the erection of the 42-metre luffing jib. A little further away was another, slightly smaller crane with a man basket to pick up the slings at height. So we carried out the project in three phases of two storage tanks each.'
Watch the project movie!
'All in all, a challenging lifting project that went very well thanks to the good cooperation with everyone involved and the professionalism of our engineers and operators!
Peter Eijffius, senior project manager Wagenborg Nedlift