PRODUCT FOCUS
has 45m blades( sweeping more than 1.5 acres) on an 80m tower, totalling 125m. In the GE 1.5-megawatt mode, the nacelle alone weighs more than 56 tons, the blade assembly weighs more than 36 tons, and the tower itself weighs about 71 tons— a total weight of 164 tons. The corresponding weights for the Vestas V90 are 75, 40, and 152, totalling 267 tons.
The challenge around erecting this colossus is that it is sited intentionally in a windy area, which can then play havoc during assembly.“ Cranes and wind are not an ideal combination,” Yaman adds wryly. This factor poses significant risk— risk in meeting the schedule and risk as in danger to a workforce. Also, he points out, flexibility around work hours is key to meeting the schedule, as the weather knows no timekeeping, with instances where assembly may have to take place at night, in the wind’ s absence.
“ You then have to manage people and their safety, working hours, lighting, and all the lifting equipment— all the logistics and project management,” he stresses.
JCH focuses on lifting and heavy lifting. Yaman explains the difference.
“ It’ s all well to be able to offer a crane and an operator, but the complete package— particularly on the heavy-lift side— focuses around the planning of the entire operation, including supplying the correct crane and the associated rigging and attachments. The planning and analysing of the risks is huge, as often, specifically with refineries, the sites are congested, and to assemble a crane without damaging infrastructure takes knowing what you are doing. Think lattice boom for example; that 80-metre boom is assembled on the ground and lifted, so that’ s the kind of space you require, and you need to analyse the risks around the ground conditions to be able to achieve this without incident.”
Yaman explains that the company undertakes a simulation of a lift prior to the event.“ With big lifts, we draw out the site on CAD, position the crane, and accurately measure all the radii— the distance from the crane to where you are going to do the lift. The capacity of the crane is linked to the working radius; the closer the load is to the crane, with the shortest boom, the higher the lifting capacity.”
Training
Yaman assures that while there“ is no real qualification” required for someone interested in becoming a planner, an understanding of engineering is an advantage.“ The ground loadings that a crane would generate when on site would require analysis, as well as the lifting arrangements, the lifting tackle, and underfoot conditions,” he says.
While Concord simply claims that its operators are vastly experienced and trained to the standards recommended to ensure that it delivers the service required when hiring any of its cranes,
JCH is certified to train crane operators as well as to conduct crane inspections. The company is registered as a lifting machinery entity( LME) and the inspectors are certified lifting machinery inspectors( LMIs), who carry out the inspections.
With a 220 + fleet, the company has that number“ and more”, Yaman assures, as JCH supplies operators with their cranes.“ We have a dedicated operator on a crane— trained specifically for that crane, not on a range of cranes— and we also have‘ spare’ operators who are trained on a range of cranes, who fill in for eventualities.”
For a shutdown project, where a nightshift is required, the spare operators would be enlisted to make up numbers to expedite the process.“ This is another differentiator, namely having the personnel to fill this range of demand. There has to be spare capacity for any eventuality,” he adds.“ You also have to have depth in terms of ability to train people when required. A strength we have is that we upskill operators from smaller to larger capacity cranes, empowering them to move through the ranks.” He adds,“ Our average length of service is 15 years,” he says proudly, with some retiring at 60 after 40 years’ service. ■
Sources https:// proliftcrane. com / crane-safety-101 / http:// concordcranes. com www. liebherr. com /
28
AUGUST 2018