Bridgnorth Aluminium manufacture a range of high purity metal products, recycle scrap internally and are the UK’s only lithographic aluminium strip producers.
Here we take a look back at a 55 tonne double girder semi-portal crane from a few years ago that Pelloby project managed from design and manufacture through to installation in collaboration with industrial engineering experts Mechatherm International Ltd.
A special 55 tonne crane
The client required a totally bespoke lifting solution in order to handle heavy furnace lids at their production plant. The finished semi-portal crane had a 12.5m span, an overall height of lift of 6.2m and could lift loads of up to an impressive 55 tonne max capacity.
We also designed and built a special wire rope open barrel hoist unit and a custom lifting frame in order to safely lift the furnace lids. This frame was a fabricated structure that housed eight large sheaves and was permanently reeved to the hoist unit. The lifting frame configuration was specially developed for safe connection to the furnace lid via the four lifting points.
Accurate positioning technology
Ensuring the furnace lid was moved into precisely the correct position for each lift was a vital part of the crane’s design brief. The finished semi-portal crane featured a long travel linear encoder system to give accurate positioning along its travel path.
Laser scanners were fitted to the base of the fabricated box construction portal leg sections which halt the movement of the crane if an object or person enters a pre-set programmable area as an extra safety feature in addition to the noise emitter and amber flashing lamp which trigger when the long travel contactor is activated.
A ladder is located on one of the portal legs to allow access to a high level platform at the top of the crane for maintenance work to be carried out on the crane hoist mechanism, long travel wheels, geared motors, encoders and limit switches.
The working environment in which the crane operated was relatively hot, dry and dusty due to the heavy duty nature of the work being carried out on site. Therefore a special heat shield was fitted to protect the panel, the crane beams and hoist mechanism.
Widespan 16 tonne semi-portal crane
Following the success of the 55 tonne crane’s installation, Pelloby were subsequently commissioned again by Bridgnorth Aluminium to manufacture another double girder semi-portal crane – this time with a 16 tone safe working load capacity. This crane spanned 25.5m metres and lifted items to total height of 19.5m using a wire rope hoist unit. Like the larger crane, this system also featured a laser scanner device at the base of the floor running end carriage to avoid collisions.
If you would like to know more about our semi-portal crane capabilities and how we can tailor a crane to your requirements, get in touch via sales@pelloby.com or call 01952 586 626.
