Lifting a 13 tonne cylinder from a 20m deep shaft

Lifting a 13 tonne 7.5m tall hydraulic cylinder out of a 20m deep shaft takes detailed planning and expertise. Recently Dynamic Rigging Hire provided the rigging gear to safely complete this project.

The pump station in Melbourne’s western suburbs is the largest in the Melbourne sewer network and the gate actuators first installed in the early 1980’s needed removal for a major overhaul off site, the lift of the actuating cylinder utilised the pump station’s overhead crane and a 25 tonne Franna crane to duel lift and rotate to enable for transport. A second smaller crane was dedicated to hoisting the crane work box that included passing it down a 6m deep confined space, the crane work box was fitted with gas detectors and emergency breathing sets.

The proceeding week had engineering and maintenance staff fit temporary lifting frames, NDT the lifting points and isolate the hydraulic system. The main gate was placed in the closed position and the actuator was detached from the gate making it ready for the initial test lift and weighing using a tension load cell from DRH. The final lift was conducted over 60 minutes to ensure a smooth transition from the vertical to horizontal plane and as the unit was taller than the opening of the shaft the final stage of the duel lift could only be completed above the wall of the shaft.

Once the actuator was removed a second part of the project required crews to lift the 30 tonne gate using the overhead crane with a 55 tonne load cell to maintain live loadings to the hook and a set of 32mm chains, once lifted the gate will remain open until the actuator is reinstated in the coming months.

Dynamic Rigging Hire provided all the specialised rigging gear that included the two person confined space crane work box, tension load cell, spreader beams, chain sets, shackles and oblong rings. Having the capacity to supply the full list of gear and to provide on-site support made the choice to select Dynamic as the equipment supplier easy for the client.

So give us a call on 03 8360 8910 or drop in to our Laverton North branch.