We love it when a plan comes together

Proper routines and procedures are essential for every job that we do, because each machine move is unique and presents its own set of challenges. By putting thorough planning and preparation into a big move we make sure there are few variables and that we reduce the chance of any problems. But every now and then a project comes along that needs us to do something new or adapt to certain circumstances in order to get the job done...

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Transporting something big? Get the Police involved

In 2010 we worked with power plant equipment specialists, Doosan Babcock, to move 150 pieces of machinery, some of them weighing up to 40 tonnes, 26 miles to the Radcliffe on Soar power station. Due to the size of the equipment it was necessary to work with the Police to ensure that we could safely transfer the machinery from our storage facility to their final destination. While we had been storing them in our dedicated facilities we had been ensuring that the more sensitive items were regularly maintained and were connected to a permanent power supply to keep them at the correct temperature, humidity and performance.

Setting off along the M1 at 6pm accompanied by an experienced Police escort the four flatbed trucks travelled at a speed of 40mph. We took things steady, allowing the Police to close each slip road on the southbound route to traffic until the convoy was safely past. The final leg from the M1 to the power station itself required us to negotiate two miles of the busy A453 into Nottingham. The Police quickly closed off the route with as little impact to traffic as possible, enabling us to complete the operation in just under an hour.

Find out how we did it here.

We’ll work out of hours to reduce disruption to public services

The installation of a bronze statue and granite base onto the main concourse of Robin Hood Airport was always going to be a tricky one. We had to access the building through a restrictive doorway and drive a forklift carrying the statue of the famous outlaw across 60m of polished marble floor, close to retail units. As a result we needed a special track to protect the floor from our vehicles and we were restricted to only using electrically operated machinery when inside the terminal building.

Each of the two parts to the granite base weighed 1.3 Tonnes and needed careful manoeuvring to get into position. As it is a working airport we weren’t allowed to disrupt its busy schedule. So as well as having our team be subjected to strict security requirements the work could only be carried out between 11pm and 5am, when there weren’t any flights. Despite the various restrictions that we had to deal with the move was completed to schedule, over two nights.

Find out how we did it here.

Working with very little room to manoeuvre

Not all of our big machine moves involve travelling far. In the case of an East Midlands Aerospace company the machinery wasn’t even leaving the building. We were tasked with moving seven CNC lathes weighing up to 4 tonnes each. These seven machines needed to be relocated from the first floor to the ground floor of the factory. The main challenge being that we had to take them through a gap that was only slightly larger than the largest machine. We had helped install the machines originally, so we also had the advantage of being familiar with the factory.

Once the machines were stripped of their guards and motors we raised them onto skates and moved them to the aperture between the two floors. It is through this hole that we raised the forklift blades of a Versalift on the ground floor on to which the machines were then rolled. The fork lift then carefully lowered and carried them to their new locations where they were lined, levelled and reassembled. The main challenges that we faced were the restrictive gaps that we had to manoeuvre the machines through. This required very precise handling and good communication between the team members to ensure everything went off without a hitch and without disrupting work that was still going on elsewhere in the factory.

Find out how we did it here.

Find out more about the many big machine moves we’ve made by looking at our case studies.

 

 

 

July 16, 2014 by D. Hardy

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