The Requirements
After being contacted by one of the UK’s market leaders in environmental solutions, Hoist UK’s technical team carried out a site survey to assess the issues that the customer was experiencing during maintenance of the pumps in their boiler room.
A compact solution was needed to achieve the specific “height of lift” required for lifting the pumps out of the working area for maintenance. One of the customer’s requirements for this lifting solution included multiple pick up points for the pumps so that they could be moved to specific drop off locations where they could then be taken out of the boiler room for essential maintenance. Hoist UK’s skilled team of engineers had to ensure whatever solution they provided could reach all points to meet these requirements, as an ‘off the shelf’ solution would not have worked for this job due to the existing steelwork in the working area. The overall height of the column and lengths of the articulated arms of the jib crane would have to be designed specifically to fit around the building. The installation of this crucial piece of kit needed to be done quite quickly as the customer didn’t have any other existing lifting solution in place to carry out essential maintenance work should a pump go down. Following the site survey and consultation, the team knew the working area was very congested with little headroom and were then able to plan accordingly to ensure a smooth installation.
The Solution
Our design engineers worked closely with the customer to fully understand the key requirements for this bespoke project and concluded that the best solution for the customers issue was a column mounted articulated jib crane. The jib crane was designed and manufactured in the UK in accordance with relevant British and European harmonised standards and featured a 300 kg load capacity. To optimise the coverage and lift height within the working area, the jib incorporated an articulated arm with pivot point strategically placed, enabling the load to be lifted and traversed to the desired drop off location. The jib crane also featured a raised suspension point so that the body of the hoist would sit in-line with the second arm rather than being suspended underneath and losing out on vital headroom.
The jib crane was supplied with a bespoke centre eye lifting beam which was designed with adjustable drop centres of 375 mm to 260 mm to suit the existing rigging points on a range of different pump sizes. The use of a centre eye lifting beam designed specifically for this piece of plant, allowed the headroom to be kept to a minimum compared to using conventional textile slings. As the system was to be used for infrequent maintenance operations, the jib crane was supplied with a hook suspended manual chain hoists.
This fully manual solution was a more economical choice as opposed to its powered counterpart. For a company committed to focusing on carbon reduction, this was an added benefit to the design as it was also in keeping with the customers ethos. Once safely installed, Hoist UK’s engineers commissioned, proof load tested and certified the system ready for use by the client and delivered a system familiarity training session on the safe use of the equipment with the operatives on site.
Project Photos
Hoist UK
“This project once again brilliantly showcases the benefits of purchasing lifting equipment from a UK based manufacturer, who have in-house technical design engineers with the knowledge and experience to provide solutions to problems that standard off the shelf equipment simply can’t solve.”