Bob
Well-known member
Bob
Well-known member
T
topkit
Well-known member
A couple from me in the late 80's a name most of you will remember from the better days.
V8Druid
do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
Grave-stone White and Sparra .... or GWS as they re-branded 'emselves after the big 'tits up' ..... an almagamation/agglomeration of some pretty big names in the crane world .... got some good (paper) pix of J D Whites biggest strutter putting in some very impressive bridge sections in Risca somewhere
Bri963
Well-known member
Gra, who had the first 1000 tonne telescopic? And what make was it? Not a trick question, but in the ‘90’s working on Little Barford Power Station they brought a1000 tonne machine on site to lift some 90 tonne heat exchanger sections into one of the halls. One of the engineers said it was the first in the UK.
T
topkit
Well-known member
A couple more,
The first is a Freestanding Wolf about 90 mtrs a fair old climb to the office! The second is a view from a BPR GT215,
The first is a Freestanding Wolf about 90 mtrs a fair old climb to the office! The second is a view from a BPR GT215,
V8Druid
do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
pretty sure it was GWS with a Liebherr ... but might just've been a Demag? .....
having looked It was actually Tricky Dicky Baldwin
Buoyant UK hirer puts worlds first 1,000-tonne machine into immediate service Telescopic crane to give Baldwins a lift
It claims it is now the only firm in the UK that can offer contract heavy lifting services.The giant Liebherr LTM11000D was put on display for the benefit
www.constructionnews.co.uk
Canal Navvy
Well-known member
pretty sure it was GWS with a Liebherr ... but might just've been a Demag? .....
having looked It was actually Tricky Dicky Baldwin
Buoyant UK hirer puts worlds first 1,000-tonne machine into immediate service Telescopic crane to give Baldwins a lift
It claims it is now the only firm in the UK that can offer contract heavy lifting services.The giant Liebherr LTM11000D was put on display for the benefit
Cheers
, saves me doing a search to see if the wonky old memory was functioning correctly 
Was quite a sight when all shiny and new ...... plus a bonus that they didn't have to bother themselves with inconveniences like L.O.L.E.R for the first year
Bri963
Well-known member
It was impressive. Mind you, a lot of stuff on that site was impressive. The gas turbine turned up pushed and pulled by two Faun tractors, 800 hp each, 80 tonnes, 8 x 8 drive. They were painted in GEC Alsthom colours but a few months later the same wagons and trailer were in ALE’s colours on another job. I did have a leaflet that they were handing out to site visitors that had a picture of the whole train on the front. It held some sort of record, not the heaviest, as it was “only” around 540 tonnes train weight, but it was by far the furthest a load of that weight had been moved in the UK.
The only sticky moment was actually getting it onto the site. When it arrived at Little Barford they realised it was too long to make it round the last two roundabouts so they reversed it a quarter mile and we put a temporary road through the security fence. it was about ten metres from the public road to the internal road, but about a 1 in 8 grade of type one. I was put on standby with my D6H to give a pull if it went wrong - as if my 17 tonnes would have made a scrap of difference. Upshot was there were 16 holes in the tarmac after a bit of wheel spinning, and a lot of paint missing off the bottom of the trailer, but they did it.
Buggered if I can remember which crane lifted it into position, but I’ve got a feeling they had a massive overhead gantry in the turbine house.
The only sticky moment was actually getting it onto the site. When it arrived at Little Barford they realised it was too long to make it round the last two roundabouts so they reversed it a quarter mile and we put a temporary road through the security fence. it was about ten metres from the public road to the internal road, but about a 1 in 8 grade of type one. I was put on standby with my D6H to give a pull if it went wrong - as if my 17 tonnes would have made a scrap of difference. Upshot was there were 16 holes in the tarmac after a bit of wheel spinning, and a lot of paint missing off the bottom of the trailer, but they did it.
Buggered if I can remember which crane lifted it into position, but I’ve got a feeling they had a massive overhead gantry in the turbine house.
maz
Well-known member
I know a lot of engineers smarter than me figured all that out...but I still can't get my head around how that little spindly stem doesn't crumple under the weight, or wind related movement
Bri963
Well-known member
I thought Baldwins were on the brink a few years back but they seem to still be in the mix. What happened to GWS?pretty sure it was GWS with a Liebherr ... but might just've been a Demag? .....
having looked It was actually Tricky Dicky Baldwin
Buoyant UK hirer puts worlds first 1,000-tonne machine into immediate service Telescopic crane to give Baldwins a lift
It claims it is now the only firm in the UK that can offer contract heavy lifting services.The giant Liebherr LTM11000D was put on display for the benefit
T
topkit
Well-known member
There is a lot of science involved but the strength is in those criss cross mast sections, Also if you look carefuly at the tall Wolf picture down towards its base you will see it's on a transition section this is a wider section that then changes to the narrower section. There are three types of base for a tower crane, Rail mounted, Cruciform and Expendable base which is anchored into the ground, This is where the bracket section is actually concreted into the ground and then the mast is bolted to this, There is movement in the mast when you pick up you can feel the movement, If you look at a saddle jib crane with a short jib section meaning it can lift more weight you will sometimes see it is actually leaning backwards due to the concrete counterweights hanging of the back, As soon as it starts a lift the mast then straightens up. In high winds you can see them swaying from side to side, If you are sitting in one it feels remarkably safe up there.I know a lot of engineers smarter than me figured all that out...but I still can't get my head around how that little spindly stem doesn't crumple under the weight, or wind related movement
V8Druid
do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
GWS went tits up ..... effectively .... kit got swallowed up by others
Baldwins're on their third or fourth 're-incarnation' .... not called tricky Dicky for nothing ... would never work for them on cross hire .. too ****ing risky
6
6feetdown
Well-known member
Weren't they prosecuted a year or 2 ago and operators licence suspended?
Giles
Well-known member
TiltyShaun
Well-known member
We used to work for McCarthy and Stone that @V8Druid knows well. I think at some point they had the largest privately owned collection of tower cranes.
I was offered the chance to go up one on a job we was doing. I politely declined as I knew how little concrete it was bolted to!!! I don’t have a fear of heights. Mine is a simple fear of wobbly structures and this things defy my safe and secure sensibility test!!!
V8Druid
do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
some spreader it's attached toSaw this on Facebook other day 1000 ton shackle
couple of 'heavy,s' I used to have
some where I have some pix of some enormous hook blocks ... saw them the other day. looking for something and damned if I can recall where I have them ... it'll come to me
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