DECOM were appointed as Principal Designer by a major UK Port who import and export goods across the globe, the port had a number of redundant container cranes requiring removal from site. They had been unused for a number of years and the structural stability and condition was unknown. Decom attended site and carried out a study to look at the safety method to remove the cranes. Each crane had an estimated weight of 3000 tonnes. The project attracted a lot of local interest from local TV, Radio and other representatives from local media publications.
Container Crane Dismantling
DECOM management team attended site and carried out a survey of the various cranes and looked at the safest way to remove them, the project required consideration of multiple factors including weather, close proximity of other cranes, access to the area. It was decided the safety and quickest way to pre weaken the cranes then pull using conventional demolition machines with steel cables attached to the cranes. The port Police were used to secure the area, the weather forecast was checked to make sure a day with the best weather conditions was used, the team liaised with members of the public and the local media to make sure a safe viewing place was allocated and observed. The day of the demolition the crane was attached by steel cables to the demolition machines, the structure was pre weakened using hot cutting techniques working from a MEWP, once all the cuts were made the order was given for the machines to track back and pull the structure to the ground. All work went as planned and was carried out safely, on time and to the original budget.
