Konecranes UK has also delivered a further four specialist cranes for waste and ash/residue handling, along with four standard cranes and numerous hoists at the facility.
The Goliath cranes are installed on a jetty serving the facility, and each have a 25t capacity and a 10m span, as well as 2×11.5m effective cantilevers on either side to allow picking and dropping of containers to any side of the jetty.
The cranes are used for handling 20ft loaded and unloaded waste containers from barges on the Thames. The containers are then moved in and out of the main waste building to be emptied into a reception pit, where the waste is then handled by the Konecranes automated waste handling cranes to feed the incinerator in order to produce the steam that powers the generator.
These cranes are rated for near continuous duty at A8/M8 classification.
Delivery of the Goliath cranes required specialist planning and logistics due to their size and weight. This involved shipping the beams by barge from the north side of the Thames at Tilbury to the project location, as the access roads were not suitable for the 40m-long girders.
Planning also involved special preparation on the quay for a 250t mobile crane using special mats to spread the load across the main quay strength points. The mobile crane had to be reduced in weight by taking off all ballast and the fly jib to reduce the axle load on the main link bridge onto the jetty. Once the mobile crane was on the quay the ballast was delivered by truck and re-assembled on the mobile crane.
The legs of the Goliath cranes were erected into position and held in place by heavily weighted anchors and fixed stays from the quay floor. The 40m-long crane beams were then raised by the mobile crane into position and assembled to the legs.
The cranes are equipped for a 6Kva high tension power supply, which is fed into an HT transformer on each crane via a motorised cable drum, where it is stepped down to 415v to power the crane motions.
The cranes are equipped with condition monitoring, PLC control, overload protection and a festooned cross crane cables. They also feature a top-mounted maintenance crane that is permanently positioned across the girders where the trolley can be positioned under the maintenance crane for quick and easy repairs.
Other features include: automatic storm locks, wind speed indication, aircraft warning lights, river navigation lights, lightning conductors, true vertical lifting, access lighting, emergency escape harness for the drivers, hydraulic end of travel and traverse buffers, end of travel and cross travel limit switches, main hoist service and ultimate limit switches, slack rope supervision, travel and manual warning alarms and encoders on each motion for positioning.
