At their Weeting site in Norfolk, Milbank has installed two 16t safe working load factory cranes. Each crane spans 34m and is fitted with twin 8t hoists. Installed in the yard, is a 20t SWL crane, spanning 30m and fitted with twin 10t hoists.
All the cranes are of double girder construction for “maximum strength and rigidity,” said Street. Using twin hoists together ensures safe handling of larger/heavier loads while the flexibility to use a single hoist allows smaller loads to be moved efficiently.
Crane specifications have been matched to the manufacturing process. Currently the factory produces around 1,000 sq m of hollow core floor decking per day. This is due to double in the next expansion phase when throughput will rise to around 600t of concrete flooring per day.
The cranes are employed in double hoist mode to transfer 50m slabs from the casting shop to a conveyor that then moves them to a cutting area. A homing system ensures that the cranes deliver the concrete sections to precisely the same location on the conveyor. Cranes are used in single hoist mode to move moulds and other process equipment.
