Custom-made ‘Special Cranes‘

The Challenge

Tata’s distribution centre at Redcar is one of 49 nationwide, providing steel to local customers and processing facilities to meet specific requirements. Plate and sections for use in engineering and marine fabrications or structural steelwork can be cut, shot blasted and painted prior to delivery to customers ready for the next stage of manufacture.

The company required bespoke overhead cranes to significantly improve order turnaround, so turned to Street Crane for the solution.

The Solution

Street supplied and installed four, 12-tonne overhead travelling cranes of a radically different design. These were configured by Street to handle the high rates of material flow to significantly improve processing and speed of delivery to customers.

The cranes feature a double bridge design, where two linked beams span the 20 metre bays and on these a 27 metre crane bridge is fitted, bearing twin six tonne hoists with magnets. This allows zoned material flow in the processing bay, with transfer through the shot blast and painting processes before the finished steel is shipped out to customers.

The Benefits

Ease of use:

• The hoists on each crane can be operated singly or in tandem for heavier or awkward shaped loads giving additional stability.

Enhanced safety:

• Anti-collision systems permit safe crane movement on a common gantry with audible alarms and amber flashing lights to warn of the other crane approach.
• Crane control is via a push button infra-red link which complies with Tata’s stringent requirements.
• The crane bridge platforms feature taut-wire safety lines and 10 safety harness anchor points are included at key locations such as panels, crabs and end carriages.

Minimal maintenance:

• Hours of service metering is on all crane motions to assist with planning proactive maintenance to sustain the plant’s uptime and efficiency.