An Unwieldy Dome Did Not Circumvent Barnhart's Efforts to Successfully Complete Removal

Market: DOE

Location: Washington

The Challenge

A customer contracted Barnhart Crane & Rigging Co. to remove a containment dome. However, the thin walls of the dome caused the dome to flex and bend during removal, making the project very difficult to complete.

The Solution

The Barnhart team engineered temporary hold-down and tightening brackets to stabilize and easily remove the dome.

The Description

A customer assigned Barnhart to two tasks: removing a containment dome and transporting a polar crane. The dome extended 80 feet in diameter and weighed around 145,000 pounds.

The team conducted a shell analysis on the dome and found the dome to be thin and flimsy. The shell analysis led the team to engineer the appropriate brackets described above and to locate the best rigging attachment points.

Barnhart's subcontractor, Cutting Edge Services, cut the dome using a large wall saw. Once the subcontractor cut the dome, Barnhart used a CC1800 SSL crawler crane to place the dome on the ground.

The team lifted the polar crane to a transporter for shipment. And the customer left the dome on the ground to be cut into pieces for easier shipment.

Although the project lasted several months, Barnhart's expert engineering and well-trained staff finished the project ahead of schedule with no injuries.

Major Equipment Used

• CC1800 SSL Crawler Crane
• THP Trailer

Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company Services:

• Crane Service
• Heavy Rigging
• Heavy Cargo Logistics
• Heavy Lift Cranes
• Machinery Moving
• Modular Lift Tower
• Transportation Solutions

 

Transformer Offload, Transport, and Replacement

Market: Power

Location: Mississippi

The Challenge

A customer contracted Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company to receive, offload, and stage four 520,000 pounds Hyundai transformers in Mississippi for the 2012 Extend Power Uprate (EPU) outage in 2012. Potential problems with the dock, where the Barnhart team would offload the massive EPU equipment, put a small hiccup in the schedule.

The Solution

The water at the roll off site suffered from siltation pollution. This simply means that the water contained higher concentrations of sediments and soil buildup than normal. This problem brought the dock's integrity into question, but a professional engineering review found the dock's structure perfectly stable to withstand very heavy weights.

The Description

The EPU outage allows the power plant to update their components and equipment in order to produce more power. The customer contracted Barnhart to help with the power plant's uprate.

After finding the dock to be absolutely safe, Barnhart assigned its newest fleet addition, the LR 1700 Barge Crane Big Al, to the task of offloading the massive transformers.

The Barnhart team than loaded the four transformers to a 195' x 35' deck barge that eventually hooked up with Big Al at a local port.

Once the team secured the barge to two dolphins near the new dock destination, the crew spent a day in setting up the ballasts for lifting operations. Big Al then successfully relocated the huge transformers from the barge to an awaiting 16-line PSTe trailer on the dock. By using Big Al's nifty winch system, the team perfectly aligned the transformers atop the Goldhofer.

The trailer transported the four transformers to a staging location just a short distance south of the dock. The intermediate staging allowed the Barnhart crew to offload all four transformers in a single day!

Next, Barnhart will move the transformers to a much more distant staging location, where the team will dress them out in preparation for the upcoming EPU. During this scheduled EPU outage, the team will replace the plant's old transformers with the new ones Barnhart has transported.

Major Equipment Used

• LR 1700 Barge Crane "Big Al"
• 16-Line Goldhofer PSTe Trailer

Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company Services:

• Crane Service
• Heavy Rigging
• Heavy Cargo Logistics
• Heavy Lift Cranes
• Machinery Moving
• Modular Lift Tower
• Transportation Solutions

 

Traveling Screen and Stoplog Removal from Reactor Pump

Market: DOE

Location: Washington

The Challenge

A customer contracted Barnhart to remove six traveling screens and one stoplog from a nuclear reactor pump hose. The original contractor unsuccessfully removed the traveling screens because decades of immobility tightly wedged the screens in the filtering system.

The Solution

Barnhart's top of the line pull-up gantries allowed the team to shake the screens loose, remove them from the pump hose, and successfully complete the job.

The Description

Originally, the customer contracted a competitor to remove and dispose of the old traveling screens and stoplog by means of a 2250 crawler crane. Nuclear reactor pumps use traveling screens as a net to collect debris from incoming water, and a stoplog allows the engineers to adjust the amount of water flow into the pump.

The customer wished to retire the old equipment, but however, as stated above, the numerous years of wear-and-tear lodged the screens in place. The customer and competitor invited Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company to assist in the project's completion.

The project leaders originally thought that the screens weight may have exceeded the crawler crane's capacity, in addition to the screens' firm positions. Barnhart brought in a Pull-up Gantry that effectively dislodged the stubborn traveling screens.

As it turns out, the stuck screens were the only problem, as the other team easily removed the screens with the 2250 crawler crane. Similarly, Barnhart used the pull-up gantry along with climbing jacks to initially unfasten the stoplog, and the other team successfully removed it with the same crawler crane.

Major Equipment Used

• Pull-up Gantry
• Climbing Jacks

Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company Services:

• Crane Service
• Heavy Rigging
• Heavy Cargo Logistics
• Heavy Lift Cranes
• Machinery Moving
• Modular Lift Tower
• Transportation Solutions