Mammoet, a global market leader in engineered heavy lifting and transport, has provided heavy lift solutions to disassemble the entire 4,500-tonne press of Carpenter Technology Corp in Pennsylvania, which had broken down. 

 

As a maker of specialty metal alloys for multiple industries including aerospace, transportation, and defence markets, it was important for Carpenter Technology to complete repairs and return to full operations quickly, a Mammoet release said.

 

The press is a highly specialised piece of equipment which is critical to producing such materials; therefore, an emergency shut down for necessary repairs was required on short notice. The lower crosshead of the press, made of cast steel, cracked in half 20 metres (60 feet) below the surface of the warehouse, thus abruptly halting normal operations.

 

Offering a full solution

The customer reached out to a few local subcontractors for help. One local company proposed cranes as a possible solution; however, cranes alone would not provide sufficient lifting capabilities and a gantry was deemed necessary.

 

Mammoet was not only able to offer a full solution and equipment such as cranes, trailers, and a gantry system, but also the skilled labor of riggers, operators, and millwrights to get the press back up and running smoothly – all as one solution package. Based on a prior relationship with the customer, and because Mammoet could mobilise the required equipment and expertise quickly, Carpenter Technology chose Mammoet for the job.

 

Mammoet employed its 750-tonne gantry as well as a 500-tonne gantry to lift and stabilise the press for repairs and maintenance. The unit was lifted and held safe and steady to allow for component change out before the press was reassembled.

 

Forklift helps to lift heavy pieces 

A 40-tonne forklift helped to lift and move heavy pieces during the disassembly and reassembly of the press, while a 500-tonne crane was used to remove the press’ guide columns through a hatch in the roof of the warehouse, because crane was too large to work from inside and the columns were too long to remove from inside.

 

Twelve axle-lines of Goldhofer PST trailers were used to move pieces out of the warehouse to the staging area during the disassembly phase, and then again to bring pieces back inside during the assembly phase.

 

Mammoet sourced equipment and personnel from its facilities in Texas, New Jersey, and Eastern Canada while working around the clock to cover 24 hours a day, with crews working seven twelve-hour days on rotation. Mammoet provided a multidisciplined team with varied expertise including riggers, millwrights, oilers, operators as well as engineering, safety, and project management.

 

Time-sensitive operational challenges

Over 42 total crew members were on site throughout the project which took nine weeks and over 28,000 working hours to cover both the lift operations and the customer’s commissioning activities. Mammoet was met with highly time-sensitive operational challenges, but still managed to meet the customer’s strict completion date.

 

Mammoet’s Industrial Services team based out of Swedesboro, New Jersey is particularly skillful and knowledgeable in millwrighting. For this project, the millwrights needed to guarantee precision alignment of all components of the hydraulic press to maintain required tolerances. As the press was commissioned and operational again, everything worked well and according to plan.

 

All repairs were completed within the company's target time allowing their staff to focus on satisfying customer demand once again in the aerospace supply chain. Carpenter Technology Corporation is a global leader in high-performance specialty alloy-based materials and process solutions for critical applications in the aerospace, transportation, defence, energy, industrial, medical, and consumer electronics markets.-- TradeArabia News Service