Piling in the Middle of Nowhere
Project info:
Companies Involved:
Volker Brooks
Loaded Weight:
85 tonnes
Time To Load:
5 Mins
Origin:
Cumbria
Piling in the middle of nowhere
How do you repair a riverbank when you can’t get to it?
Sometimes the challenge of a project is not in the cargo, the weight or the size. In this challenge, a tight site, difficult conditions and maximum dimensions of deliveries made getting set up to deliver the project the greatest challenge.
Our client is a large supplier of modular pontoons in the UK. Their vision to provide the solution and equipment was backed up with Harlyn’s can-do approach to problems as we helped them solve the technical challenges associated with the project.
Tight Site, Tight Timescale
England has some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, especially in rural Cumbria. With that beauty comes challenges, and when a river’s banks are damaged by the flow, their repair leads to a specialist logistics challenge.
So how do you repair a riverbank when there is no access for the heavy plant? By river. Our client is a specialist in the provision of floating modular platforms. They requested Harlyn to assist in the engineering to operate an excavator in this challenging location.
The challenge:
Limited access
The site is surrounded by the river on one side, houses a railway, cliffs and a road with a small bridge.
Shallow water
The river had very low water levels which meant the distance from the bank to the edge of the pontoon was quite large and so a larger reach was required.
Large equipment
As such, a long reach excavator was specified for the project. However, long reach and large capacity means high and heavy.
Floating Platforms
Harlyn provided all the required engineering to load and operate the long reach excavator, complete with its vibro hammer suitable to drive the piles.
The solution:
Roll On - roll off
Harlyn designed modifications to existing equipment and assisted in the procurement of steel mats to allow the safe loading of the Excavator. These mats were specified to reduce the incline angle the excavator had to track on and off of the pontoon. As well as the linkspans, we assisted the client by specifying and operating the ballast pumps to keep the barge level during the loading.
Mooring arrangements
We provided advice and calculations for the operations of the mooring system for both the loading and when in operation.
Operations
In order to maintain safe and efficient operations, Harlyn developed clear operating envelope drawings showing the allowable slew areas and corresponding outreaches to effectively communicate to the operator safe operating limits of the combined system.
Site attendance and management
Our team were onsite, working with our client to ensure safety throughout the operations. By being onsite, we could cross check drafts, loads and layouts to ensure all is as planned and to alert when the operations divert from the plan at hand.
Client testimonial
Successful project in a beautiful landscape
In the end, our client was able to complete the project without damaging the beautiful Cumbrian countryside.
