A wide range of maintenance work at a steel plant

4 minutes | magazine 02/2018

Power lifting in a steel plant

14 Liebherr cranes carried out a wide range of maintenance work at a steel plant. One of the biggest challenges was to replace an 80-tonne gantry crane track at a great height.

The ArcelorMittal steel plant in Eisenhüttenstadt on the border with Poland was shut down for one week to enable the maintenance work to be completed. Local crane contractor, Kranlogistik Lausitz GmbH, received the order for the work. The challenges facing Gerd Wieder, Manager of Kranlogistik Lausitz’s branch in Eisenhüttenstadt, and his team of crane operators, included an extreme lack of space and deadline pressure.

Dance in perfect rhythm with 80 tonnes

Gerd Wieder had hired two large cranes to complete the complex and professionally planned tandem hoist to replace the steel support. An LTM 1400-7.1 was obtained from his Dresden-based group colleagues, Kranlogistik Sachsen. The even larger LTM 1750-9.1 was sent to Eisenhüttenstadt by crane contractor H.N. Krane based in Rostock. After attaching to the gigantic steel support and raising the load using the lifting gear, the flame cutters were then ignited at a height of 30 metres. It took around seven hours to release the section of crane track so that it could be removed. This finally left 80 tonnes of metal hanging on the two Liebherr cranes, which then hoisted it out.The LTM 1750-9.1 had to handle the slightly heavier load at around 44 tonnes. To be able to lower the four-metre high support inside the steel plant, the telescopic booms had to be retracted synchronously with the load still on the hooks as a result of the fact that they were so close to the roof structure. Since the crane booms had to hold the load at different angles, a synchronous slewing procedure was also required.

This complex manoeuvre by the two cranes cooperating perfectly demanded maximum concentration from both drivers. Peter Böhm in the LTM 1750-9.1 and Klaus-Peter Franz, who was controlling the joysticks in the silver 400-tonne crane, completed the job with flying colours. After half an hour, it was finally done and the removed support was placed next to the new component on the floor. The preparations for installing the new element in the crane track could then begin. As a result of the deadline pressure, the work continued almost without a pause. Both the crane operators and the fitters worked on site in shifts around the clock.

Kranlogistik Lausitz provided a total of 14 Liebherr cranes for the maintenance work at the Brandenburg steel plant. Another support was replaced and work was also carried out on the blast furnace.

This article was published in the UpLoad magazine 02 | 2018.