Sarens Giant Crane (SGC) – 250 performs on the major lifts at the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in the UK.
SGC-250 has been onsite since 2019 supporting the construction of the UK’s largest and most complex civil engineering project.
The Hinkley Point C project will be supplying seven per cent of the country’s low carbin electricity and also creating around 25,000 employment opportunities throughout the construction phase.
Big Carl is commissions to perform more than 700 lifts at the site over a period of four years, on behalf of client Bylor and project owner EDF/NNB. The loads range from precast concrete elements to pripe sections, steel rings, and machinery equipment weighing from 10t to 1.600t. The SGC – 250 will also lift five major parts of each units steel containment liner and dome.
Senior Project Manager, Dirk Vinck says, ”Despite heavy wind, the SGC-250 was safely rigged 10 weeks ago. Our crew mobilised 2 x CC2800’s, a 220t a 130t and a 100t all terrain to assist the rigging of the SGC-250 from the UK yard. The specially designed 700t capacity SARSPIN was also assembled. Site congestions limited the rigging to massive crane,” he said.
The SGC-250 recentyllifted 383t steel band that will encase one of the reactors, the total weight lfited was 575t including the tackle. The team executed 110 lifts out of the total foreseen 706 lifts and the SGC-250 has travelled 16 times up and down the rail system out of the foreseen 52 relocations.
Sarens SGC-250 has a maximum load moment of 250.000t allowing it to lift an astonishing 5.000t. Even at a large radius of 100m it can lift an amazing 2.000t. the SGC-250, designed in house by Sarens, has the most unique ability in the global crane industry to relocate the fully-rigged cranes on site from one lifting position to another.