Australian builder Austral has partnered with crane supplier Konecranes to achieve a lifting solution for very large ship sections under construction.
Austal typically uses 16 overhead hoists working simultaneously to lift and move each assembled ship section before positioning into the main structure. Previously each hoist required its own operator, so 16 operators were needed. Austal approached Konecranes seeking an improved working method.
Based in Henderson, eight kilometres south of Fremantle in Western Australia, the shipyard's building halls utilise 32 Konecranes CXT monorail hoists, each with a capacity of 3.2 tonnes. They travel on monorails east-west along building halls 110 metres by 28 metre wide, with up to several hoists on each rail. The hoists can be moved from monorail to monorail within the multiple bay building as required.
Austal's previous cranes needed up to 16 people each with a control button to lift an assembled ship section.
"This was simply impractical, so we asked Konecranes for something better," recalled Phil Growden, Site Services Manager at Austal. "They came up with a solution of multiple remote controls, whereby a single operator can typically control 16 designated hoists and up to 20 at a time. We're pleased with their solution, which works well in practice. We need only one operator, it's easy for the operator – and certainly safer as well."
In addition to the monorail hoists, installed last year, Konecranes has supplied Austal with a number of underslung gantry cranes, including two new units purchased and installed in 2011. These 3.9 tonne cranes with 20 metre span were both installed in the same bay, so were fitted with anti-collision systems to protect the cranes and their loads from colliding. These systems either slow down or stop the crane movement when the crane or its load comes within a pre-set distance of another moving or fixed object.
All the Konecranes gantry cranes at Austal have remote radio controls, including remote controls retrofitted to the older cranes. Konecranes maintains all cranes on site at Austal in Henderson, whether initially supplied by Konecranes or by other crane manufacturers.
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