London’s Calling

Techlift were engaged as 3^rd Party Heavy Lift Consultants by Capital & Counties plc, the owners and developers of the Earls Court Exhibition Centre site in the City of London, England.

This internationally renowned exhibition and events venue was constructed in 1937 above 6 railway lines (see archive photo below).

As part of the demolition process undertaken by Keltbray Group, 61 reinforced concrete ‘portal beams’, ranging in weight from 80te to 1,500te and spanning the tops of the underground railway tunnels beneath Earls Court needed to be removed.

The lifting operations were to take place at night, during rail closures, adjacent to residential housing and busy roads in one of the world’s most famous and busiest cities.

The AL.SK190 crane, one of the largest land based lifting machines which is owned by ALE Heavylift, was selected to undertake the lifting operations. The crane has a lifting capacity of 4,300te, operating on a 74m diameter ring, with 112m of main boom and 4,000te of counterweight.

Cranes of this size are usually found in oil & gas facilities or power stations and not adjacent to multi-million dollar houses, shops and restaurants! The delivery, assembly and testing of the crane was a logistical challenge that was overcome by the specialist team of contractors.

Over a 7 month period the beams were successfully removed by the crane ready for the next phase of development of the site (www.myearlscourt.com).

Techlift’s scope of work included the following activities:
• Review of initial feasibility studies
• Assistance with the development of the lifting scheme
• Review of all lifting plans and method statements
• Engineering review of bespoke design lifting equipment
• Factory audit of lifting equipment manufacturing process
• On site witness of AL.SK190 crane build
• On site witness of 2,000te load test
• Home office and site support throughout lifting operations