12/10/2011
Galizia G150 pick and carry conquest
The GGR Group has supplied a compact industrial mobile crane to help move aircraft carrier sections onto one of the world's largest barges at Govan shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland.
The work was carried out for transport specialists Henry Abram and Sons aboard the AMT Trader.
GGR Group, a supplier of Unic and Galizia compact cranes, helped load out the first section of the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, built by BAE Systems, on to the barge. It supplied a Galizia G150 pick and carry crane to lift and lay a pattern of steel grillage blocks, each weighing up to 13 tonnes, along the deck of the 146 metre long barge.
"The crane was used to pick, lift and place each grillage block with millimetre precision to ensure their alignment matched the profile of the new 8,000 tonne aircraft carrier section they were about to carry," explained Thomas Rae, GGR Group Scottish regional manager, "The G150 was chosen for its compact size, high manoeuvrability and heavy lifting capacity."
The carrier section was loaded onto the AMT Trader by submersing and water ballasting the barge, thereby skating the carrier onto the deck. It took two weeks to secure it on the deck. The AMT Trader is one of the largest vessels to have sailed on the River Clyde, making its 600 mile journey to Rosyth, Fife where the carrier is being assembled.
Following this successful first trip, the G150 is now back on the AMT Trader barge demobilising deck supports and making ready for the next section of the Queen Elizabeth to be transported.