Frames for Hinkley Point
Steel frames loaded on the new 858 rigid and the 658 artic, bound for installation at Hinkley Point.
Portfolio
2024 — jobs we can show you
The year the 858 arrived and immediately got put to work. Frames for Hinkley Point lifted by two vehicles at once, precast concrete planks laid in, a brewing tank over a wall and into a working brewery, steel beams inside HMG Paints, the Town Hall gates away for refurbishment, painted bollards for the council in Stevenson Square, a collection from Arsenal's training ground, and a great deal of site accommodation.
31 documented jobs from 2024, each with the photograph it came from. Every job is one we actually did.
The record
What 2024 looked like
Each one is a job that happened, captioned with what it was.
A dual lift, two cranes on one load
Both vehicles taking the weight together so the frame stays level through the lift. A dual lift needs a written plan, an appointed person and one voice on the radio.
Setting up on the street for a brewery lift
The rigid set up on a terraced street outside the building, ready to take a brewing tank in. Where the vehicle can legally stand is half the job on a street this width.
Cabins off the wagon and drag
The 658 wagon and drag lifting cabins off at a site set-up, with the drag trailer still loaded behind.
A second unit on the hook
The same job later in the day. Site accommodation is the load we move more of than any other.
A refurbished cabin ready to leave
A fully refurbished unit loaded and strapped at the yard, ready for delivery to a housing project.
The same unit delivered
Set down on site. The refurbishment side of the business and the haulage side often do the two halves of the same job.
A double-stacked delivery
Two units delivered and stacked, which turns one site cabin into an office over a store.
A container for a community bike library
A container delivered and positioned for a community bike library. Not every job is a construction site.
A collection from Arsenal's training ground
August 2024, the artic and trailer loaded up outside Arsenal's training ground. Sports facilities run on temporary buildings and fencing in exactly the way construction sites do, and somebody has to take them away afterwards. A collection that far south is planned as a two-day job rather than a day out and back.
The rigid on the same visit
The eight-wheeler on the same collection at Arsenal's training ground. Sports facilities are all timing - there is a window when the access road is free, and that is the window you get. Two vehicles on a collection is usually about the number of trips rather than the weight of any one load.
Manchester Town Hall gates
April 2024. The ornate iron gates from Manchester Town Hall on the wagon and drag, going away to be refurbished. Old ironwork is heavier than it looks and gets packed like glass.
A truck wash at Lymm
January 2024. The gantry of a commercial truck wash lifted off the deck and lowered onto the rough at Lymm. Wide, light, and mostly brushwork and pipework, so it is packed before it is lifted.
Painted bollards for Manchester Council
The wagon and drag in Stevenson Square with a run of painted concrete bollards on the deck, working for Manchester City Council. City-centre work with a live junction on two sides of the vehicle.
One on the chains
A bollard on four chains and clear of the deck, going down onto its mark. They weigh what a small car weighs and they land within an inch.
A refurbished set-up to Romiley
A refurbished cabin set-up delivered to Romiley Board Mill and lifted off in the yard. Refurbished units go out looking new; the price is what makes people ask.
Refurbished cabins loaded and ready
Cabins refurbished by our cabins division, loaded and ready for delivery by our own transport. One company sells the unit and the same company delivers it.
Two loads out of the same yard
Two vehicles loaded at the yard on the same morning. Most days look like this rather than like the photographs with the boom in the air.
Precast concrete on the slings
The new 858 lifting precast concrete planks in February 2024. Precast is heavy, brittle and unforgiving - it goes on the slings level or it does not go at all.
Guided into the rebar
A plank being walked into position over the reinforcement. The crane does the weight; two people on the ground do the accuracy.
Down onto the bearing
The plank landed. There is no adjusting it once it is down, so the setting out is finished before the lift starts.
A brewing tank over the wall
January 2024, the rigid 658 lifting a brewing tank over a brick wall and into position at a working brewery. There is no door big enough, so it goes in from above.
Steel beams inside the paint works
The 855 working inside the building at HMG Paints with the beams laid out on the floor. Working indoors takes the sky away and puts a roof at the top of every swing.
Down the length of the shop
The same job from the doorway. The beams run the length of the building and there is one way in and one way out.
The Town Hall gates on the drag
Manchester Town Hall's ironwork gates loaded on the drag and away for refurbishment. Irreplaceable is a different problem from heavy.
A painted bollard set down
One of Manchester Council's painted bollards going down in the city centre. A small load in a pedestrianised street is a traffic management job first and a lifting job second.
A cabin set ready for a housing project
A fully refurbished cabin set up, loaded and ready to leave for a new housing project.
The community bike library container
The container placed for a community bike library - secure parking and storage for the library bikes, with a bike kitchen inside.
A stainless vessel on the hook
A stainless process vessel coming off the bed. Polished stainless marks if you look at it wrong, so it is strops and softeners rather than chains.
A compactor loaded out
A waste compactor down on the bed and ready to travel. Plant with no lifting points designed into it is the ordinary case, not the exception.
A kiosk onto its slab
A kiosk building going down onto its slab. The slab is poured to the drawing; the kiosk has to land on it first time.
The Hinkley Point job is the one to look at. Two of our cranes lifting one load together is a planned operation with a lift plan behind it, not two drivers deciding to help each other out.
The rest of the record
Every year we have photographs for
Tell us what needs lifting
Tell us what you need lifting or transporting and we will come back with a vehicle and a price.
