The independent guide to rigging, fromthe publisher of Cranes Today, Hoist, and OCH The independent guide to rigging,

fromthe publisher of Cranes Today, Hoist, and OCH

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RIGGING
Yearbook
Wind Energy Operations & Maintenance Summit
4th Annual North America 2012
April 25-27, 2012 | Dallas, Texas | The Marriott City Center Hotel
Operators speaking
Iberdrola Renewables
Duke Energy
EDP Renewables
Infigen Energy
TransAlta
enXco
Edison Mission
Wind Capital Group
Federal / Government Institutions
NERC
Bonneville Power Administration
NREL
Sandia National Laboratories
WIND ENERGY
update
Utilize the latest industry experience,
proven technology and O&M strategies
to maximize generation and reduce
costs in your wind farm
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BOOK
call Wind Energy Update on 1 800 814 3459
or visit: www.windenergyupdate.com/dallas
Contents | This year
05 Editor's view
06 Case Study
MHSs airplane-lifting hoist takes off.
10 Case study
Brazilian Transport firm Megatranz
flies a compoenent over a bridge.
14 Case study
A Manitowoc GTK crane is carefully
rigged on the Gdansk docks.
18 Rope
Experts from major rope firms,
including manufacturer Bridon,
explain what to do when ropes get
thin, and how to implement the
latest revisions to the ISO 4309 at
your firm.
25 Rope
MRE Matron in Israel has
developed a special rope testing
machine that can proove which
rope will give the longest life for
your crane and job.
This year
10
14
Best practice
Ropeblock in the Netherlands made
history with the largest hook block for
a land based crane: Its capable of
lifing up to 108t. The custom rope block
was created for the Sarens megalifting
SGC-120 ringer crane (page 23).
On the cover
06
23 Chains
RUD shows how its RFID tags can
be used in chains to revolutionise
chain maitenance.
27 Spreader bars
Spreader beams developed by
Modulift are being used to make
lifting wind turbine parts a breeze.
29 Hooks and shackles
Read the story of the making of the
worlds largest block by Ropeblock,
ang get the scoop on Vic Loks
permanent shackles.
Equipment
3 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
50 Years Experience in Development
and Production of Hoisting Equipment
podem.bg
As of April 2011 the total number of electrical wire rope hoists
produced in the factory is 1 923 700.
Editors view | This year
I
n todays market, you need good
connections. Rope connections, that is.
During the slowdown lifters make do
with fewer cranes, less demand and still
outperform the competition, and that
requires good rigging.
Whether that means buying remote-
release hooks that give less trouble,
ensuring ropes are in top shape before
lifting, getting operators trained as expert
riggers who can advise on the right
equipment, or becoming standards-
compliant before the competition, theres
always room for improvement.
The next best thing to buying new rope
or equipment is maintaining the kit you
already have in the most up-to-date way.
New kinds of ropes are on our minds,
not least on the minds of the folks who
make them. Manufacturers are telling us
that the new fibre core ropes and rotational-
resistant ropes need different care when it
comes to maintenance.
The ISO committee responsible for
setting rope standards has revised the
discard criteria for ropes to make sure
that lifters know to measure the ropes
after they are broken in, as this is the
best way to calculate when they should
be discarded.
Revisions to ISO 4309, giving the
largest amount of deformation before a
rope must be discarded, recommend that
a new measurement called reference
diameter should be taken immediately
after the rope goes through its first
loading cycle.
Riggers need to let their rope inspectors
know that this is a better measurement to
use than the nominal diameter found in
the manufacturers catalog traditionally
used, for two reasons.
Manufacturers say the nominal
diameter measurement cant be accurate
because of tiny differences in rope when it
is being made, and also because the rope
will stretch a fraction during the first
loading cycle.
The same principle of using
equipment kindly applies to cranes:
overloading is no longer a suitable way
to test cranes, according major crane
companies like Terex and Manitowoc,
which have released a position paper
warning against overloading cranes via
the European manufacturers association
of materials handling, lifting and storage
equipment, the FEM.
Companies looking to improve
productivity should remember that
overloading can wear a cranes boom and
make the crane uninsurable under some
plans, as well as pose the danger of the
boom breaking and injuring bystanders and
loads.
Cristina Brooks Editor
Cristina.Brooks@progressivemediagroup.com
Time to tie up
loose ends
Find out more about our range of products and read daily news at www.cranestodaymagazine.com
EDITORIAL
Editor Cristina Brooks Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 5208
cristina.brooks@worldmarketintelligence.com
Group Editor Will North Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 5321
wnorth@worldmarketintelligence.com
Associate Editor KevinWalsh Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 5246
kevin.walsh@worldmarketintelligence.com
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Progressive Media Publishing Ltd 2011
Cristina Brooks Editor
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5 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
This year | Case study
6 RIGGING YEARBOOK | www.riggingyearbook.com 2011/2012
U
S Technologies Inc, (UST) based in
Canton, Ohio, has been supplying
the military with blast media and
related services for over 30 years. The blast
media is a clean efficient way of stripping
paint from aircraft during the refurbishment
process. As part of providing the military
with blasting media UST became involved
with a solution to better access the plane
with this media, which would allow for a
better, quicker, and safer solution.
The normal way to do this would be to
use scissor lifts and articulating man lifts.
The lifts would move around the plane,
while operators sprayed blast media at it.
This approach comes with its own
problems though. Jack Hinsdale, owner of
MHS, explains: This was very time
consuming and required a certain amount
of clear floor space in order for the lifts to
access the perimeter of the planes.
Instead of using traditional man lifts
that operated from the floor, UST helped
develop a method that would allow a
manned platform or cab fixed with a spray
nozzle to be carried around the plane.
This was suspended from an overhead
crane which gave the operator access to
every part of the aircraft. UST called this
the Aerial Multi-access Platform, or AMP.
The original design for the AMP was
inspired by the Stewart platform used in
airplane simulators. Hinsdale says: The
Stewart platform uses three pairs of
cylinders underneath a platform and
mounted to a base. The tops of the three
pairs of cylinders are affixed in an
equilateral triangular pattern to the upper
platform, with the bottoms of the cylinders
mounted on the base rotated 60 degrees
from the upper platform triangle. Thus
raising and/or lowering the cylinders in
various measures allow the upper platform
to be moved on multiple axes. Since three
points determine a plane geometrically
speaking, the pitch, yaw, and roll achieved
in flight is easily simulated.
USTs design for the paint stripping cab
or platform inverted the typical Stewart
platform, using hoists to lift and lower from
three points simultaneously. Hinsdale
Precision flying
Crane builders MHS worked in conjunction with UST to design a custom system for the US Air
Force that allows for precise multi-axis positioning of aircraft wings during assembly and
disassembly. Will North spoke to MHS owner Jack Hinsdale.
7 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
says: Instead of using cylinders, as with
the Stewart platform, the AMP system uses
six wire rope hoists positioned in the same
triangular configuration.
With the AMP designed and a cab or
platform fitted to allow operators to blast
media at the plane, the airforce could do
away with the work platforms taking up
space on the busy plant floor. Hinsdale
says: The operator can literally fly from
the cables in the cab or on a platform
around the plane blasting media.
Supporting an operator demonstrated
the flexibility of the concept, and inspired
its application to heavier loads. At Robins
AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia, a key task
is to remove and replace wing boxes from
C-130 aircraft. Hinsdale says: The
specific problem with the wing box was
the need to pitch, yaw, and/or roll the
wing box slightly to allow for easy
insertion or removal from the fuselage.
The method used for many years was
to use an overhead crane or a mobile
crane and rig to the load as best possible.
This was explained to us as a very dicey
operation. It was not uncommon for the
wing box to be in a bind with the
fuselage. The unbinding of this was
achieved by lifting, lowering, hammering,
or better described Jimmying, the wing
box free or into place.
Once this problem was identified the
AMP system was identified as the perfect
potential solution. This is the point where
UST and MHS partnered for the first
application of the AMP concept for the
purpose of materials handling. More
specifically to use the AMP systems
attributes to lift and control an actual load
as opposed to its earlier blast media
applications.
By using these principles to handle an
actual product (the wing box) you create
the ability for controlled multi-axis
movement of the load itself. In the wing
box application the six hoists are attached
to a lower triangle frame that is used to
pick up the wing box. The motions gained
in addition to the standard up and down,
left and right, and forward and reverse of a
crane are pitch, yaw, and roll of the load as
with the Stewart platform or the original
AMP applications. The wing box system
was further enhanced by adding 360
degree rotation to the lower lifting fixture.
The benefits were soon apparent.
Hinsdale says: Even the very first time
they used the system there were
measurable improvements on speed,
quality, and safety. When you are given
the ability to pitch, yaw, or roll an item (in
a controlled fashion) when assembling it
to another item you gain a considerable
advantage.
Designing the mechanical parts and
applying the complex algorithms of the
system was still not the complete solution.
A really useful application also needed to
be easy to control. The team worked
closely with Electromotive Systems, a
Magnetek subsidiary, to come up with a
specially designed radio transmitter suited
to the requirements of the AMP system.
Hinsdale says: The system has a crane
and trolley mode which allows for
standard forward/reverse and left/right.
Then when the load is close to the correct
position the controls are switched into
AMP mode. In AMP mode the pitch, yaw,
roll, and lower/raise are all controlled with
toggles labeled accordingly.
The system is remarkably user friendly
and required very limited training. The
operator simply controls all of the functions
from a single belly box with the designated
motions on toggle type switches. The
sophistication is in the algorithms
computed and controlled by way of the on
board PLC. The hoists are all DC motor
driven which allows for very precise
positioning and tracking of the cables.
Hinsdale is now looking for new
applications for the AMP system. He
says: I believe the applications are
limitless. The primary qualification would
be any lifting and mating or assembly
where manipulating the load is critical. It
would also be specific to loads that are of
a high enough capacity to disqualify using
a handling device or manipulator.
The industries that would seem to be
the best candidates at this point would be
aircraft manufacturing or maintenance,
and ship building. I believe that when
crane and hoist people become aware of
this product there will be a number of
other industries identified.
Positioning
a wing box
with the AMP
LIFTING GEAR SOLUTIONS
NATIONWIDE
Arbil are experts in the sales, hire and
service of Lifting, Winching, Jacking and
Load Securing products to all markets
and industries.
A comprehensive sales, hire and service facility is located at all three
of our branches; Lye in the West Midlands, Bristol and Coventry.
Our facility at Cradley Heath specialises in the manufacture and
engineering of bespoke lifting solutions. We can also load test,
calibrate and inspect your equipment on-site.
We only represent market leading brands such
as Kuplex, Crosby, Green Pin, Enerpac, Cartec
and Dillon, in addition to our own respected
range of lifting equipment.
Call us NOW
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E-mail: sales@vanbeest.com www. vanbeest.com Member of Van Beest International
Registered trade marks Green Pin and Excel
Van Beest B.V. Manufacturer and supplier of wire rope- and chain accessories with
offices inThe Netherlands,Germany,France and the USA.

Registered trade name Green Pin

,agenuine made inHolland product.

9 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
Company prole | Advertorial
Arbil Ltd was founded by Raymond R Bills in 1963, and through a
combination of expansion and acquisition, has grown into a
dynamic company dedicated to providing the quality of product
and after-sales service we believe every customer deserves.
A
comprehensive sales, hire and
service facility is located at all
three branch sites: Lye in the
West Midlands, Bristol and Coventry. Our
facility at Cradley Heath specialises in
the manufacture and engineering of
bespoke lifting solutions.
Arbil represents high quality brands
such as Kuplex, Crosby, Green Pin,
Enerpac, Cartec and Dillon, in addition
to its own respected range of lifting
equipment. It is also an authorised
Service Centre for Enerpac, Columbus
McKinnon and Dillon products.
Arbil has an on site load weighing
and measuring capability with a range of
load links, load cells, load columns,
potentiometers and multi-way read out
systems. Other services include gauge
repair and calibration, verification and
certification of third party testing
facilities.
Arbil also has specialist divisions
serving the Rail industry and 4x4 after
market. Our Rail division focuses on the
sales, service and hire of rail handling
equipment, in addition to manufacturing
Zwicky jacks. Arbil 4x4 imports and
distributes a high quality range of brands
such as ARB, Warn winches, Hi-Lift jacks
and Safari snorkels.
Arbil partners with Dillon Force
Measurement
Arbil is proud to announce its recent
partnership with Dillon, becoming the UK
distributor of its Force Measurement
products. In addition, Arbil becomes the
authorised provider of repair and
calibration services.
Dillon is a market leading
manufacturer of force measure
instrumentation, including load cells,
overload protection and suspended
weighing products. Dillon also offers
Force Testing products, popular within
Quality Assurance departments.
The Dillon brand was founded on the
mechanical dynamometer, which it
invented in 1937. Designed for longevity,
this instrument remains a very popular
seller to this day. Dillon has earned a
reputation for rugged, long-lasting
products that are easy to use and the
modern product line boasts the largest
range of electronic dynamometers, crane
scales, instrumentation specific to
overload detection and wire tension
measurement.
Equally as important is the world-
wide distribution network that assists
Dillon customers with product selection
and unequaled service after the sale.
Arbil have been appointed as a key
service, repairs and calibration centre to
Support Dillon products for European
markets.
Please contact Arbil on 0845 600 8007,
or visit www.arbil.co.uk to see the full
range of Dillon products.
Arbil offers a comprehensive sales,
hire and service facility, located at three
branch sites: Lye (in the West Midlands),
Bristol and Coventry. Our facility at
Cradley Heath specialises in the
manufacture and engineering of bespoke
lifting solutions.
Dedicated to quality
Access & Safety
Equipment
Chain Slings &
Components
Hardware & Fittings
Hoists
Hydraulic Pumps &
Cylinders
Jacks
Lifting Beams & Gantries
Load Measuring
Equipment
Webbing Slings
Wire Rope & Fittings
Special Projects.
Arbils product range
This year | Case study
10 RIGGING YEARBOOK | www.riggingyearbook.com 2011/2012
Brazilian bridge lift
T
he Petrobras Paulnia refinery, or
Replan for short, produces 20% of
Brazils oil refining capacity. Its
products include diesel fuel, gasoline, LPG,
naphtha, kerosene, coke, asphalt, solvents
and propane.
To upgrade the facility, built in 1972,
and to improve refining and maintenance
processes, Petrobras launched a
modernisation programme in 2005.
Delivering upgraded components,
Megatranz transported three modules for a
Regenerator Continue Catalyst (RCC), each
weighing between 110168t. The modules
were intended to reduce maintenance times
and improve the quality of fuel produced at
the refinery.
The cargo started out at the port of
Tarragona in Spain, then sailed overseas.
From the port of So Sebastio in Brazil, it
went by river to the town of Caraguatatuba,
where 12-axle, SPE Scheuerle modular
trailers were waiting. On these, it
manoeuvred along the D. Pedro highway in
So Paulo before arriving at its destination.
Renato Zuppardo, director at
Megatranz, was involved in the project
from the start. We had to cross the city
of So Sebastio and because of the cargo
we couldnt pass through the city centre
because of the power lines and concrete
blocks in the middle of the street. So we
developed a transportation area in the city
Megatranz, specialists in logistics and heavy lifting, and crane rental firm Guindastes Tatuap,
recently concluded six lifting operations during the transport of ducts to the Replan refinery in
Paulnia, Brazil, 118km from So Paulo. The company used cranes to manoeuvre cargo past an
overpass and a viaduct. Cristina Brooks reports.
Caption
caption
Caption
caption
Refinery modules flown over an
overpass in Brazil
Case study| This year
11 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
of Caraguatatuba. In this city we found a
very small river which goes behind our
transportation companys area.
We talked with the marines and the
fishermen in this local area and we
studied the drift of the lake, Zuppardo
says. We made a quay in behind the
transportation company. Then we went
into it with our barge using very small
tugs from Brazil. After that we used
trucks to reach Paulnia, 300km by road.
To complete the transport, Megatranz
used at least three Scheuerle Intercombi
trailers, each with 16 axles. Blocked by a
footbridge at the highway, it suspended
the footbridge with the help of four cranes.
Two cranes had a lifting capacity of 500t,
while the other two had lifting capacities
of 300t and 250t respectively.
Zuppardo said: The Replan project
required a lot of dedication and creativity
of our entire team. We conducted an
extensive study to define what would be
the best logistics solution, since there
were many challenges to be overcome
because of the size of the equipment
transported. The choice of lift equipment
and use of river transport by barge were
steps we took under the strategy we
created for this transport.
Attaining the licences for the use of
highways required extra effort. Zuppardo
said: We faced too much bureaucracy
from the companies responsible for the
Brazilian highways, which took a lot of
time to give the necessary licences to do
the transportation on the highways.
Zuppardo continued: The conclusion
of this project represented a big victory for
Megatranz because we overcame all the
challenges by following our policy of
creativity and audacity.
Modules for a Regenerator
Continue Catalyst
Cranes lift the module
over the overpass
verope - special wire ropes
the one and only
www.verope.com
Four decades ago, Datek redefined the industrial radio remote control industry by the introduction of the first digitally verified protocol. Over the
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For further information please visit www.datek.net or give us a call at +46-8-534 101 50
13 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
Company prole | Advertorial
The company is currently setting up a new state- of- the-art R&D centre on the premises of the
verope service centre in Zweibrcken, Germany. The aim of this R&D facility is to permanently
monitor the quality of the latest production and to enhance and further develop special wire ropes.
I
t all began in mid 2011 when the
latest bending fatigue test stand was
installed. With this innovation the
bending fatigue performance of wire ropes
with diameters of up to 34mm can be
analysed. This allows verope to give a
detailed analysis of the ropes condition,
both internally and externally, at different
stages of the rope life from the start of the
test via the discard state to the rope
failure.
Additionally the bending fatigue test
stand measures the rope efficiency while
the rope runs over the sheaves. The
measurements can not only be taken
over the complete load range but also
and this is as of today unique during
the entire lifetime of the ropes.
verope is going to install further test
machines to the verope service centre in
February 2012.
After the installation of the test
machines, verope will build a multi layer
test stand.
This test machine will analyse the
spooling behaviour of ropes on multi
layer drums and help the further
development of special wire ropes suited
for multi layer spooling.
Thanks to the investment in these test
machines and a sophisticated quality
assurance programme verope is a partner
you can rely on in 2012.
Verope AG is preparing
for the future
Verope is going to install further test machines
to the verope service centre in February 2012.
Then the following rope tests will be possible:
Bending fatigue tests for diameters from 6 to 34mm
Efficiency tests over the complete load range and during the
complete lifetime of the rope Tensile tests and modulus
measurements up to 250 tons
Analysis of elongation, lay length and reduction of diameter under
load and recording of wirebreaks using a sophisticated
contact-free video-extensometer
Measurement of rotation properties (torque factor and rotation
angle) up to 36mm on a newlydeveloped test stand
Determination of the torque factor under load up to 250 tons
Measurement of the flexibility of the rope
Measurement of lateral pressure stability
14 RIGGING YEARBOOK | www.riggingyearbook.com 2011/2012
G
dynia-based Viatron was set up to
take advantage of the unique
Manitowoc GTK crane, with a
focus on the wind energy sector in Poland
and Sweden. It has been showcasing the
abilities of its recently acquired Grove
GTK1100 at the Remontowa shipyard in
Gdansk where the offshore drilling rig
Grove GMK all terrain crane upper,
mounted on a telescoping tower supplied
by steel specialists Wolter
Metallverarbeitung, now part of the
Wilphoenix is being refitted.
The GTK1100 was the brainchild of
one of Manitowocs lead designers,
Gerhard Kaupert. The crane combines a
GTK gets picked
up in Gdansk docks
Polish rental firm Viatron used a 1,000t gantry crane to lower a new
GTK1100 into the dry dock at the congested Remontowa shipyard.
A gantry crane lifts
Viatrons new GTK1100
into a dry dock
This year | Case study
Case study | This year
15 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
Rautaruukki group. The tower and upper
are mounted on an SPMT-style
hydrostatic carrier, and held steady by
pendants linking the tower and upper to
the outriggers.
Originally designed to lift heavy
nacelles on to wind towers, it has found
further applications on other tall, heavy,
jobs like chimney work.
For Viatrons first job with the 90t
capacity GTK1100, it positioned it in a
dry dock, using a 1,000t gantry crane
from the shipyard, before using it to
perform several lifts to place upgraded
control equipment modules and drill
control mechanisms on the Wilphoenix.
Due to the limited space in the dry
dock, the crane could only be partially
rigged with its outriggers and telescopic
mast at ground level. However the crane
was still capable of safely lifting a range
of components in this configuration, the
heaviest of which weighed 10t, to
heights of around 116m at radii as large
as 52m over the course of nine days.
The Wilphoenix semi-submersible
vessel is used by offshore drilling
contractor Awilco Drilling to drill at depths
of more than 360m, and the substantial
upgrade formed an important part of its
refurbishment, which will be fully
completed later this year.
Manitowoc says using the GTK1100
solved a number of engineering
challenges, and Viatrons CEO Igor Pawela
agreed he was impressed with the cranes
capabilities on the job, commenting. The
GTK1100 is one of the most innovative
cranes Ive seen in years.
SPREADER BAR KITS
PATENT 7,967,352
17 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
Product announcement | Advertorial
Build Your Own Spreaderbars with patented End Caps is the
newest technology offered by Tandemloc, Inc.
I
t is so simple all you need is
Tandemlocs End Caps and a length
of cut pipe*. Tandemloc stocks every
size End Cap that they offer. Capacities
are from zero to over 3 million pounds of
strength!
There are several notable features of
Tandemlocs End Caps. Unlike the
competitors, which requires multiple
bolts and bolt holes, Tandemlocs End
Caps connect to the pipe with one safety
pin that is affixed to the end cap itself.
Each End Cap is proof test and certified
over the strength of the working load
limit and includes our one year warranty.
The wide variety of End Caps sizes
(ranging from 3 to 32 diameter) allows
the end user to choose which span and
capacity works for them. For example,
Tandemlocs 32 End Cap has a Working
Load Limit of 220 Tons at a 100 feet
span!
End Caps have many benefits to the
end user. Freight costs are huge savings
because you can purchase the pipe from
your local pipe supplier and only have to
ship the End Cap from Tandemloc.
Several of the Tandemloc End Caps are
light enough to ship by a ground courier.
Also, every lift is unique with a unique
span and strength requirement. The End
Caps allow the end user to be precise,
creating a custom spreaderbar without
the custom lead time. With extreme
capacities and spans, a large and heavy
lift is just as easy as a light lift because of
the Tandemloc End Caps. Most riggers do
not have time to keep track of several
bolts, but since Tandemlocs End Caps
use a safety pin already attached to the
Caps, the installation and removal of the
Ends from the pipe is quick and easy.
Finally, Tandemloc stocks every size End
Cap that they offer, so last minute lifts are
no longer a problem and End Caps usually
ship within 24 hours of receipt of order.
Tandemloc, Inc. manufactures and
maintains stock of a broad range of below
the hook lifters for industry. They are
located in North Carolina, USA.
www.tandemloc.com
Warning: Failure to use the pipe as
specified by Tandemloc can result in lifter
failure, which could lead to a dropped
load, causing property damage, personal
injury and death. Please be sure and
obtain material test reports for the
pipe purchased and be sure the
pipe is correct prior to use.
Build your own
spreaderbars
Above: Mammoets
spreaderbar on the job.
Below: Close ups of
Tandemlocs End Caps
Best practice | Rope
18 RIGGING YEARBOOK | www.riggingyearbook.com 2011/2012
Wearing ropes thin
T
hats why the latest revisions to the
ISO (International Organization for
Standardization) 4309 are critical.
Anybody who is responsible for, uses,
inspects, maintains or examines crane
ropes needs to be aware of the changes
that have been made within this
standard.
The ISO has new criteria for deciding
when rope discard happens, recognising
that ropes stretch slightly.
The standard has always listed tables
for different types of crane.
Kirkham continues, Depending on the
type of machine the rope is installed on, it
will show how that rope deteriorates over
time. This is also defined in the standard
in that the allowable number of wire
breaks is given in a number of tables.
The ISO gives the largest number of
wire breaks or amount of wear, corrosion
and deformation that inspectors can find on
a rope before it must be thrown away.
The committee deciding this number is
made up of representative rope experts
from each country, elected from national
standard organisations as well as crane,
rope and safety industries.
Regarding his selection for the
committee, David Hewitt says, Its a
structured process through BSI (British
Standards Institution).
You have to be a member of the crane
committee for BSI, that is the British
Standard Crane Committee. He is the
chosen representative for Britain and was a
speaker at the Cranes Asia conference in
Singapore in September 2011.
Hewitt says new diameter calculation
criteria in the latest standard revision does
not substantially change practice. The
way we inspect wire ropes has been the
same for a number of years.
He continues, To clarify, with the
adjustments we made in this document,
were talking about numbers which are so,
Most people apply [the ISO 4039] standard to any scenario where a rope comes off a drum and
passes over or around a pulley/sheave, says Adrian Kirkham, a training manager for Certex.
Cristina Brooks reports.
Uniform rope diameter in the new
standard is measured only on areas
running over single layer steel drums
Rope | Best practice
19 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
so small, its not going to make any
significant difference. But we technically
need to be correct.
Though this ISO has been around for
many years, the ISO committee still makes
improvements, such as the latest revision,
ISO 4309:2010, to refine the values and
calculation method for the minimum rope
diameter.
The slimming of rope that the revision
targets is caused by external and internal
wear and abrasion. The most critical area
to examine for decreased diameter is the
area on the rope that runs over steel
sheaves and/or spools on single layer
drums.
This is about uniform decrease in rope
diameter due to external and internal wear
and abrasion.
The wires are rubbing on each other
and the rope is rubbing on the steel
sheave, says Hewitt.
The uniform decrease in rope diameter
is the name for this slimming of diameter.
While the old standard that would have
measured this slimming as a percentage
decrease in rope size from the nominal
diameter, which is the diameter of rope in
the manufacturers catalog, the new
standard requires the customer to use a
reference diameter when calculating it.
The ISO committee has created this new
term, reference diameter because ropes
vary slightly during the manufacturing
process.
Hewitt says, The reference diameter is
always larger than the catalog value due to
the manufacturing tolerances.
Manufacturing tolerance means that
we say the rope is 22mm diameter, but
when that rope is made, it can be anything
from 22mm to 22mm+5%.
So it could be 22mm +1% or 22mm
+3%, but it should never be smaller than
22mm.
The reference diameter is a measure of
the diameter of the new rope taken by the
customer immediately after being broken
in.
If the rope is already in service, the
reference diameter may also be taken from
a section of rope that does not pass over
sheaves or spool on the drum, normally a
section of rope towards the outboard
anchor.
An indication of the ropes actual
diameter when manufactured can be seen
on some suppliers test certificates.
Kirkham explains this stretching. It is
recognised that after installation, and once
a loading cycle has taken place, the rope
diameter will normally change from the
nominal stated on the test certification.
Therefore the allowable reduction in
Carl Stahl Evita instructor
measuring diameter with
a vernier caliper
Best practice | Rope
20 RIGGING YEARBOOK | www.riggingyearbook.com 2011/2012
diameter is based upon a reference
diameter that should be recorded after the
rope has been installed.
Most inspectors didnt realise they had
to take this second measurement.
Hewitt says: People werent taking
into account the difference in the rope
when it was being manufactured. It was a
pretty common mistake.
Another change reflects not tiny
differences in manufacturing, but the
behavior of materials within different kinds
of rope.
The original standard referred to all
kinds of rope when it pegged the
unacceptable level of diameter reduction
for an abraded rope at 7% for the nominal
rope diameter.
However, the new standard gives a
table containing different discard criteria
diameters for different types of rope,
making adjustments to reflect the use of
fibre core ropes, which are able to
maintain their durability while stretching
thinner.
For example, the uniform diameters of
single layer ropes with fibre cores are
allowed to decrease up to 10%, single layer
ropes with steel cores or parallel closed
ropes are allowed to decrease up to 7.5%
and rotational resistant ropes should only
be allowed to decrease up to 5% of their
nominal diameter from the reference
diameter.
Kirkham continues: The new standard
recognises the fact that different
constructions of wire rope are expected to
reduce in diameter by different amounts,
and there is now different criteria for ropes
with a fibre core, ropes with a steel core
and multi-layer low rotational ropes.
However, dont throw away your multi-
layer drum ropes using this criteria.
Any piece of rope working on single
layer drums is measured and discarded in
this manner, but its not applicable to that
piece of rope that goes on multi-layer
spooling drums, says Hewitt.
Along with fine-tuning this diameter
measurement, the ISO committee gives a
new Severity Rating percentage within a
table, with columns for percentage
diameter reduction and the rope type.
The Severity Rating table can be used to
give an indication of how close the rope is
to a point where the examiner must
discard it.
For all types of ropes, a Severity Rating
of 20% is slight, 80% very high and 100%
means that it is time to discard.
Rope Category Numbers and
Cumulative Effects
Distributors of ropes and training are now
changing their catalogues to include a
Rope Category Number (RCN) for each
rope, a figure based on rope type provided
by the manufacturer.
The RCN can be used in other
calculations.
Supplying rope and rope inspection in
addition to crane services, Certex now
gives the RCN to buyers of its rope
products.
Suppliers of crane ropes should be
informing their customers of the RCN, so
that the correct discard criteria can be
used, says Kirkham.
He adds, This defines ropes by their
construction and number of load bearing
wires in the outer layer of strands. Some of
the discard criteria is then based around
this RCN.
Kirkham says, One of the other
significant changes is the formalisation of a
method of assessing rope deterioration
known as the cumulative effect.
This method may be used due to the
fact that a rope deteriorates in a number of
different ways and this can sometimes
happen in the same portion of rope.
The standard now recognizes this and
gives advice as to the way we can assess
the ropes percentage towards discard.
Training changes
Carl Stahl Evita, which provides a two-and-
a-half-day Wire Rope Inspection Course in
Rotherham, UK, has recently updated its
courses to take into account of all of the
changes which have been introduced in
the new standard, and offer a shorter
course as a referesher course for returning
graduates on the new method of
measuring rope diameter.
Roy Fulthorpe, a manager at Carl Stahl
Evita, says: By making this calculation
and referring to relevant tables within ISO
4309:2010 the examiner can determine
whether the rope has reduced in diameter
sufficiently to trigger discard.
In the event that the diameter has
reduced, but not to a level which would
justify full discard, the examiner can
allocate a percentage severity rating.
Fulthorpe says this training allows
examiners to prove dicardability to clients.
This is important as it allows the wire
rope examiner to support his judgment
with quantitative information based on
actual measurements.
Certex, a global training provider with
offices in the US, UK and Europe is also
offering courses on the update to the
standard: a day-long rope examiners
course, or a four-hour session designed for
graduates.
Attendees of Certexs training may have
the good fortune to be in a class taught by
Ray Allen, who is also the current chairman
of the ISO 4309 committee.
To help their customers attain rope
examiners certification, Bridon also
provide a two-day rope examiners course
at their manufacturing base in Doncaster,
while offering tailor-made courses
worldwide.
With the latest revision, the rope
inspection industry faces a large-scale
training challenge that will lead to
improvements in safety in the years to
come.
Hewitt notes that the use of large ropes
will continue to shape inspection practice.
I think it is getting more precise and I
think its becoming more critical with the
large and longer lengths of ropes now
being deployed on cranes, he says,
adding, Crane manufactures are simply
building bigger cranes.
Although this applies to all crane
industries, it is particularly important to the
offshore industry because of its tendency
to cycle load.
Hewitt says, Wire rope inspection is
particularly important, and the knowledge
of wire rope inspection is particularly
important when ropes are being cycle
loaded for long periods.
In memoriam: Adrian Kirkham
Adrian Kirkham, one of the interviewees in
this piece, sadly passed away after the
original publication of the article. An obituary
was printed in the December 2011 issue of
Cranes Today, and is published online at
cranestodaymagazine.com/AdrianKirkham
c k m y
Chains | Equipment
23 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
Chainmanufacturer RUDhas hada presence
inAalen, inthe Germanregionof Swabia,
since 1875. The company was set upby Carl
Rieger andFriedrichDietz, andtakes its
name fromthe two mens surnames (Rieger
undDietz, inGerman). Withthe departure of
FriedrichDietz, the company has been
ownedoutright by the Rieger family, who still
manage the business.
RUDnowemploys over 1,500 people in
over 40 locations aroundthe world. Chain, as
international sales manager EberhardFunk
puts it, has always beenthe connectinglink
betweenRUDs many divisions. Today, the
company makes chainbasedproducts
rangingfromtyre chains, to fences, to
outdoors furniture, to conveyor systems. In
the liftingindustry, it is best knownfor its
slingandlashingsystems, andfor supplying
components to chainhoist manufacturers.
Around30 years ago, the Germanmining
industry beganlookingclosely at accident
causes. One of the conclusions fromtheir
researchwas that the maincause of
accidents was the use of standard, cheap, or
evenhome-made, eyebolts. Buildingonits
expertise indevelopingsafe products for the
liftingindustry, RUDworkedwiththe mining
industry to developspecializedliftingpoints
that wouldremove the risks associatedwith
the use of eyebolts.
ReinhardSmetz, divisional manager for
slingandlashingsystems, has beeninvolved
closely withthe development of these
specializedliftingproducts. Over the years
since RUDfirst startedworkingwiththe
miningindustry, he has helpeddevelop
specialist products for sectors includingthe
mouldanddie, plastics, andcasting
industries.
Today, the company continues to
innovate. Its latest newproduct againaims
to address a vital safety issue. One of the
most important ways of avoidingaccidents
whenusingriggingequipment is conducting
regular inspections, discardingcomponents
that are no longer safe to use. The problemis
that it canbe difficult to track when
components have beeninspected.
RUDs solutionhas beento developa small
RFIDchipthat canbe incorporatedinto all its
liftingpoints andhooks. The chipitself
measures just 8mmindiameter, witha
thickness of 3.25mm. The patentedRUD-ID-
Point, withits 13,86MHz transponder is small
enoughto be embeddedsafely ina hole inthe
master link, hook or lashingpoint.
All of the components makingupeachof
RUDs liftingpoints or hooks are tracked
throughout the productionprocess. Once the
RUD-ID-Point is embeddedinthe product, it
canthenbe trackedthroughout its lifetime.
RUDlaunchedthe systemthis year; the
company aims to embedthe tags inall 2m
liftingpoints andhooks it produces annually.
Onits own, RUDsays, the presence of an
RFIDtransponder onriggingequipment is
not unique. What makes the idea special, the
company says, is its integrationwithan
online trackingsystem. The RFIDtagcanbe
readina range of different ways, including
the thumbdrive size RUD-ID-EASY-CHECK
reader, whichslots easily into the USBport of
a laptopor tablet computer. Other options
include readers that candisplay the RFID
tags unique, anonymous, number onanLCD
display, or transmit it to a computer by
wireless Bluetooth.
RUD stores all relevant customer
information referring to a component or a
complete chain assembly. This can be
called up via the RUD web application.
Using the web-based RUD application,
customers can then access data related to
the component or chain assembly,
including the operation manual, repair
hints, test certificate, BG (German
workplace H&S insurer) permission,
manufacturer declaration, user videos,
calculation examples, test instructions and
documentation. RUD now offers the RFID
and tracking system on all master links
with a nominal size of 10mm or higher in its
VIP Grade 100 and ICE Grade 120 ranges,
as well as most sling points with safe
working loads exceeding 5t.
Checking-up on chains
Using RUDs RFID-based system to check a hooks inspection history online
A German firm recently demonstrated its new RFID for chains. It uses an online server for ease of
access. On this page we review RUDs innovative RFID equipment tracking system.
5ZQF "QQSPWFE
To nd or become a distributor contact:
www.nautiIusrigging.com Tel +44 1224 772323 Manufacturers of NautiIusHooks
TM
NautiIusRigging
Award winning Nautilus Hooks

aro sotting
tno now saoty standard or liting oporations
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Range of hooks from 4 to 20 tonne W.L.L. - cost effective
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Tel. (+33) 344 511 133 - Fax (+33) 344 511 313
www.huchez.fr
Rope | Best practice
25 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
T
he firms fatigue testing machine
gives crane owners the ability to
improve rope life for ropes used on
heavy-duty cranes such as those in
shipyards, but also on ropes used in large
asset applications such as aerospace and
deep mining shafts, where the cost of rope
failure is high. The testing machines at
MRE Matrons laboratory compare life
lengths of different ropes more quickly
than generic testing machines, says its
founder Dr. Ronen Ashkenazi, wire rope
specialist. It does this by using testing
machines to simulate the loading cycle of
the application, and giving an
approximation of rope life in only two and a
half months, rather than the year typically
required.
The tests replicate the exact loading
cycle of the crane using nearly identical
crane interfaces. They expose rope to
similar environmental conditions, such as
extreme temperatures of -55 degrees, and
maintenance including greasing, under
laboratory conditions.
Ashkenazi, says, We have to consider
the interface of the rope and the machine:
the sheaves, the drum, the grooves on the
drum and the alignment of the sheaves.
You can specify friction forces, rotation
forces as well as controlling parameters
such as the braking of the drums and the
control of the operator. All of these will
affect the rope life.
In the analysis stage, MRE Matron
assists with rope selection by analyzing the
test results and determining which of
different available ropes is the most
economical and safe for the specific
application.
MRE Matron sometimes works with
engineers at rope manufacturers firms to
modify structures in order to improve rope's
performance. Crane modifications are also
considered. As Ashkenazi says, The
service life is not just the rope, its also the
interfaces with the machine.
Based on the tests for the chosen rope
type, MRE Matron will determine the
discard criteria, predict the rope life, and
recommend maintenance practices suited
for the usage.
Ashkenazi presented a case study that
shows how important it is to test ropes for
heavy duty and critical applications.
Seemingly identical ropes made by different
companies may be better or worse for a
given application.
With regard to a specific application,
fatigue testing compared three different
ropes under the same loading cycle, he
said. The results are that three ropes of
the same construction performed extremely
differently. We opened one rope and found
that the core was completely broken, and
this is invisible, while the outer surface
showed no damage. Another rope
performed very well with respect to its
core.
Preventing rope failure at all costs is
important for obvious reasons on satellites,
but it is important as well on shipyard
cranes and in other situations where
neither the hire firm nor the contractor can
afford waiting times.
Ashkenazi says, On heavy duty cranes
for ships the fine is 100,000 just to occupy
the space. The crane owner pays the
shipyard for the waiting time. We are
helping them to choose the right rope.
Picking the right rope
MRE Matron Rope and Wire Rope Engineering, an Israeli firm, has developed a test to show how a
specific crane might be fatiguing its rope with the aim of improving rope life.
Chr. Huygensweg 21, 2408AJ Alphen a/d Rijn
The Netherlands
info@multi-crane.com Tel.: +31 172440481
Your partner for
special wire ropes
, Hoisting Ropes
, Trolley Ropes
, Pendant Ropes
, Assembly Ropes
, Boom Hoist
Ropes
, Pipe Handling
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, Liebherr
, Wolffkran
, Potain
, Terex-Peiner
, Cadillon
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lease
get
in
contact
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ith
us!
www.carlstahl.com
, PKZ
, Condecta
, Arcomet
, Ferro
, Terex-Comedil
27 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
M
odulifts customised rig was developed for
lifting and assembly of the turbines at
shipbuilding and offshore construction
contractor Harland and Wolffs Belfast shipyard,
before transport to and installation at the Ormonde
offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea.
Swedish energy firm Vattenfall, which will run the
wind farm, will have 30 RePower 5M turbines
installed at the wind farm before the end of the year.
Harland and Wolff required a rig that could lift not
only the turbine hubs, nacelles and towers, but also
be able to lift three rotor blades for fitting to each
turbine, in one lift. The rotor blades would need to be
stored and lifted together in calibrated sets.
The giant lifting rig also needed to be lightweight
to minimise any reduction of the maximum lifting
capacity of the crane lifting the turbine components
before and after assembly.
Modulifts solution consisted of a 16m-long 500t
capacity lifting beam with an unladen weight of 40t
and a lightweight 48.5m-long spreader weighing less
than 9.6t.
The lifting beam was designed to include
inspection hatches and was built to ensure that these
hatches would not compromise the strength of the
beam.
The second component, the spreader beam, had to
be easy to assemble in situ and capable of lifting the
wind turbine blades, which in their set of three weigh
75t and span 61.5t.
Sue Caples, operations director and head of
engineering at Modulift, says, We spent a lot of time
planning the best solution for their requirements and
still needed to be able to turn this project around in
record time. With the barges already on their way
from Germany we had to battle against the weather
to get the components finished and transported to
Belfast on time to enable the project to stay on
schedule, with the first barge arriving in early
January.
The components were taken by ferry to Belfast on
several trucks and with Belfast experiencing its
coldest winter in 16 years, snow storms threatened to
delay delivery. Luckily the dedication of all parties
involved enabled both the lifting beam and the lattice
spreader to be delivered before Christmas, and tested
and commissioned in time for its first use in early
January.
Spreader bars | Equipment
A sharp idea for blades
Modular lifting and spreader beam specialist Modulift has produced a large customised lifting rig for
handling components for the assembly of RePower Systems 5MW wind turbine units.
29 www.riggingyearbook.com | RIGGING YEARBOOK 2011/2012
T
he patented Vic-Lok shackles
design improves on other
shackles' safety, the Integricert
says, by being permanently attached
until it is cut off. This eliminates the
possibility that an operator may use an
incorrect shackle. The company says its
shackle has a five-to-one load safety
factor, with certified load ranges from
3.5t to 13t, and is available in 1/2 in, 5/8
in, 3/4 in, 7/8in and 1in sizes.
The Vic-Lok is one of the first
shackles designed to address the most
common shackle-related safety
concerns, said Vic Segura, president of
IntegriCert.
As shackles are often stored
separately from the slings, we designed
this permanently captivated shackle to
eliminate the dangerous risk of shackles
that are too small for the load, or
different sizes on the same sling,
leading to an unbalanced lift.
Meeting the requirements of Federal
Specification RR C-27-1-D, Type 4-B,
Grade A, the shackle also meets and
exceeds ASME B30.26 requirements.
All shackles are provided with ABS and
DNV pull to destruction test
documents.
IntegriCert is a portable load testing
company for oilfield services equipment,
transit cargo containers, skid units, wire
rope slings and connex shipping
containers. Its services include inspection,
load testing, and rigging for the oil and gas
industry in the Southwest.
Hooks and shackles | Equipment
Vic-Lok keeps holding on
IntegriCert, owned by Vic Segura with two locations in Louisiana, has recently launched the shackle
that bears its owners name: the Vic-Lok Shackle.
M
oving into the market for big
modular lifts, the 120,000tm
SGC-120 can use its six
winches, twin booms and specially
designed ropeblock to lift a maximum of
3,200t. It can lift 600t at a radius of 100m.
Despite the size of the crane its
components, rope block included, can be
transported in standard 20ft and 40 ft
shipping containers.
RopeBlock said the engineering of the
block was extensive. When the design
and components were finally ready, the
block was assembled outside RopeBlocks
plant in Oldenzaal. The hook has five
sheaves on each of its six housings. The
housings fit a total of 30 falls of wire ropes
with a diameter of 50mm each. The
modular block may be configured for
various capacities over 1,200t following
removal of two sheave housings in the
middle of the block. It can lift using a
general hook or two double hooks in cast
steel.
Sarens has commenced the reeving and
load testing on delivery of the block, using
the hook to lift 625t at a 120m radius on
the full main boom.
Worlds
biggest block
The worlds largest rope block for a land-based crane has been
completed and will be tested in the coming month, according to
its manufacturer, the Dutch firm RopeBlock. The 108t rope block
was created for the Sarens megalifting SGC-120 ringer crane.