27.04.2016

Enerpac extends jack-up reach

Heavy lifting and jacking specialist Enerpac has received an order from Burkhalter to extend the height of its 2,000 tonne jack-up system.

Burkhalter wants to increase the maximum lift height of the 2,000 tonne capacity - 500 tonnes per tower - system from the current 20 metres to 36 metres for a bridge lifting application it has been contracted to carry out. The increased height will make the Enerpac system, the highest multipoint jack-up system in the world. A typical set up includes four hydraulic powered jack-up towers positioned under each corner of the load, each one automatically lifts and stacks one metre steel sections or ‘boxes’ at a time. Controlled by a central computer, each tower lifts and lowers simultaneously, maintaining a fully balanced load.
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The jack-up system will require an additional 56 sections/boxes to reach 36 metres

Almost doubling the system’s height will involve an additional 56 sections/boxes and four strengthened corner bracing units to accommodate an extra 14 sections/metres per corner.

Project manager at Burkhalter David James said: “We had considered using strand jacks for a bridge demolition project, however, the barge-mounted Enerpac jack-up system will provide a safer, more efficient, synchronised lift of the bridge off its foundations. Working with the Enerpac team, we developed the concept of a taller jack-up system that retained the lift capacity and versatility of multipoint synchronised lifting for loads up to 2,000 metric tonnes.”