From September of 2020 through June of 2021, Sarens has raised six STS cranes at Port Said in Egypt. The project, which involved inserting 11,5m extension legs below each STS crane, was completed on behalf of client ZPMC. To raise each crane, Sarens used its CS5000 jacking system. While the equipment typically used for this type of operation was already in use on other projects, Sarens had successfully completed a similar job with the CS5000 in Antwerp, and was confident in the system’s suitability for this project as well.
Once the equipment was on site, Sarens faced a challenge: the terminal yard was sloped, with no reference points on site for setting up the equipment. The four jacking bases needed to be positioned and aligned perfectly at the same level so that the rest of the structure on top would fit. This was done using a total station. With everything in place, Sarens jacked up the upper part of each 1.360-tonne STS crane by 12,5m so that the client could insert 11,5m sections below. In total, there were 15 elements per tower, and each measured one metre high. Because of the weight of the crane, bracings were installed for extra stability during the lift.
While the project was executed smoothly, it was the preparation leading up to it that was somewhat unusual: because the site is located in a military zone, every person needed to be screened four weeks in advance and the only site access was via ferry.
