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Laing O’Rourke signs a £195m construction contract for Soho Place development

The British engineering enterprise Laing O’Rourke has signed a construction contract for the Soho Place, Tottenham Court Road development in London, UK. Soho Place is a mixed-use scheme above the new Tottenham Court Road Crossrail Station. The contract worth £195m will comprise of a 10-storey building with retail and office space, coupled with a nine storey building split into three office floors above a 600 seat theatre, the first to be built in the West End of London for over 50 years. With the main construction that has already begun, the team is concentrating on some challenging pilling above and around the web of services and tube lines that sit below the site. The development is due for completion in November 2021.

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Sarens lifts a 250t trawler in the UK

In the British port of Whitby, the Sarens crew was asked to for launch the new Guiding Light trawler. This 26m long, 8m wide and 12m high boat weighing more than 250t required the use of a Demag TC2800-1 lattice boom mobile crane.
Indeed, the narrow limits of the site required the use of a powerful machine, stable and with a small footprint. The TC2800-1 was equipped with a 42 m main boom, a 30 m superlift back mast and a 200 t superlift counterweight.

Once the official launch ceremony was completed, the TC2800-1 lifted the entire mass of the trawler with its 200T superlift counterweight. The load was then slowly and precisely slewed anti-clockwise until it was directly above the water. The trawler was slowly lowered into the water, releasing the weight from the crane and completing a safe and successful lift.

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Greenhous Commercials delivers new DAF truck to Beaver Bridges

Beaver Bridges (UK), which offers custom bridge solutions in the UK and across Europe, has just received a new DAF XF 530 FTR from Greenhous Commercials in Shrewsbury. The truck has been used to transport bridge sections and plant on a step frame trailer to a project in Ireland.

“The DAF product is cost efficient, flexible and has a new Euro 6 engine which we had heard good thinks about. The cab comfort is also very important as our driver will be away from home for several days a week,” said Henry Beaver, Managing Director of Beaver Bridges.

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Collett delivers Super Grid Transformer to Lovedean Substation

Heavy transport specialist Collett & Sons successfully delivered the 169 tonne Super Grid Transformer from Portsmouth International Port to Lovedean Substation, as part of an upgrade programme to supply homes, hospitals, schools and businesses in the area. The project involved the Collett Projects and Heavy Lift Teams, who undertook all the pre-planning works including a detailed swept path analysis reports of the route.

The Collett Team discharged the Super Grid Transformer from the vessel at the Portsmouth International Port and loaded it to its 66m long and 5.3m wide Scheuerle girder bridge to began the 12 mile journey to the substation. Two ‘end-change’ operations were required and completed along the route effectively flipping the combination 180 degrees to allow further transport. The convoy travelled across Portsmouth, Cosham, Havant, Purbrook, Waterlooville and Horndean under police escort. Once arrived, the Heavy Lift Team began the final positioning of the cargo. Due to restrictions on the site, the team was not allowed to skid the transformer directly to its designated plinth, the Collett & Sons specialists designed and implemented a multi-directional system to skid the Super Grid Transformer over the bund wall onto a steel platform. Once situated on the platform the hydraulic skidding system was then repositioned at 90 degree angle allowing to complete the positioning.

The Team was also in charge of the 1040ft containers of ancillaries required for the project, taking full responsibility for all cargo, delivering complete transport logistics, including de-vanning and storage facilities.

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Kingston University in London chooses Engie for a contract worth £195m

The Kingston University in London (UK) has entrusted the French group Engie with renovations and the future energy management and monitoring across the sites with a contract worth £195 million (around € 222 million). Out of this amount, £55 million will be spent on redesign and refurbishment of 1332 university chambers, followed by a 50-year facilities management and lifecycle contract worth further £140 million. Engie will also take an equity stake in the refurbishment project, alongside infrastructure investment firm, Equitix.

The work will start in June 2019 and should be completed in August 2021.

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RRC receives the first Demag AC 300-6 of the United Kingdom

The British premium crane service provider for mobile cranes RRC Cranes Hire Ltd, with Road Rail Cranes Ltd, has just extended its fleet with a new Demag AC 300-6 all terrain crane, unseen in United Kingdom. This 300t model (350 US ton) combined strength with the ability to lift 15t on a full meter boom. “Since adding our first specialized crane in early 2013, we’ve worked hard to build an impeccable reputation for network rail infrastructure,” said Ian Cross, managing director for RRC. “From the very beginning, we knew the company would be successful if we employed highly trained operators and equipped them with quality and innovative equipment. The Demag AC 300-6 all terrain crane exemplifies those standards and will be a great addition as we continue to grow as a company.” In total, RRC Group owns and operates more than 24 Terex and Demag cranes.

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Port of Antwerp prepares for the impact of Brexit

The Antwerp Port Authority is taking various initiatives in order to be fully prepared for Brexit including the appointment of Justin Atkin, owner of Ragged Edge Consulting, as the new representative for the UK and Ireland. With more than 20 years of experience in transport, shipping and logistics, Atkin assumed his role on 1 September 2018.

“The UK was always a self-evident market for us. Brexit brings new challenges for us, and our new representative will act as our eyes and ears, keeping us in touch with the economic situation and the impact of Brexit on Antwep’s business. We also count on Justin to place Antwerp even more strongly on the map for the UK and Ireland, and to attract new sources of cargo and investment, “ explained Wim Dillen, Regional Development Manager at Antwerp Port Authority.

With an annual freight volume of around 15 million tonnes the UK is the port of Antwerp’s third-largest maritime trading partner after the USA and Russia. According to the Port Authority, Antwerp is also ideally situated as an investment location close to the European centres of decision-making, and as the gateway to Europe from where the continent can be served quickly and efficiently, given that 50% of UK production is bound for continental Europe.

“The actual impact of Brexit is still uncertain,” said Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Antwerp Port Authority. “Last year there was a decrease of nearly 8% in trade with the UK, probably due to this uncertainly. But with Brexit rapidly approaching we want to concentrate on maintaining and even expanding our market position within the United Kingdom.”

Other initiatives being taken by the Port Authority include Brexit taskforce that has been set up with representatives of the port community, Customs & Excise and the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain.

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Mammoet UK expands with new Teesside office

In order to support the company’s growth and increase the number of upcoming projects in the UK, Mammoet has just opened a new office in the Teesside are near Middlesbrough. More than 180 employees are active on this 6-acre structure (approximately 2.42 hectares), which consists of offices, storage, workshop space, training facilities and testing areas.

The company has also chosen to invest in new mobile cranes and specialist project equipment to be able to meet the future developments and demands of the UK market.

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New compact track loader for the Blackpool Zoo in England

The Blackpool Zoo, located in the seaside resort of Blackpool in the north of England, has purchased a Bobcat T590 compact track loader for its new Project Elephant, a state-of-the-art pavilion that has been built to house a breeding herd of Asian Elephants. Thanks to the low ground pressure and stability of the tracked undercarriage, the new T590 has proved to be the right machine for working on the deep fine sand that covers a large part of the floor surface of the new elephant enclosure.

“The machine will be used for hay and straw unloading, feed deliveries and moving animal crates, grounds work in the animal paddocks and clearing out animal bedding as well as maintenance work around the Zoo ground,” says Zoo’s Head Keeper, Luke Minns.

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Port of Dover chooses Konecranes for new Cargo Terminal

In March, Konecranes was selected to supply two Konecranes Gottwald Model 5 mobile harbor cranes for the Port of Dover’s new cargo facilities as part of the Dover Western Docks Revival (DWDR) development. The Model 5 mobile harbor cranes, which have a maximum lifting capacity of 125 t and an outreach of up to 51 m, operate with a hybrid drive technology that reduces fuel consumption and exhaust emissions while reducing noise pollution at the port. They will be used to handle mainly containers and palletised fruit on the new multi-purpose refrigerated cargo terminal, which is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2019. The DWDR is the largest single investment ever made by the Port of Dover and will ultimately be a very important instrument to cope with the constant increase in port traffic in the UK.