Konecranes scales mountains to upgrade crane at Georgia Power’s Tallulah Falls Dam
20 June 2017 - 1:05AM
Difficult installations are routine for Konecranes, but an
ongoing crane upgrade project at the Tallulah Falls hydroelectric
plant is truly something out of the ordinary.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a8b04e9-114a-4960-b4b8-498136349fec
Global lifting leader Konecranes is performing a series of
crane upgrade projects for Georgia Power’s North Georgia Hydro
Group along a 28-mile stretch of the Tallulah and Tugalo rivers.
The seven plants use the natural energy of falling water to produce
efficient and economical electricity. Tallulah Falls, the oldest
and largest of the group, first began operating in 1913. Konecranes
is currently upgrading the 60-ton primary maintenance crane at the
Tallulah Falls plant.
“The terrain that made this area advantageous to develop
hydroelectric power over a hundred years ago is making our job
extremely challenging today,” says Dan Devore, district operations
manager for Konecranes Atlantic District.
For either men or equipment, there are only two ways to reach
the Tallulah Falls hydroelectric plant: by boat, or on a trolley
suspended by wire rope that drops approximately 1,000 feet from the
mountain top down to lake level at the bottom of a ravine.
Konecranes has removed a trolley car built for moving people so
they can use a 60-ton capacity maintenance cart to transport a
mobile crane and new components for the crane rebuild. Before
committing to this scenario the Konecranes team considered several
other options, including ferrying components to the site by
helicopter.
The original DC-powered Shaw crane was upgraded with a custom
Konecranes CJ-series 60-ton AC-powered trolley with a 25-ton
auxiliary hoist. The new trolley and hoists feature variable
frequency drives and convert the cab-operated crane to radio
controls that can be operated from the ground. Konecranes also
replaced aging wooden catwalks with modern steel versions, an
important safety enhancement. The crane is key equipment for
turbine maintenance outages.
According to Georgia Power’s Project Manager Frank Payton, the
original hoist machinery, over 100 years old, had serious
reliability issues. Rheostats used to control speed were worn out
and most electrical parts were obsolete and unavailable.
“We were still able to operate the crane, but it was becoming so
unreliable that we no longer trusted it from a safety standpoint,”
said Payton. “The new trolley and hoist are radio-controlled and
much easier to operate. The variable frequency drives allow us to
make precision lifts setting turbines and rotors with just a few
thousands of an inch clearance with no problems. These controls
give us an important safety advantage as we are able to precisely
manage the speed of travel and hoisting loads.”
An earlier rebuild performed by Konecranes at North Georgia
Power’s Nacoochee plant gave Payton’s team an opportunity to
road-test the improvements before purchasing a similar upgrade for
Tallulah Falls. The logistics for the rebuild were
complicated. Because of the difficult access and limited work area,
it was feasible to bring only one mobile crane down the mountain.
Removing the personnel cart gave the 18-ton capacity mobile crane
room to drive off the maintenance cart directly onto the pavement,
where it was used to unload components of the new trolley, move
them into the building and install them. Konecranes was prepared to
build a monorail construction crane if it was needed, but instead
decided to further disassemble the new hoist and install it in
pieces, 60 feet above floor level.
“Even after some disassembly, the lightest we could make the new
trolley was 5,800 pounds,” says Devore. “After considering several
options, we used the mobile crane to dismantle the old crane and
put the new trolley and hoist up on the rails.”
According to Devore, Tallulah Falls Plant Manager Barry
Brookshire wanted to keep the nostalgic look of the
hundred-year-old facility, which called for a hoist that combined
big, beefy last-forever appearance with actual robust performance.
Konecranes custom CJ design fit the bill.
“Georgia Power hopes this hoist will last for another hundred
years, so they won’t have to deal with the logistics of this
project again,” said Devore.
Georgia Power is partnering with Konecranes in an ongoing series
of crane upgrades for the North Georgia Hydro Group. Tallulah Falls
was the second of seven projects planned.
“We have worked with Konecranes for years on inspections, and
always had good results,” said Payton. “We have no reason to
partner with anyone else. They knew our facility and our equipment,
understood what our needs were and were able to supply those needs
for us. The logistics were extremely difficult, but Konecranes
finished the job on schedule.”
Staging on the Tallulah Falls replacement began the third week
in April. Load-testing and handover of the crane were completed at
the beginning of June.
PHOTO CAPTION:Konecranes supervises the load test of the updated
crane at North Georgia Hydro Group’s Tallulah Falls plant.
Additional information:Amulya Raghuveer, Communications
Coordinator, Konecranes Region
Americasamulya.raghuveer@konecranes.com or 937.525.5533.
About Konecranes, Inc.Konecranes is a
world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range
of customers, including manufacturing and process industries,
shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity
enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting
equipment of all makes. The Group has 18,000 employees at 600
locations in 50 countries. Konecranes class A shares are listed on
the Nasdaq Helsinki (HEX:KCR).
This press release is available at www.konecranesUSA.com.
Kcr Residential Reit (LSE:KCR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Kcr Residential Reit (LSE:KCR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024