Have you ever wondered how things from the bottom of the ocean get moved to the surface?  Equipment used for boring tunnels and drilling holes in the ocean floor need to be brought back to the surface at some point and that is where the power of a crane comes into play.  If you have ever seen a wind farm out in the ocean it might look like an uncomfortable scene from a movie, but it is the reality of where wind power is coming from.  Those huge wind turbines are making power and moving it from the ocean to land underwater.

Recently, Stockton Drilling was brought into get the components for an offshore wind farm off the ocean floor in Scotland.  The lifting was done by a rented jack-up barge and with the help of divers, more than 28 tons of equipment were brought to the surface.  The project included more than 80 turbines and will power more than 450,000 homes.

For the lift, a 34 ton beam that measured more than 16 meters long was attached to the 120 ton capacity jack-up barge.  Each component was picked up from the ocean floor and placed on a waiting barge that brought everything to shore.  The "below the hook" solution was designed by Modulift allowing the tunnel boring machine to be brought back to the surface.

The TBM included more than 10 modules that each had to be lifted in a different way from the last one.  The lifting points were all used at the same time to ensure the pieces would be loaded equally.  Other points on the beam where also used to attach the crane rigging.

Not only was this the first time a tunnel boring machine was moved from the ocean floor, making engineering a very important aspect, the team had to worry about irregular environment that comes with a marine environment.  The beam and other lifting components worked well and the company plans to keep it for future use.

You can see the original article here.

Have you ever run into a situation where you are trying to lift something and it will not lift level?

What components or accessories have you used to life model crane parts in your own setup?