Automating waste management

Suez, provides a flexible and sustainable waste management service for businesses across the south-east of the UK and lifting specialists, RHC Lifting Ltd, has successfully installed two fully automated handling cranes at the company’s Victoria Road waste transfer site in London. This major upgrade was accomplished over 18 months and will significantly enhance operations at the facility, which processes 140,000t of household waste annually from four West London Boroughs.

Commissioned in the 1980s, Victoria Road now boasts two state-of-the-art, 8t waste cranes, replacing the two original 1978 manually driven 7.5t Morris waste cranes, which had become obsolete. In 2022, RHC Lifting won the contract to remove the existing cranes and supply and install two fully automated waste cranes to bring the waste handling at Victoria Road into the 21st century, while limiting the impact on the waste transfer operation. This upgrade ensures faster, safer and more reliable waste handling, with the cranes operating at speeds of 78m/min – hoisting, 30m/min – cross travel and up to 100m/min long travel.

RHC Lifting selected Fayat to manufacture the two new 8t waste cranes and their control system. Working closely with the factory in France, RHC Lifting ensured the new cranes met the requirements of Suez. Key innovations included on-crane control equipment, Vahle power and encoder conductor bars and a Siemens Scalance wireless system, significantly simplifying the installation process and reducing downtime.

The cranes are controlled from a new control room located within the administration block. Using 50in monitors showing the view from the bunkers, hoppers, tipping hall and yard, the user is able to select the modes of the cranes, including fully automatic, semi-automatic and manual operation as required to operate the site. Live 4K footage is displayed from 10 Mobotix cameras, including two thermal cameras for fire risk detection.

To minimise disruption, the project faced tight installation windows, including a planned two-week shutdown in April 2023 to install a temporary steel roof and a three-week shutdown in April 2024 to enable the temporary roof to be removed, old cranes lifted out, new cranes lifted in and a new roof section put in place. Despite the challenges, including the site’s proximity to an RAF airfield and busy railway lines, the new cranes were installed, tested, and operational within the 21-day shutdown period

In April 2024, transitioning to fully automatic mode within an additional two weeks. RHC Lifting provides after-sales care including, operator training, servicing, and statutory inspections, as well as providing 24/7 breakdown cover, managed by the Southampton and London Branch, for the two-year warranty period, as offered to all of RHC Lifting’s customers.

Philip Goodway, RHC Lifting’s director and project manager for this job, says, “RHC Lifting has been involved in the installation of many overhead grab cranes but this was our first project modernising cranes in an existing plant. This project had many challenges, but RHC Lifting provided Suez with innovative solutions throughout. This project can be used as a template for the future modernisation of waste-handling plants.”

Philip adds, “After the first full week of the cranes running in fully automatic mode, the site has reported a 20% increase in waste handling throughput.”

Suez’s processing contract manager for the site, Javier Cordon says,”We are delighted with RHC Lifting’s solution, resulting in two advanced cranes at Victoria Road. The project ran smoothly due to a good working relationship between all parties, and the installation was completed in an effective an timely manner, despite challenging timescales. This installation is already making a positive impact and marks a significant leap forward in waste management technology at the site, enhancing efficiency and safety for years to come.”