OX Worldwide Complete a Very Special Order

OX Worldwide completed a very special order on behalf of Grúas Aguilar in late 2019, to manufacturer and supply modular spreader beams for a bridge on the M30 in Madrid, in just one month.

Ox received the order in Oct 2019 to design, supply and installation of the spreader beams, for the construction of a bridge formed by prefabricated sections with a weight of up to 300 tons per section.  A key requirement was that the lower slings should be introduced in holes of 300mm in diameter and be flexible and strong enough to embrace the bridge section by the base, without damage to themselves or the concrete.  The solution was to use special slings made of Dyneema, an ultra-resistant and very light material, with an approximate weight of only 100KG per sling and a diameter of 110 mm, to lift each bridge section by means of two units in a basket type ‘U’ shape, with a resulting capacity of 200 tons per sling.

The rigging plan was developed by an assembly of 3 separate modular spreader beams.  This consisted of a single top unit of 400 tons capacity, with two lower spreader beams of 170 ton capacity. Additionally, it was complemented with Grommet wire rope and wide body Lyre shackles to not damage the slings and therefore not decrease the capacity due to the reduction factor that would apply when using conventional shackles.  The completed rig was delivered by 4th November.