The aim of this project was, the safe return to service of Reactor 1 & 2 pile cap cranes, following the discovery of defects in rail-support beams over cantilevered support sections.

Crane Care was commissioned in the early stages to consider the options for the removal of the damaged long travel rails in a safe and reliable manner.

Considering that the rails were right on the edge of the pile cap some 80 feet above the pile cap, the consequences of a fall would have been severe.

Crane Care’s solution to this work-at-height issue, (which was formulated with the Magnox engineers) was to create a walkway at the level of the crane rails. Access to this walkway was via a modular scaffold system tied into the building structure.

The design of the working platform meant pile-cap operations could continue with minimal disruption and no permanent modifications to the plant or structures were required.