Twin double girder bridge cranes have been erected at a company supplying iron ore to the steel industry.

Morris Material Handling, a crane company operating in southern Africa, supplies and manufactures equipment for industrial applications, providing electric overhead travelling cranes, wire rope hoists, jib cranes, chain hoists, and accessories.

Through Crane Aid, Morris’s service division, the company services, maintains, load tests and refurbishes all makes of cranes, hoists and lifting equipment, and has a footprint across Sub-Saharan African countries.

Morris/Crane Aid recently erected and commissioned a pair of double girder bridge cranes for a business operating primarily in South Africa that supplies high-quality iron ore to the steel industry. The cranes will be used to assist in performing maintenance on mining heavy vehicles.

The Morris/Abus cranes – the product range at Morris is predominantly based around the Abus range of lifting equipment, a range supplied from Abus Kransysteme GmbH in Germany – share identical vital specifications of a 22m span and a height of lift of 17.3m. Each crane has a pair of hoists – a main hoist with a capacity of 40 tons, and a 10-ton auxiliary unit. The two Abus hoists can operate individually or in tandem.

The cranes had to be manufactured and installed within a certain time frame to fit in with the overall site schedule, and the client received regular updates and reports to minimise slippage at a site where high winds were responsible for a few delays.

The client also appointed a third-party inspection firm, to oversee that all quality and manufacturing specifications were met, and it reported that the client was happy that the cranes were well designed, planned and executed.