Heavy-duty lifting in the paper industry in France

Mammoth project in Western Europe’s largest paper mill: Norske Skog, one of the world’s largest paper manufacturers, built a new wood processing plant at its French site in Golbey. The centerpiece of this plant was a huge drum that weighed 240 metric tons. A SCHOLPP team from Chemnitz carried out the installation for the drum manufacturer Voith Group. The extreme load, long route, and confined space presented a complex challenge. Thanks to precise engineering and the targeted use of power equipment, this task was solved to perfection.

The paper manufacturer Norske Skog is headquartered in Norway but has an international presence. With a production capacity of 600,000 metric tons, the plant in Golbey/Vosges is the largest paper production site in Western Europe. This makes Norske Skog Golbey the market leader for newsprint in Europe. Voith supplied the centerpiece for wood processing for a new production unit: a 240-ton drum for pulp production. SCHOLPP was awarded the contract to install this drum in the hall with a series of heavy-duty lifts. Preparation before the start of the project took a total of two years.

The project was planned and organized by SCHOLPP in Chemnitz. In the Engineering department, the engineers prepared a technical feasibility study with all the structural calculations. It was not only necessary to ensure that the enormous loads could be moved safely, but also that the cranes and lifting equipment could be positioned in such a way that they could work in the confined building environment.

Two cranes perform a tandem lift: Unloading and positioning for welding

In the first stage of the project, the two drum segments (180 and 60 metric tons) were delivered from China and unloaded. The SCHOLPP fitters then had the task of moving the segments from the set-down position to the welding position. This was done using two 650-ton cranes provided by SCHOLPP Kran & Transport GmbH from Stuttgart. The cylindrical colossi were moved onto the welding frames in a tandem lift, using lifting gear in XL format: several shackles and round slings, each with a lifting capacity of 125 metric tons. The two drum segments were then welded together by the Voith specialists.

Mobile powerhouse: Move-in over 80 meters with hydraulic lifting gantry

In the second stage of the project, the complete drum had to be moved into the wood processing plant as a whole. Extensive preparatory work was necessary in advance to prepare the construction site. Floor loads of 30 t/m² had to be guaranteed by the customer. This was checked by the SCHOLPP team and improvements were made. Equipment was provided by the SCHOLPP sites in Chemnitz and Dietzenbach. The fitters erected an 80 meter long rail system on which a mobile TG 1,000 hydraulic lifting gantry with six lifting arms was installed. This would pick up the drum from the storage area, drive it into the hall, and position it on the drum foundations.

Precise maneuvering into a confined building: Little clearance with huge load and length

The space conditions in the hall were challenging. There was very little room for the mobile lifting gantry to the left and right of the foundations that would hold the drum. Since the foundation widths exceeded standard dimensions, the track width of the lifting gantry had to be adapted using a special construction. The SCHOLPP engineers and project managers therefore had to calculate the routes and space resources precisely.

The same applied to the move-in height. The foundations had a height of around 5.50 meters. The extension heights of the lifting gantry arms had to be redesigned accordingly, while at the same time taking into account the height limit imposed by the building ceiling. All in all, there was little room to maneuver in all three space dimensions – and that with an enormous weight of 240 metric tons and a huge length of 48 meters.

Always in balance: Checking load distribution and load cases

Due to multiple transfer and handover maneuvers required on the lifting gantry system between the individual foundation sections, the move-in took three days. The SCHOLPP fitters had to pay particular attention to the balance of the load cases during all movements, both to ensure safety and to prevent the drum from deforming. Thanks to exact advance calculations, the drum was placed precisely on the foundations on the agreed day and the construction site was handed over to the customer Voith and plant operator Norske Skog.