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  • A new life for the Denys gantry crane

    BKRS has been working with Denys for years. The latest project involved the overhaul of an existing gantry crane and its subsequential installation in Geneva.

Goals

The collaboration between Denys and BKRS Crane Systems goes back more than 15 years. Because both parties are sure of each other’s professionalism and involvement, cooperation was also gladly sought again when Denys was awarded a great project in Geneva. A pipeline network was needed for the construction of a heating and cooling network in the Swiss city. Denys has extensive experience with, and is a specialist in, the drilling techniques that were needed to construct the tunnels for this pipeline network. To build the drilling machines, unload pipes from the truck, and finally assemble and disassemble everything, a crane is needed at the well.

Denys had a few questions for BKRS about this. Because this is a project with a duration of just over a year, Denys wanted to use an existing crane. Fortunately, Denys still owned a gantry crane at the yard in Wondelgem, which they would like to use for this project. BKRS helped think about how this crane could be made suitable for the new project.

The goals for the project were therefore multi-faceted: a sustainable solution, in which an existing Denys gantry crane was overhauled, and could be installed on site by the BKRS specialists.

The project

Geert Goossens has been working at Denys for 12 years, currently as a site manager within the tunneling department. Because Denys has completed a number of successful projects in Switzerland in recent years, they have also been approached for the current job. Geert: “Thanks to our previous experience in Switzerland, we were already known as a reliable party.” This job contributes to the GeniLac project, an innovative project that provides parts of the Swiss city with cooling and heating directly from Lake Geneva.

The water of this lake reaches a stable temperature of about 7°C all year round at a depth of 45 meters. This natural source has been used to cool and heat buildings in Geneva for 10 years. A network of pipes pumps the water from the lake to companies and organizations in Geneva, which of course cools them. By adding heat pumps to the network, heating can also be done in winter. GeniLac is therefore a future-proof solution: 100% sustainable and local, with 80% less energy for cooling, and 80% less CO2 emissions for heating.

In the coming years, the network will be expanded from the Nations district to the center and the airport area. To this end, pipelines will be laid in the ground with a total length of about 20 kilometres. These two parallel pipes (one for hot water, one for cold water) consist of pipes with a diameter of 1200 mm and a sheet steel core. The pipes must be able to withstand a pressure of 15 Bar. Denys drills the tunnels for these pipes over a distance of about 2 kilometers. This required a crane system that could carry out all lifting operations on the narrow and elongated yard. A cable crane would be too big, so the choice fell on the existing gantry crane from Denys. Denys had already had this gantry crane installed by BKRS. At the time, the gantry crane was not in use, so it was the perfect option to use it on the site in Geneva.

Our solution

BKRS thought along with the customer’s challenge, and quickly came to the conclusion that a mobile crane would be unprofitable. This requires an operator, but since the crane only has a few lifting jobs per day, this operator could not be used effectively. Moreover, the site is next to a highway, and the platform of the drilling rig was therefore too narrow for a cable crane. In addition, a mobile crane has a fairly long mast, which could cause danger given its location: near Geneva airport. For BKRS, it was clear that a gantry crane on rails would offer solace here. Fortunately, Denys had a gantry crane, with a working load of 20 tons, that could be used for this. The drill has a weight of 15 tons. The overhaul of this Denys gantry crane was therefore the perfect solution.

DISMANTLING AND OVERHAUL

BKRS dismantled the gantry crane at the Denys workshop and took it to the workshop in Veghel. In the BKRS workshop, the crane was prepared for the new job. The gantry crane has been fully tested, the electrical installation has been renewed and the crane has been made completely safe for its new use.

ON-SITE INSTALLATION

This was also a great job for the BKRS technicians: they were able to take care of the commissioning of the crane on location in Switzerland. A number of times a year, BKRS takes care of jobs abroad. For this, the technicians travel to the location of the job, where they install the crane. In this project, the mechanics went to Geneva for a week.

TESTING THE CRANE

The technicians immediately tested the crane with 125% test weight. They do this to check that the crane does not bend too much. If all this is good, the gantry crane can be put into use. After testing, Denys was able to start the project immediately by using the gantry crane.
At the end of the project, Denys can have the crane dismantled again. This gantry crane can then be used for the next project.
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THE COLLABORATION

Denys and BKRS are pleased with the cooperation in this project. Thanks to the open and smooth communication, all challenges could be quickly solved. “In case of challenges, we were able to quickly contact the right person. BKRS’ experience in working internationally helped to reach a solution quickly,” says Geert.

The delivered work

 

About the client

Denys is a multidisciplinary group specialising in water, energy, mobility, engineering, restoration and special techniques. This unique diversification makes Denys a much sought-after partner for complex construction projects and infrastructure works, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

 

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