Ainscough installs airport bridge

Ainscough Crane Hire worked with the steel fabrication company, Briton Fabricators Limited, to assist with the construction of the Luton DART, a light metro that will be used to transport passengers from Luton Airport Parkway Railway Station to Luton Airport in the UK.

The new bridge will run parallel to the railway line and platform

In March, Ainscough Crane Hire was hired by Briton Fabricators to assist with the planning and installation of a new elevated external walkway at the railway station.

The new bridge has been manufactured by the company and will run parallel to the railway line and platform to create an access route for service users.

Work took place over a week‐long period during night shifts to avoid disruptions to rail services.

The job involved installing five modular prefabricated units of varying weights and sizes, approximately 15.5 x 4.4 x 5.9 metres, with a maximum weight of 32.5 tonnes.

Given the lift’s proximity to the railway line, various crane setup locations had to be decided upon for each module to minimise slewing towards the railway line, as well as avoid existing building clashes. The team spent hours refining the lift plans to ensure they met a high standard.

Crane of choice

A Liebherr LTM 1500‐8.1 and a Liebherr LTM 1250‐6.1 were chosen for the lift

Ainscough supplied two cranes to complete the lift, a Liebherr LTM 1500‐8.1, rigged with a 165 tonne counterweight, and a Liebherr LTM 1250‐6.1, rigged with a 97.5 tonne counterweight.

The largest of the five radiuses the team worked to was 35 metres.

James Storey, CAD technician at Ainscough Crane Hire said, “This was a challenging lift to plan due to the number of environmental and time constraints we had to design around for the Parkway Station.

“However, thanks to the expertise of our team, the bridge was installed on time and with minimal disruption to the site and its service users.

“The new Luton DART transport system is just one of many key infrastructure projects which we will help to build thanks to our recent crane investment programme.”

Work took place during night shifts to avoid disruptions to rail services

Dean Morcom, commercial director at Britons Ltd, said, “The complexity in this project culminated in short possession shifts for installation so it was important that the communication leading up to the crane arrival and set up was accurate and clear.

“Crane positioning between new buildings, their expensive facades, and the railway, was planned meticulously between our appointed person and Ainscough Crane Hire’s drawing office and went ahead without a hitch.”