Careys uses ingenuity and investment to improve our fleet of cranes

In keeping with our quest to be #bettereveryday, in-house Careys Plant & Fleet has recently implemented a simple, yet extremely effective, value engineering option to enhance the security and performance of our cranes.

We analysed our fleet of cranes, in order to see if there was any way to improve their functionality. After closely examining all aspects of this vital piece of equipment – which enables us to construct some of the UK’s most recognisable buildings – we realised that there were some significant weaknesses with the existing crane base hoarding.

So, we created a new, more secure design, which addresses and rectifies these shortcomings.

Overcoming flaws in typical crane base hoarding

The traditional form of hoarding – which we have been using, and which is found on most construction sites across the UK – consists of a solid enclosure that walls off the crane base, protecting it from unwanted access and intrusion.

However, while the solid walls of typical crane base hoarding do help to keep trespassers out, they also obscure visibility and offer a surface that can be scaled. This presents a variety of problems, including:

• Limitations in being able to properly monitor the crucial crane bolts that ensure the equipment’s stability on its foundations
• Difficulty seeing and stopping litter being deposited, and piling up, within the hoarding
• Inability to prevent free climbers from accessing and ascending the crane

In order to overcome these deficiencies, we applied our characteristic innovative approach and years of engineering expertise to come up with a solution – an anti-climb crane base security cage made from mesh.

New anti-climb crane base security cage improves safety

Our new hoarding design has given us the ability to both dramatically increase visibility of the crane base and guard against free-climber encroachments. The mesh walls of the new hoarding are still strong enough to keep intruders out, while the transparency that they offer allows us to keep a close eye on the crane’s foundation and bolts at all times. Plus, the walls are designed to make it impossible for climbers to scale them. In effect, the anti-climb crane base security cage gives us the capability to both better protect our cranes from unwanted access and constantly check them to make sure that they remain stable, litter-free and secure.

We first implemented this new form of crane base hoarding on a prestigious site in the middle of bustling central London. It has worked extremely well and we anticipate adding more of this new model of crane base hoarding across our fleet in the future .

Introducing Careys’ new Wolff 355B crane

One of the main elements that enables Careys to carry out our robust self-delivery model and provide a broad spectrum of specialist solutions to our clients is our dedication to investing in the latest equipment, through Careys Plant & Fleet. An example of this is our recent acquirement of a Wolff 355B tower crane, which we have deployed to a landmark site in the heart of Mayfair, London.

The Wolff 355B first came to the market in 2007. This luffing jib crane boasts a jib length of up to 60m and can lift between four tons, at its maximum radius, and 28 tons, at its minimum radius. This crane represents a valuable addition to our fleet. It boosts our ability to help construct some of the impressive skyscrapers and structures that are transforming skylines across the UK.