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Verlinde hoists help stabilise cofferdam

A Verlinde product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 22, 2009

Meije, an integrator in the Verlinde after-sales service network, has installed a 20-ton-capacity semi-gantry crane with Verlinde hoists on an 80m runway located on an EDF hydroelectric dam.

The crane is equipped with two radio-controlled tandem Verlinde VT4 hoists.

Every 10-15 years, the gates of a hydroelectric dam need to be serviced.

There are surfaces to strip and repaint, and seals to change.

These maintenance operations must be performed out of the water.

For this purpose, watertight enclosures called cofferdams are slid in vertically to dam-off water upstream of the gates.

The system installed by Meije enables handling of the cofferdams.

First of all, to stabilise the cofferdam during handling, especially vertical movement, two tandem hoists are used, with two attachment points.

Secondly, since most of the cofferdam is installed below water level, an automatic release system had to be devised that would not require human intervention.

Meije therefore designed a special fixed lifting beam with two lifting hooks.

Once the cofferdam is in position, the system unhooks automatically.

Up to three cofferdams can be stacked to completely close-off access.

The lifting beam includes a balance-triggering mechanism.

When the cofferdam is in stopped position, a counterweight trips a lever that unhooks it.

This new installation is part of a programme to renovate and raise the dam road to protect it against flooding.

The gantry developed by Meije allows all handling to be performed with a single machine.

Previously, two distinct pieces of lifting equipment were required: one for storing the cofferdams and one for positioning them at the dam during maintenance operations.

With the Meije system, gates can be isolated by two operators in less than four hours.

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