Heavy-lifting company’s personnel, equipment get 4,500-ton stamping press back up and running

Situation

Philadelphia-based Carpenter Technology Corp., a manufacturer of products, parts, and components made of specialty materials, alloys, and titanium, encountered an unexpected mechanical failure of its hydraulic press. The lower crosshead of this highly specialized machine, made of cast steel, cracked in half 60 ft. below the surface of the warehouse, abruptly halting normal operations and necessitating emergency repairs.

Serving such industries as aerospace, transportation, and defense, Carpenter needed to complete repairs and return to full operations quickly. The company reached out to a few local subcontractors for help. One proposed cranes as a possible solution, but cranes alone would not provide sufficient lifting capabilities, so a gantry was deemed necessary.

Resolution

Carpenter Technology hired Mammoet to disassemble the entire 4,500-ton press, with overall dimensions of about 100 by 30 by 20 ft. Mammoet provided the equipment needed to do the job, such as cranes, trailers, and a gantry system, as well as skilled riggers, millwrights, oilers, and engineering, safety, and project management personnel to get the press back up and running smoothly.

A 750-ton gantry and a 500-ton gantry were used to lift and stabilize the press for repairs and maintenance. A 40-ton forklift helped to lift and move heavy pieces during the disassembly and reassembly of the press, while a 500-ton crane was used to remove the press’s guide columns through a hatch in the roof of the warehouse, because the crane was too large to work from inside and the columns were too long to remove from inside.

Twelve axle-lines of Goldhofer PST trailers were used to move pieces out of the warehouse to the staging area during the disassembly phase and to bring pieces back inside during assembly.

Mammoet sourced equipment and personnel from its facilities in Texas, New Jersey, and Eastern Canada. Crews worked seven 12-hour days on rotation for around-the-clock service. More than 42 crew members were on-site throughout the project, which took nine weeks and more than 28,000 working hours to cover both the lift operations and Carpenter’s commissioning activities.

All repairs were completed within Carpenter’s target time, allowing its staff to focus on satisfying customer demand in the aerospace supply chain.