LOUISVILLE, KY, DEC 15, 2017 -- Construction company Pace Contracting recently completed removal and installation of three vertical turbine pumps, used in emergency flooding situations in downtown Louisville, Ky. Integral to the project were four 50-ton capacity Straightpoint (SP) wireless compression load cells supplied by Lifting Gear Hire (LGH).
Pace accepted a scope of work from the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), which partners with 59 municipalities (co-permittees) to comply with stormwater permit requirements for the St. Louis Metropolitan Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. MSD charged Pace with jacking and remounting new replacement flood pumps, having removed the old units.
LGH provided from its hire fleet the load cells along with SP software (SW-MWLC) and a rugged tablet. Pace also utilized a 10t capacity air hoist from LGH and a 12-ton hoist on a gantry crane that was permanently installed in the building above the pumps. The pump columns were designed to be installed in five sections, with a total weight of 28,350 lbs., which exceeded the capacity of the 12-ton crane.
Michael Bryant, project manager at Pace Contracting, said: "[Therefore], we had to utilize the hydraulic rams on the bottom of the pump to support the weight of four sections while the crane installed the fifth and final section on the main floor. Once that piece was installed the lower four sections were raised up, using the hydraulic rams, so the pump could be bolted together. The load cells were very useful because they helped us keep the center of gravity for the lower section of the pump centered, preventing it from tipping over."