OT: Strangest bridge crane I've seen

[01-7700]

I would guess that they don't use it to move loads down the tube and it sits on feet rather than trolleys when it is in use.

[Paul Alciatore]

No abutments?????

Read the first sentence here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XENON

It is a tunnel. I would think you would be hard pressed to find better abutments. They effectively have the whole earth for abutments.

Don't call it an arch. There is neither a tie across the bottom nor abutments capable of taking the outwards thrust. It's just a bloody bent beam.

Pretty? Yeah, it is, kinda, and doesn't intrude much on headroom.

[A.K. Boomer]

I watched that PBS special "building Chernobyl's mega tomb" on Nova,

it was actually pretty interesting - the largest movable building ever constructed, the old sarcophagus was failing and leaking radiation so they built a new one very close bye and just slipped it over the old, all kinds of failsafes and precautions and it's equipped with it's own environmental controls due to not being able to work on it after in place - like paint the interior beams and stuff and keep them from rusting...

Some very high tech hoists were installed - more than just hoists as they are robotic and will be jack hammering the concrete of the old structure to get hauled away after disassembly of the old building, the goal is to get the site totally cleaned up in the decades to come without human involvement so whenever the newer structure fails it will not matter,

these hoists must continue to work for along time come hell or high water...

[hojpoj]

Has anyone seen the circular bridge crane in the "Factory" background scene
in Solidworks? Turn on that background and look up sometime.

--Doozer

As a data point they use the circular bridge cranes in the containment buildings at nuclear power plants. Well, at least at the site I did a co-op at, anyways.

[Doozer]

Has anyone seen the circular bridge crane in the "Factory" background scene
in Solidworks? Turn on that background and look up sometime.

--Doozer

[garyhlucas]

The drive part is simple, rack with a double worm reduction gear, can't be back driven. Common in hoists.

Now if you want to see an OOPS!! We visited a waste treatment plant recently with a 5 ton explosion proof bridge crane that cost $100,000. On the one side the travel is 19" too short to reach the membrane cassettes it was installed to lift!

[boslab]

I would agree with that, who's going to want to change the height unpredictably while moving something?

I think it locks and then you do your thing...

It used to, not so much after 55
Mark

[A.K. Boomer]

I would agree with that, who's going to want to change the height unpredictably while moving something?

I think it locks and then you do your thing...

[754]

I am not convinced that the trolley ever moves while a lift is being performed.

[A.K. Boomer]

Second look is they did it simply for operating height, many of the units they probably had to move look taller than the side girders so a flat beam would be countersunk to the work needed to be lifted...

[MikeL46]

If the drive was a screw on a curved rack, it would have automatic bi-directional braking.

Mike

[A.K. Boomer]

It simply might have solenoid controlled internal slide pins for locking,

one thing for sure is it's very strong when parked dead nutz in the middle as long as the side girders are robust...

it's different that's for sure...

[cameron]

Don't call it an arch. There is neither a tie across the bottom nor abutments capable of taking the outwards thrust. It's just a bloody bent beam.

Pretty? Yeah, it is, kinda, and doesn't intrude much on headroom.

[ikdor]

Ok, yes I also do think it is a very pretty crane. The point was that people were marveling at the fact someone could engineer something that is not straight......

[enginuity]

From a pure design standpoint I actually think it is a good design. Flat roofs are generally awful, and the arched roof makes a fair bit of sense. Curving the crane to match the roof line makes use of the otherwise wasted space. Calculating the stresses on the arch isn't a big deal.

From a manufacturing standpoint the crane was probably a disaster.