Unique Replacement Solution Helps Win SCRA award
A heat exchanger removal and replacement project using a unique slide and swivel device turned into an SC&RA 2022 Rigging Job of the Year $150,000 – $750,000 for Barnhart. The award was presented at the SC&RA Annual Conference Closing Night Awards and Recognition Dinner in Washington D.C. on April 29th.
The winning project took place in a fertilizer plant in Iowa. The heat exchanger was set during plant construction and hadn’t been replaced since. In the meantime, the building had been built up around it, creating obstructions to removal.
The vessel was 130,800 lbs. and 32’ long with roughly 3’ of clearance on three sides. There was 2’6” of clearance from the top of the vessel to the overhead piping. It sat on 6’ concrete piers.
Barnhart’s Mason City, Iowa crew utilized a Slide/Swivel Rigging Device (SSRD) consisting of a pair of slide tracks supported at each end by gantries with a sliding “trolley” with a swiveling rigging point. The SSRD is designed to remove vessels where coming straight out is not an option and has the potential to rotate 90 degrees and travel with the vessel.
The SSRD successfully removed the vessel to an adjacent alleyway. From there it was set it on SofTrac carriers to bring the old vessel out and the new one in. The process with the SSRD was then reversed to replace the exchanger.
Other Winners
The Job of the Year award was not the only recognition Barnhart and its employees received at the conference.
Barnhart the company received a Crane & Rigging Safety Award due to its superior safety record.
In addition, several Barnhart employees received commendations during the conference.
- Jason Burns from the Philadelphia branch received a Driver Safety Award for accumulating five years of accident-free driving. He is a 13-year Barnhart veteran.
- Joseph Cloud and John Kafka from the Philadelphia branch received the Rigger’s Safety Award given to riggers who exhibit exemplary work achievements. Cloud has been with Barnhart for 17 years and Kafka for 19 years.
- Pete Heintz from the South Sioux City, IA branch earned a Crane Operator Safety Award for accumulating 10,000 consecutive man-hours and, within that time, recording zero incidents or accidents. Heinz has worked for Barnhart for 8 years
The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association is an international trade association of more than 1,400 members from 46 nations.