Barnhart was contracted to remove and replace a bearing at a paper mill in Alabama. This required lifting a 100-foot-tall, 850,000-pound reclaimer with an unknown center of gravity. The team chose a larger gantry system – 600-ton J & R Gantries – to account for this unknown. There was a large section of concrete around the reclaimer that left just enough room to place the gantries.
The crew had to lift the reclaimer approximately 18” to clear the anchor bolts and set up a slide track to slide the lower ring, bearing and upper ring out.
Once the bearing was slid out from underneath the reclaimer, the team rigged it to Barnhart’s 265-ton LTM 1220 crane.
Once the old bearing was removed and the new one set in place, the reclaimer was lowered back on top of the rings and bearing. Despite muddy conditions, the job was performed safely. The crew will return to the site to perform the same job later this year.