NEW RAIL TO ROAD STEEL TRANSFER FACILITY INSTALLS HEAVY DUTY CRANES TO SPEED STOCK MOVEMENT To meet the just-in-time demands of Midlands manufacturers, Innovate Round Oak Rail, a logistics partner of steel producer Corus, has completed a £6 million refit to their rail-to-road transfer depot. A key part of the programme was a £1 million investment in five heavy-duty overhead cranes from Street Crane Company to increase material throughput and boost capacity up to 1.25 million tonnes of steel per year. Street provided a complete turnkey contract including the removal of three of the existing cranes, installation of five new double-girder overhead travelling cranes, installation of 750 metres of new crane rails with 712 metres of high-level safety lines. Four of the new cranes are rated at 35 tonnes safe working load and one at 42 tonnes. New and retained cranes have six coil grabs and one magnetic coil lift. The efficient processing of high volumes of steel demands high-speed precision load movement. The new cranes all include inverter control for smooth power and acceleration, while Street’s X-Y-Zero load stability system on all motions prevents load swing, assures safety and reduces loading cycles. Due to the high intensity usage, all mechanisms are rated heavy-duty M8 classification. The 140,000 square foot Round Oak facility can hold a buffer stock of up to 60,000 tonnes of steel at any one time The development at Round Oak will play a crucial role in distributing steel more efficiently to the automotive industry, steel stockholders and service centres throughout central England. Receiving 20 trainloads of steel per week from Llanwern, the steel must be rapidly offloaded and held in store until it is reloaded on to trucks for its final road journey. More information: Gus Zona, Street Crane Company, Tel. 00 44 1298 812456 Fax. 00 44 1298 814 945 E-Mail: admin@streetcrane.co.uk Web: www.streetcrane.co.uk High/low resolution images are on the web at www.ainsmag.co.uk/st165/4067st1a.htm April 24, 2006