Floating cranes: brief information

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Loading equipment is actively used not only in the land areas of our planet, but also in water spaces, because the construction of various hydraulic structures necessarily requires special cranes, the design of which, in turn, is fully adapted to work in water sphere. Floating cranes are machines capable of solving the above tasks. Therefore, we will consider these units in more detail.

Destination

Floating cranes were initially focused on the construction of various bridges, ports, towers in the waters of the seas, rivers and oceans. Their carrying capacity can be from 10 to 100 tons. The unique design of these machines fully complies with the main requirements put forward by the Maritime Register, namely: optimal strength, perfect buoyancy and stability.

Varieties

Structurally, floating cranes are:

• Fixed. These units have fixed masts, and therefore the movement of cargo in the horizontal plane occurs due to the movement of the pontoon. This feature ultimately affects the performance of the unit - it is very small. True, and the cost of these taps is also low.
• Gantry.
• Equipped with tilting boom. It is these lifting machines that are the most optimal for working with large loads. Due to the variable reach of the boom, the performance of the crane is quite high in comparison with mast counterparts. In addition, oscillating mast cranes have low intrinsic cost, enormous lifting capacity and relatively simple structure. Their boom is presented in the form of a pair of racks, which converge at an acute angle at the top, and are hinged on the pontoon itself. In the transport position, the boom is fixed on a support specially created for this purpose. Raising / lowering the boom occurs using a hydraulic cylinder, gear rack, screw device, chain hoist system.
• Turnable. The highest performing floating cranes. The boom of any such unit is capable of not only tilting, but also rotating around its vertical axis. At the same time, the carrying capacity of these machines can be equal to several hundred tons. Also, cranes can have a turntable or a turntable.
• Combined.

Classification by purpose

Any floating crane can be used either for loading and unloading operations in the port, or for installation work. Of course, the load capacity of the unit will play the main role. As for the degree of maneuverability, all these cranes can be either self-propelled (for example, the ASPTR-1 floating crane) or non-self-propelled. If it is planned that the crane will have to serve several ports at onceor move over impressive distances, then in this case it will certainly be self-propelled (they use pontoons with ship-type contours).

Universal Machine

The KPL floating crane was produced at the Kirov plant in St. Petersburg. The unit had two versions: hook and grab.

The machine is fully revolving. The boom has a lattice structure and is connected to the movable counterweight of the balancing system using a hinge assembly. At the moment of changing the reach of the boom, the jib moves in the opposite direction with respect to it, which ensures that the load is at the required height.

Design features

Floating crane KPL-5 has AC motors operating at a voltage of 220-380 V and having a power of 267 kW. The current is generated by a diesel generator set located on the shore or in the pontoon hull. Crane control type - electromechanical.

The rotating part of the crane with the boom and the entire complex of rotary and other lifting mechanisms is located on rollers, which, in turn, move along the crown mounted on the beam cage.

The crane itself is not self-propelled, and therefore it is moved using winches.

To bring the crane into the transport position, lower the boom and dismantle the mechanism for changing its reach. As a result, the height of the crane will be reduced to 10 meters.

The crane is designed and used for loading andunloading character, because of which it has a high speed of operations. The crane does not perform installation work due to its low carrying capacity, but it can be used as an auxiliary crane nearby a concrete plant for reloading cement from the water surface, unloading timber and other cargo. If the elements to be mounted are light in weight, then a crane can also be used for construction.

Veteran

The ASPTR-1 self-propelled floating crane was built at the Krasnaya Kuznitsa shipyard located in the city of Arkhangelsk on June 30, 1962. The ship had a displacement of one thousand tons, a carrying capacity of 15 tons, a length of 38 meters, a width of 13 meters, and a height of 3.2 meters. This machine was assigned to the port of Novorossiysk and belonged to the State Maritime Emergency and Rescue Coordination Service of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, on October 12, 2016, during the laying of an underwater main pipeline, the crane failed, as a result of which it had to be towed to the shore. However, due to extremely adverse weather conditions, the car sank. There were eight people on board.