Ainscough Crane Hire has provided lift support for the Queensferry Crossing.
From its Falkirk depot, the Ainscough Crane Hire team has been helping to deliver the new Queensferry Crossing for Transport Scotland for the last three and a half years.
Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) is the main contractor for the scheme in a joint venture with Dragados, American Bridge, HOCHTIEF and Morrison Construction.
The new bridge is set to open next year and will form the centrepiece of an upgrade to the important cross-Forth transport corridor.
The scheme was established after corroded cables on the existing Forth Road Bridge put the bridge’s future into doubt.
The Queensferry Crossing will measure 2,637 metres in length and will be the second longest three tower cable stayed bridge in the world.
The towers are 650m apart, with 146m of cable crossover, designed to stop the central tower swaying.
Ainscough’s crane fleet has operated on site from the early stages of its construction. Most recently, Ainscough’s team has been working on the emerging road deck of the bridge.
The scheme has brought with it various challenges including how to position a crane on the roadway, which is yet to be connected to the land.
The solution to this was to lift a Liebherr LTM 1055-3.2, 55t all terrain crane onto a completed section of roadway using the tower crane connected to one the bridge’s 207m (679 ft) high towers.
Having been stripped of its components that were not essential and positioned beneath the tower crane aboard a service barge, the crane was lifted into position and subsequently re-assembled for use in the bridge’s ongoing construction.
Ciaran McNamee, Depot manager at Ainscough’s Falkirk Depot, commented: “The Queensferry Crossing has been a remarkable job to be involved with. We have had between four and six cranes on site every day for the last three and half years and have watched the bridge slowly emerge through the unified efforts of the contractors on site.
“We are very proud of our involvement in the project and that we are helping to deliver this major piece of new infrastructure to the people of Scotland.”
