Morris Onboard GAUTRAIN Project

18 November 2009

Morris Material Handling SA (Pty) Ltd, specialist crane supplier, was instrumental in providing the cranes required in the tunnel construction of the R25,4 billion Gautrain rapid-rail link.

In total, six Morris/ABUS overhead travelling cranes and one hoist was supplied to Bombardier and the Bombela Concession Company for the momentous project. These comprised of two 40t, two 30t and two 10t cranes.

The 40t x 14m span and 40t x 20m span double girder ABUS mucking cranes were commissioned at the Mushroom and Sandton South shafts respectively. With another 10t x 20m span double girder ABUS crane was supplied to the auxiliary Sandton South Shaft.

A 30t x 11m span double girder ABUS crane was installed at the E5 Emergency Shaft in Rosebank, and a further 30t x 10m span crane for the Park Station Shaft. These mucking cranes were used extensively for the tunnelling of the various stations.

The final crane and 2t electrical hoist will be used at the Maintenance facility in Midrand. For this duty, Morris Material Handing specified a 10t x 20,1m span double girder ABUS crane.

Morris/ABUS Overhead travelling cranes have a load capacity up to 120t, suitable for area-coverage material handling. “Four main types are available: these include single-girder overhead travelling cranes, double-girder overhead travelling cranes for heavy duty work and wide spans and underslung travelling cranes for buildings with special conditions. The fourth type available as a standard is the wall travelling crane, installed on a separate crane track beneath the other crane types in order to optimise material handling,” explains Morris Material Handling Sales & Marketing Director Mark Walter.