Vanguard Elevates Airport Conveying Systems

South Africa’s leading logistics engineering provider and heavy lift specialist, Vanguard, has been commissioned by Schindler to install five new escalators at Johannesburg International Airport’s Domestic Arrival and Departure Terminals. This follows the company’s successful completion of a similar project at the International Terminals.

Having to operate at night after normal working hours, the task will take roughly a month. Escalators arrive semi-assembled in cargo containers. They are unpacked and assembled on site, and lifted into position using a gantry system. Vanguard is also in charge of commissioning each unit before handover.

As the company is contracted to all three leading escalator suppliers in South Africa, it will be involved in several further escalator, travelator and bridge installations in 2006, especially around terminal upgrades to accommodate Boeing’s new, bigger Airbus.

Apart from becoming the first company in South Africa to invest in four strand jacks earlier in 2005, Vanguard also became the first local company to use self-climbing jacks. These innovative devices are capable of reducing jacking time on major projects by as much as 90%. The company’s commitment to the use of the very latest equipment and technologies available has seen it land several landmark orders in 2005, with a strong order book already lined up for 2006. Its impressive array of tools and equipment is complemented by a team of qualified engineers, whose expertise in design, mechanical and structural engineering is applied to precisely configure the correct solution for each application.