Vanguard Goes Where No Crane
Has Gone Before

The investment in a heavy lift strand jack system and the construction of 62m gantry towers has allowed South African based company Vanguard to successfully complete the highest non-crane assisted heavy lift on the African continent, as part of the US$173 million upgrade and reconstruction of the Mufulira Copper Mine (MCM) Smelter in Mufulira, Zambia. This record-breaking feat brings the value of successful turnkey jobs completed by Vanguard - in sub-Saharan Africa - to over R41 million, for the year to date.

'Our success in this bid was partly due to our decision to sub-contract Vanguard to execute this lift,' explains Chris Du Randt of Murray & Roberts. 'The inclusion of Vanguard’s new strand jack system was a critical factor in our overall proposal to the mine, and we believe that this bears testimony to the enormous value and potential of this smart solution'.

The project involved the erection of a 49m long, 133t cold box for the new oxygen plant at the Mufulira smelter. The cold box column is a single complete unit and therefore needed to be hoisted up as a single structure. In order to achieve the required height, the system’s gantry towers were built up to 62m - the same height as a typical Johannesburg skyscraper. Vanguard designed and manufactured a hook specifically for this lift. The 49m cold box was lifted, rotated 90 degrees and then lowered into its final position.

Although strand-jacking is a known method of hoisting in other countries - particularly in Europe - it is new to Africa, and Vanguard’s system is the first of its kind in South Africa. 'Vanguard is dedicated to being proactive, particularly within the sub-Saharan context, and this kind of investment is firmly in line with our policy to offer the best, most cost-effective solutions to South Africa and the rest of the African continent,' emphasises Bryan Hodgkinson, Managing Director Vanguard.

'Our system is made up of 4 immensely powerful strand jack units - imported from Hydrospex in Holland - boasting a carrying capacity of 75 tons each. However, it has a huge potential capacity, as it can be expanded to include a total of 25 jacks,' states Hodgkinson.

The main benefit of using strand jacks is that of cost-effectiveness. 'In fact, the only other viable option was to employ cumbersome, high capacity cranes, which would have cost more than three times as much, in this case,' Hodgkinson explains. The gantries are more portable than cranes as they can be dismantled and transported to remote areas with ease – most of the equipment being carried in standard containers. The strand jack units are also relatively compact and easy to move. In this particular project, the use of the system offered another unique advantage – that of convenience. Because it occupies a comparatively small area, other construction on the site was able to continue without interruption.

The lifting operation is precisely controlled and synchronised through a laptop at ground level, via PLC. The accuracy of control achieved is remarkably within a deviation of just 1mm. In addition, the software employed has been specially developed and successfully proven in heavy lifting operations throughout the world.

It is one thing to invest in sophisticated equipment – investing in the expertise required to effectively operate and manage such equipment is a separate issue. To this end, Vanguard employs a team of qualified engineers, whose expertise in design, mechanical and structural engineering is applied to precisely configure the correct solution for each strand jacking application.