Even severe space constraints can’t stop Scanclimber’s snake platform in India

A petrochemical plant in India needed a unique solution to renovate its 100-meter-high chimney because of lack of space at ground level. Scanclimber delivered its mast climbing snake platform, allowing the customer to complete the whole job in just one month.

Introduction

Reliance industries Limited is the largest private sector company in India. It owns businesses in many sectors, ranging from telecommunications to textiles One of their many businesses includes a petrochemical plant in Nagothana, a small town in the state of Maharashtra, India. The plant has a 100 m chimney in need of renovation. In previous years, they tried many techniques, including scaffolding, but couldn’t reach higher than 40 m. Scanclimber’s innovative snake platform solved their problem by reaching the target height safely and enabled them to complete the task in just one month.

Challenges

In this project they had two major challenges, because of which, no other technique proved successful.

• Pipelines enveloped the chimney surface, leaving no space for machinery on the site. Any solution required installation at at least 15 m above ground level to clear the pipes.
• Severe lack of ground level space at the site.

Scanclimber’s snake platform

Considering the challenges of the work site setup, there was a clear need for a machine that could either be installed at a given height or the setup somehow needed to be changed at the ground station. Scanclimber’s mast climbing snake platform was the only solution left to complete this kind of project. Scanclimber’s SC8000 with snake platform attachment was proposed in this case by Access Platform Equipment Limited (APEL).

In order to avoid the obstacles at the site regarding machine installation from ground level, the masts were first assembled up to a height of 15 m. Once erected, the SC8000 was then installed with snake platforms at the top of the masts, avoiding the ground level clutter. Once the mast climbing platform was installed, snake platforms were assembled covering half the chimney facade at a time. Afterwards, the platform was safely anchored along the chimney to 100 m in height.

Additional benefits

Apart from meeting the challenges of installing the machine at the site, applying Scanclimber’s solution presented additional benefits. Firstly, this saved a considerable amount of time for the customer because using this snake platform, it only took them one month to complete the work on the 100-meter-high chimney while ensuring personnel safety. Secondly, there was no need to remove, replace, cut or weld any of the existing structure despite the many obstacles to installation. One unique aspect of this project was that there were actually no other competitors to Scanclimber on this project.

Customer Feedback

Pleased with the efficiency and convenience of using Scanclimber snake platforms, the head of construction at the site had this to say:

Choosing Scanclimber for this project paid off and we were happy to complete this of 100-meter job in just 30 days flat. Without any hiccups.

Project details

It took one year for the customer to accept this solution because for Scanclimber this was a new geographical market area. Once the solution was adopted, it proved highly beneficial for the customer.

The platform delivery, installation to the chimney and the maintenance services for the MCWP were provided by Access Platform Equipment Limited (APEL). APEL is one of the largest players in the rentals of access equipment including Scanclimber Mastclimbers, Construction & Material Hoists in India.