Posted on October 13, 2021
LGH recently worked with Ruthrauff Sauer in Pittsburgh, assisting on an air handler installation at the University of Pittsburgh, the home of the School of Pharmacy and the School of Dental Medicine. Bob Snyder was the foreman on site, responsible for procuring the crane picks and equipment to be used. LGH rental representative Pat McPherson worked alongside Bob and his team, going through the project’s drawings and working to come up with the best possible solution.
Ruthrauff was called upon to set four assembled air handler units in various final locations around the building. In total, there were nearly 40 large sections and numerous smaller parts needing to be set in place over the course of three weeks.
None of the sections had a known center of gravity and each piece had different weights and dimensions. With four pick points per side, the use of a single spreader beam was not a possibility, and a 3-beam setup would have cost additional headroom along with added rigging weight. To counter that issue, LGH supplied a Modulift CMOD (corner modular spreader frame) unit with four pick points in total, allowing all eight lifting lugs to be engaged at the same time without the additional rigging.
Along with the CMOD setup, additional struts were included to allow for custom sizing to fit each individual section. To ensure each pick would remain level, four 12-ton sheave blocks were used below the beam along with four 5-ton hand chain hoists that were paired with 30-foot-long wire rope.
Utilizing this setup, the team had the ability to individually adjust the load at all four corners, which was imperative given the tight space constraints of the final location.
With only two inches of clearance on either side of the unit, there was minimal margin for error and the use of the CMOD along with the mechanical adjustment at the pick points allowed for each pick to be consistently and reliably place each unit in place while staying within the tight windows.
As a long-time customer, Ruthroff Service trusted LGH to supply the equipment needed to complete their project on schedule.
LGH is North America’s largest single organization devoted exclusively to the provision of lifting and moving equipment for rent. LGH holds the most comprehensive inventory for hoisting, rigging, jacking, pulling, material handling, and safety equipment. With over 70,000 pieces, our lifting equipment is available for rent from 23 locations throughout North America, and our customers are supported by over 50 Rental Representatives nationwide.
