ALE COMPLETE 14M HIGH JACK-UP USING THE MEGA JACK 800

ALE has used its award-winning Mega Jack 800 for the first time in the UK to jack-up a 954t jacket to 14m high.

As part of a major wind farm project, the global heavylift specialists were given the scope of lifting components, performing multiple site moves, upending and jacking-up the jacket, and loading-out the jacket and topside at the fabrication site in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The jack-up operation took place one day after the roll-up using ALE’s AK912 and the LR1600-2. As the first of its kind in the UK, the operation involved jacking up the 954t jacket to 14m high using a Mega Jack 800 jacking system.

The suction buckets were positioned under each of the jacket legs using SPMT trailers to manoeuvre them into place. The Mega Jack 800 held it in place whilst the suction buckets were welded to the jacket by the client’s operatives.

Matthew Wooltorton, SLP Project Manager, said: “It has been a particularly complex operation to integrate the suction bucket technology into the jacket whilst also considering the construction constraints of the project. The roll-up event was a culmination of high level engineering and design works carried out by SLP and ALE and close collaborative working with STDL to get the jacket ready for planned sail away in May.”

Vytis Zygialis, Project Engineer for ALE, commented: “The roll-up and jack-up operations proved very successful and I want to praise everyone’s efforts in helping us reach this point of the project. Using our innovative equipment in this way shows how ALE continues to push the boundaries in not only the offshore wind market but also engineering capabilities in the UK.”

The operations are part of the construction of an offshore facility, comprising of a topside and jacket structure, for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm. The wind farm will be located 20 miles of the coast of Cromer in North Norfolk and, when operational, will have the capacity to power approximately 410,000 homes in the UK.