any its in heavy industrial con struction require two oF more cranes, These range from the ccammon upending of a vessel using ait crane at the top and A talling erane at the bottom to rollups of of shore platform jacket trames using more than. halla dozen it cranes. Regardless of the size or welght ofthe ted load, or the number of cranes involved, one statement can be made that is common to vit tually all multiple crane lifts iting a load with Multiple crane lifts theo or more cranes Is always more complex ‘han tng with just one crane Along with the increased complexity of a ‘multiple crane lift comes inereased sk. To com pense for this inereased risk the rigger must apply a corresponslingly greater level of plan ning, engineering and operational control. This Isnotthe time oly by theseat ofthe pants. ‘One ertcal ern that must be addressed Is the distribution of the total load among the cranes and how the losd distribution will change during the li, Calculation of load dis ° case 1 ° 292,477 Case 2 ° aa1152 CASE 3 231,258 440207 CASE 0 GASER 0 CASES FIGURE 2: Vesa support loads 226,173 39.933, ° LOADS SHOWN ARE POUNDS a Good pre-lift planning is essential for lifts involving more than ‘one crane. David Duerr PE* considers the case ofa two-crane lift. FIGURE 1 tifbution between teo cranes is relatively sim- ple, When three or more cranes are used, the basi prnelples remain the same but the calo- lations ean become much more complex. We ‘sill tick to twoerane situations for the pur- pose ofthis stile I many cases, the loud distribution will changoas the it progresses. This change may be gradual or may be abrupt at one or mare points inthe it, Te iting a long load ram, o ono, supports with two or more cranes isan example ofanabrupt changein oad distribution VESSEL LIFT “The vessel shown In Figure 1 along process proces vessel that has just been lied from its transportation saddles. The vessel is to be enced using two cranes. The first move isto lit the vessel of the saddles. We cannot reals tically agsume thatthe two eranes will be a tol in absolute tandem. Rather, we know ‘ne crane wil it fist, followed by the other. (On this jab the foreman directed the top end crane to lit firs, followed by the bottom crane. This created three phases of support as the vessel was transfered frm saides to cranes 1) supported by saddles 2) supported by onesaddleand one crane; 3) supported by neo cranes Figure 2 shows how the loads to the two active supports changed throughout the ‘operation, with one saddle and the platform jp4 traler under it experiencing an inerease in load during the tt Understanding this load distribution is important to assure that the equipment is capable of handling the greater load. Similarly ‘one an see that I! the load was supported by two eranes at the inboard locations and was to 700,000 I | c,0 | seo,eo | a «00,000 3 300,000 3 200,000 0s, am ae oceaaue BUS oR VIEW be set on two supports atthe ends ~ such 2s setting along bridge girder on its pies ~ one ‘rane would see an abrupt increase in load ‘uring the setting process, f the cranes and rigging are not sized for this peak loading, die aster can resulk ‘The upending o load with aft crane and [Ter tod | all Lood) pa 85 °0 VESSEL ANGLE, OFGREES FIGURE 4: Crane load during 2 tandem it 38 FioURE 3: a talling crane provides us With a familar example of ‘gradual change, Consider the vessel shown in Figure 3, The top end hiting trun ions are on the centeline ofthe vessel, as i. the centre of gravity. The tailing hg i on the topend ofthe bottom bot ring anes, thus, of set from the vessel centreline. When the vessel 's horizontal and supported by the tro cranes, the load distribution ig simply a function ofthe positon of the centre of gravity between the bolting and the trunnions As the upending progresses, the ofset of the taling lug causes a gradual change tn the proportion of the horizontal distances from the centre of gravity of the vessel to the two rane hooks. This, ofcourse, changes the load distribution between the two cranes, The to curves in igure 4 show how the load in the it ‘rane increases and the load in the talling ‘rane decreases as the TAIL CRANE ‘This knowledge can be used to advantage ‘when planning ali. tis often desirableto stop traveling and boom out thetalling crane.as the booming ‘our reduces the capacity of the erane, 10 do this safely requires a clear understanding of hhow the load to the crane drops off at this point inthe it, The calculations behind the sre 4 provide this understanding crane lits are a standard part of rigging contractor's repertoire, In some cases, such a8 the upending ofa vertical ves sel, these is often no other practical way. In upended load nears vertical, Sic other cases, two oF more cranes can be used to provide the needed lifting capacity more economically than by using one large eran. Regardless ofthe reason for undertaking a multiple erane lit, a certain amount of risk is created by the added complexity. This risk need not be feared. Rather, the recognition of this risk should be the impetus for the appl cation of an increased level of planning, eng neering and operational control. Plan the lift thoroughly, apply sound enghneering princ ples tothe design of the erane layout and rig: fing, and execute the It using only experienced personnel David Duerr PE is president of 20M. Associates, Inc, consalting engl Houston, Texas, USA. oe ae ee ears ere een ee ae manufacturer's original load charts and Peer eetrn te