Still wind conditions allowed the Hinkley Point C construction team, helped by Big Carl, to lift the 304-tonne steel liner ring onto the first nuclear reactor building.
The lift took place on 12th December 2022.
This was the third and final ring to be installed on the building, which will eventually contain one of Hinkley Point C’s two nuclear reactors. The unit has now grown in height by an additional 11.6-metres and stands at 44-metres.
The liner ring, which was prefabricated in a factory on site, also features supporting brackets for the polar crane beam. This internal crane will rotate 360° above the reactor and be used for refuelling.
The reactor building now only has the ‘lid’ to be placed on top, with the dome lift scheduled for next year.
Big Carl is a platform-mounted lattice-boom crane – model name SGC-250 – that is designed, built, owned and operated by Belgian heavylift specialist Sarens. It can lift up to 5,000 tonnes at a radius of 40 metres, and lays claim to the title of the world’s strongest land-based crane. (There are bigger ones at sea for the offshore industry.) At Hinkley Point it runs along 6km of rail track.
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