The ‘Steel Manipulator’ provides a step change in eliminating harm for complex material handling issues across the business, said Costain.
It has been developed for the Stirling, Dunblane & Alloa (SDA) electrification project, which is an extension to the wider Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement programme.
A key challenge for the project was to ensure the safe delivery of 1,800 steel structures and their associated supports. Costain worked with Thomson Engineering to help develop the innovative ‘Steel Manipulator’. The manipulator installs the multiple pre-dressed pieces of steel needed for the overhead line electrification without the need for additional plant.
The system is said to deliver benefits in terms of safety, efficiency and the environment. Costain said that off-site manufacture and use a single piece of plant significantly reduces track time and:
- exposure to risk from plant/pedestrian interface;
- night working with associated fatigue/wellbeing issues;
- simplifies lifting with greater control of the load;
- significantly reduces working at height;
- reduces the carbon footprint as fewer machines are needed;
- increases efficiency and productivity.
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