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Ainscough’s Glasgow depot recently carried out a successful three day job at Glensanda Quarry in Oban, Scotland, which involved an unusual method of transportation to and from the site.
Working for Aggregate Industries, the team carried out a series of lifts at the quarry to dismantle a crawler crane and load the sections onto a selection of trailers.
Glensanda Quarry is the largest granite quarry in Europe, exporting to markets all across Northern Europe. It has an annual production capacity in excess of 9 million tonnes and a massive 760 million tonnes reserve of granite.
Due to its location on the banks of Loch Linnhe, the site is only accessible by sea due to the surrounding rugged mountainous terrain. This meant the team was required to ship the LTM1090-4.1 crane on a barge owned and operated by Aggregate Industries.
The impressive journey required a drive to Al Port at Rhugh Garbh before a two hour sail across the water, which included an impressive view of Glensanda Castle, a 15th century fortress that was once occupied by the Macleans, one of the oldest Scottish clans in the Highlands.
The foot passengers also arrived at Rhugh Garbh to make the crossing on a smaller boat. Due to the remote location crane operator Joe Dougal and supervisor Robert McConnell stayed at the onsite camp over the course of the project.
Glasgow depot manager Gavin Egdell said: “We are proud to be Aggregate Industries preferred contractor and have carried out multiple projects on this site for several years. This type of job definitely isn’t an everyday occurrence for the team but overall the lifts were very successful and we hope to continue building on this great relationship in the future.
“It is also a real bonus to take part in a job with such a breath-taking backdrop, and on a good day you can see Ben Nevis to the north and Beinn Ghlas Wind Farm to the south.”
