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Ainscough Crane Hire completed a series of lifts at Deepham Sewage Treatment Works (STW) in the London borough of Enfield. The works form part of a £250 million rebuild of the facility which is owned and operated by Thames Water and is the company’s fourth-largest works.
The UK’s leading lifting solutions company, Ainscough Crane Hire, was appointed by AMK in a joint venture between contractors AECOM, Murphy, and Kier – to lift and relocate more than 200 steel filtration cages.
The metal enclosures house Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) equipment weighed almost eight tonnes. Set inside concrete tanks, the technology uses bacteria as part of the sewage treatment process and is more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional methods.
Operators from Ainscough’s Heavy Cranes Division completed the lifts using two Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1, 500-tonne all-terrain mobile cranes: one rigged with main boom and 165 tonnes of counterweight and the other with 77 metres rigging luffer and 36.9 metres of main boom.
Deephams is one of Thames Water’s key sewage treatment works in north London and processes more than 209,000 tonnes of sewage daily. The site was being refurbished to meet new environmental standards to improve the water quality of the adjoining River Lee, reducing odour issues and allowing for future population increases. The improvements will increase the capacity to take account of future development such as Meridian Water.
A spokesperson from Ainscough Crane Hire said “We were incredibly pleased to be awarded this contract and that Ainscough’s reputation for handling time-sensitive and logistically challenging projects are a testament to our ability.
“A lot of planning went into the pre-contract discussions, and we took the time to understand AMK’s requirements and the constraints under which we needed to operate. Working in one of London’s busiest STWs, our operators had to carry out the lifts with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations, mindful of site traffic. The filtration systems also had to be replaced quickly to avoid the bacteria used in the treatment process from dying, so our team often worked extended hours.
“We were able to complete our work at Deepham a week ahead of schedule and everyone involved in the project, from the sales staff involved at the start, to the drivers and crane operators working on-site, should be commended.”
