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Ainscough Crane Hire has worked with Sky Access UK on an essential refurbishment project at one of the UK’s most famous racetracks.
The Jockey Club appointed Sky Access UK to replace the glazing at the Champions Gallery Restaurant at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk with a new safety glass that would retain its integrity in the result of fracture.
Sky Access UK is an Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) Member high-level glazing contractor that operates across the country. Using its own in-house Rope Access Technicians, it specialises in the delivery of glazing replacements, repair, and refurbishment projects at high-level and in difficult to access locations.
Ainscough was hired to work alongside Sky Access UK’s in-house IRATA Rope Access Team. To facilitate the lift, the team had to undertake the removal of the location’s heating system in order to fully access the existing glazing before reinstating the system upon the work’s completion.
Ainscough’s team included Kevin Mitchell as crane operator, Steven Mann as appointed person, and the lift supervisor on-site was Paul Lake.
It was decided to use the MPC44 crane for the works as there was only a metre and a half clearance above the glass panels that had to be removed, and this model’s luffing sections over the jib enabled it to move into the very tight area above the glass in order to complete the lift.
There was a strict deadline for the work as race season is approaching but thanks to collaboration between the different project partners, the glazed façade was successfully removed with the new glazing installed on time and to budget.
A total of 14 tonnes of glass was removed during the two and a half weeks it took to complete the work, all of which will now be recycled.
Scott Hawes, area sales manager for Ainscough Crane Hire in Cambridge and Ipswich said: “Many people across the country are looking forward to returning to racetracks across the country as soon as the easing of COVID-19 restrictions allow. It was therefore a pleasure for our team to play a role in getting the brilliant Newmarket Racecourse in the best possible condition to welcome back racegoers in the coming months. The work had some challenges as the positioning of the restaurant left us little room to manoeuvre, but the use of the MPC44 meant the work was able to be completed safely and efficiently.”
