29.05.2013

Record 42,780 tonne jack-up

Heavy lift specialist ALE has successfully completed the jack-up of the Arkutun Dagi Topside for Exxon Neftegaz at Daewoo shipbuilding and marine engineering in Korea – thought to be the heaviest load ever jacked.

The load will eventually be located in the Arkutun Dagi field off the east coast of Russia, expected to be the largest oil and gas production platform in Russia. First oil is scheduled for next year.
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Heavy lift specialist ALE has successfully completed a 42,780 tonne jack up of the Arkutun Dagi Topside for Exxon Neftegaz in Korea – thought to be the heaviest load ever jacked.

ALE jacked the 42,780 tonne topside to a height of 24 metres in 11 hours while coping with maximum wind speeds of 50 metres per second. It is the first project of this kind using the Mega Jack System.

To carry out the project the Mega Jack was configured in four sets of towers each consisting of three singular towers. Each main set of towers had a capacity of 15,000 tonnes giving an overall jacking capacity of 60,000 tonnes. The Mega Jack is a completely computerised and stroke controlled system, which includes data logging, weather data and optional dimensional surveys.
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Each corner tower was made up of three towers giving a 15,000 tonne capacity

The next phase of work involved the installation of a skid frame (DSF) and then the topside was lowered onto it by the Mega Jack. This was also completed within a day. The next phase will see the topside loaded out onto the DSF by a pulled load-out using strand jacks to a barge for onward transportation to its final destination.

Kees Kompier executive director at ALE said: “This pioneering project is a great achievement for ALE and the Mega Jack which was created by our research and development team and engineers. The load is nearly double the weight of the previous heaviest load which is a great accomplishment for the company and really shows the capabilities of the Mega Jack. The system itself opens up a whole range of options for our clients and is completely scalable, meaning we can create a system to fit the requirements of projects becoming more flexible in our capacity and solutions.”
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The 42,780 tonne topside to a height of 24 metres in 11 hours and coping with maximum wind speeds of 50 metres per second. It is the first project of this kind using the Mega Jack System.

“The Mega Jack establishes stability from its jacking foundation. This means that enormous bracing structures and welding works to the platform for securing stability belong in the past. As such welding and cutting works at high level are not required and therefore working at height is completely eliminated due to the low level feed-in system for inserting jacking beams.”