Page 32 - Wire Rope News & Sling Technology - April 2020

Custom Caldwell Beam Lifts tion would have added time and com- were used at the recommended 45-de-
Electricity Cable Reels plexity to each lift. gree angle to achieve the most efficient,
A 26,000-lb. (13-ton) capacity custom Joey Detrick, inside sales at Western safest lift. They were sourced from the
lifting beam from Caldwell is being Sling, said: “The bottom hook dimen- Western Sling rigging store.
used to lift reels of electrical cable off sions were the key here. Beyond the The beam and rigging configuration
flatbed trailers. adjustability of the solution, we always also saves the high voltage electrical
The adjustable beam, which spans 48 enjoy providing Caldwell solutions be- transmission contractor time because
in. to 87 in., was recently delivered to a cause the products are backed by his- only one rigger is required in addition to
high voltage electrical transmission con- tory, quality, and safety. Further, we the crane operator. Detrick outlined the
tractor by Caldwell distributor Western know the equipment will be delivered step-by-step rigging process: the crane
Sling. The provider of lifting and rigging with all the relevant paperwork needed hook lowers the wire rope slings that
equipment has facilities in Denver, Col- to satisfy buying decision makers and are already attached to the beam down
orado and Casper, Wyoming. supervisors at the modern-day jobsite.” to the reel. The rigger then utilizes the
The end user was seeking a solution In a recent case study (pictured), the handle on the side of the adjustable por-
for repeated offload of reels of electrical beam was used beneath the hook of a tion of the beam and aligns it with a lip
line that arrive by semi-trailer, where National Crane boom truck. However, as it sets over the flange of the reel.
the weight and dimensions can vary it can be rigged with any crane that Detrick reported that this application
with each lift, depending on the type, suits the requirements of the site, reels, is indicative of current trends that see
size, and length of cable. The custom and specifics of the project. Detrick ex- a slowing of coal and oilfield work. He
reel lifter met the specifications where plained that in this instance, 28,000-lb. said: “Business remains steady because
a standard, fixed below-the-hook solu- capacity, 10 ft.-long wire rope slings we are actively diversifying and moving
into the electrical and wind farm sectors.
Construction and re-power jobs are also
driving demand; we continue to service
oil and coal projects as the need arises.”
AISI Urges Administration
to Designate Steel as
Essential Industry
On March 20, The American Iron and
Steel Institute (AISI) urged the Trump
administration to identify the steel
manufacturing sector and its work-
ers as “essential” when drafting and
enforcing shelter-in-place orders and
other directives in response to the CO-
VID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to Vice President Pence,
Thomas J. Gibson, President and CEO,
said, “As the Secretary of Commerce
determined in 2018, steel is important
to national security well beyond obvi-
ous defense applications to encompass
critical infrastructure and transporta-
tion, electric power and energy genera-
tion systems, as well as water systems.
Without access to a reliable source of
steel production during this crisis, our
national and economic security will be
severely impacted.
“We appreciate the efforts of the ad-
ministration to limit the spread and
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As
businesses across the nation have been
ordered by many state and local govern-
ments to limit or cease operations in
recent days, several states have specifi-
cally exempted industrial manufactur-
ing as ‘essential.’ We urge the Trump
administration to provide consistent
nationwide guidance by formally rec-
ognizing critical manufacturing sectors
The crane hook lowers the wire rope slings and beam down to the reel. that are essential to our country’s criti-

32 Wire Rope News & Sling Technology April 2020