Hird’s Valla mini cranes gives African monorail vital lift
image courtesy of ALSTOM
Valla pick and carry cranes supplied by Hird has played a key role in a UK manufacturing success story involving the construction of two monorail lines in Cairo.
The Valla V210RC and Valla 250E mini cranes were used to lift components from lorries at the factory in Derby where the monorail trains were built before being shipped to the Egyptian capital.
The electric battery powered pick and carry cranes was ideal for the task because they could lift and safely place large component elements that made up the advanced train units.
Hird supplied the mini cranes to logistics specialist Daher, which was responsible for managing the transportation of key components for the monorail units from China to the UK.
Valla cranes – optimum lifting solution
First, a Valla 250E mini crane, which has a maximum safe working load (SWL) of 25t, a maximum working height of 13.2m and a maximum working radius of 9.2m, was deployed to test and prove the lifting method.
With the solution confirmed, an even more compact Valla V210RC pick and carry crane was selected to take over and complete all necessary lifts during the two and a half year monorail unit build programme.
Hird Sales and After-Sales Manager Carl Cooper said: “We were pleased to be able to supply the optimum lifting solution for Daher so these components could be safely and efficiently offloaded every time.
“We also supplied a specialist lifting beam because the components were held in stillages to facilitate their safe transportation to the UK.”
Monorails vital to economic development
The Cairo monorail project required the building of 68 fully-automated, driverless trains, with a total of 272 individual passenger units.
The trains were supplied to operate on two monorail lines running 96km east to west across the city, the largest in Africa with a population of more than 23 million people.
Each line will have a capacity of 45,000 passengers per hour in each direction when fully operational, providing vital support to the city’s economic development.
Train manufacturer Alstom was commissioned to built the monorail train units at its Litchurch site in Derby, the UK’s oldest and largest train factory.
Remote control option for safer crane lifting
The Valla V210RC pick and carry crane can be operated from a cabin or by wireless remote control for all crane and drive functions.
It has a maximum safe working load of 21t, a maximum working height of 12.5m and a maximum working radius of 8.1m. With its hydraulic fly jib deployed, this performance extends to a working height of 15.2m and a radius of 10.9m.
Lorries carrying the train components were driven into a covered area where the off-loading operation could be carried out in controlled conditions.
As a fume-free electric mini crane with non-marking tyres, the Valla V210RC was perfectly designed for indoor lifting like this.
Being highly-manoeuvrable in constrained space, the mini crane could be located in the best position to lift loads from transporters, then set them down safely into dedicated stillages, ready to be taken to the train assembly area.
Valla V-Series – most advanced industrial cranes
The Valla V210RC is one of a wide range of machines in Hird’s Valla pick and carry crane hire fleet, which is the largest in Europe.
Safe working loads range from 2t for the tracked Valla 20E TRX and 2.25t for the Valla 22E right up to the Valla 250E.
An increasing number of mini cranes in the fleet are advanced Valla V-Series cranes. These are among the most compact battery electric industrial cranes ever made, with industry-leading working envelopes.
They can be used with a variety of accessories, adding to their flexibility, including hydraulic fly jibs, hydraulic winches and self-levelling fork attachments.
All can also be operated by wireless remote control. Examples include the Valla V36R cabless mini crane, which has a SWL of 3.6t and a maximum working height of 7.5m.
The Valla V80R is another cabless mini crane with a maximum SWL of 8t, and is one of the models that can be fitted with hydraulic lifting forks.
The Valla V130RX has a maximum SWL of 13t and an extending chassis that allows lifting duties to be optimised in very constrained locations.
Find out more
Talk to the Hird team about all the pick and carry cranes in our hire fleet. They are available for hire across the UK, supplied by our three regional service hubs.
We can also provide CPCS A66 Compact Crane (B Mobile Industrial) training or in-house, task-specific training at either a Hird depot, or at customer sites, if the facilities are suitable.
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