In its drive towards producing a more environmentally friendly means of manufacturing their products, Lafarge has successfully used tyre chips as an alternative cement-making fuel for almost ten years. The newly installed double girder crane will be utilised in the manoeuvre of the tyres chips and will also monitor and maintain adequate tyre chip levels. The crane once fully commissioned will replace a manually operated conveyor system increasing safety, efficiency and productivity and allowing for a larger tyre storage area.

Morris Material Handling, the UK's leading crane and hoist manufacturer was selected as the preferred crane supplier as a result of its expertise in precision engineering and advanced, in-house software. The company is able to take a concept brief and in close consultation with the client, arrive at the most effective solution for the task. In the UK the company has 17 Material Handling Centres offering an unrivalled nation-wide customer service and product support.

Thousands of plants throughout the world have used Morris overhead cranes and hoists for over a century, with a number of units delivered in the 1920s still in operation. However recent trends have indicated that major projects, which include a high level of automation and software packages, are in increasing demand as companies strive to meet the faster pace and round-the-clock service of the modern world.

The fully automated tyre chip grabbing crane designed specifically for Lafarge Cement UK's unique requirements has a lifting capacity of 1 tonne, spans 10 metres in length and is operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The crane design incorporates a highly sophisticated software system and integrates Morris's expertise in heavy engineering and modern automated control technology. The software enables the crane to automatically manoeuvre tyre chips from tipping pits into storage bins and monitor and maintain adequate levels of tyre chip levels for efficient fuel supply.

A laser scanning system is also incorporated within the crane's design to analyse the profile of the tyre chips within the storage bins. Working in conjunction with grab positioning controls this enables the crane to automatically select and maintain optimum tyre chip grabbing levels.

To cater for the demand of chipped tyre fuel required by the cement kiln, a remotely operated communication control system is also incorporated into the crane design. This sends operating instructions to the crane from the plant's control room. Inverter control is fitted to all motions, providing smooth acceleration and deceleration to minimise load swing and wear to the hoist mechanism.

To protect the crane from its operating environment IP55 enclosures are also included along with full-length maintenance platforms on both girders. Other safety features include a hoist overload-sensing device with a safety cut out and alarm to protect the crane from damaging overloads. A precautionary fully automated fault monitoring system has also been included within the design, to diagnose problems, aid maintenance and maintain safety.

Morris also supplied and installed two key operated lorry barriers, which are operated by the crane's software system. Working together with the crane's automatic tyre level monitoring system, these barriers allow and restrict the access of lorries into the tipping pit areas.