INTERNATIONAL
ANDSPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
MARCH 2015
WORLDNEWS
9
Mosquemove
forMammoet
International heavy lift and
specialized transport company
Mammoet helpedmove a
2,400 tonnemosque in Jeddah,
Kingdomof SaudiArabia, to
make room for anewhospital.
NesmaTrading is themain
contractor on theproject.
The construction company
was contractedby the Saudi
ArabianNationalGuard
(SANG) tobuild and expand
fivehospitals.Originally
themosquewas going tobe
demolished and rebuilt at a
new location, taking around
tenmonths to complete. To
save time and to save the
mosque fromdemolition,
Nesma calledonMammoet
tohelpmove the entire
building instead.
Mammoet’s proposal for
themovewas to jackup and
slide thebuilding to thenew
locationusing a jacking and
skidding system. This plan
wouldnot onlyhelpkeep
themosque intact, allowing
visitors to continue their
prayers, but itwould also
help reduce anyunnecessary
disturbance for thehospital
patients, a company
spokesperson added.
The jacking and skidding
proposalwould take three
months to carryout andwould
be the first time aproject of
this typehadbeen tried in
SaudiArabia. Engineering
for theoperationwas doneby
Mammoet and subcontractor
Techniek enMethode, part of
theBresserGroup.
The first stageof theproject
beganwith the removal of the
minaret using anhydraulic
crane.Next, the ground
underneath themosquewas
removed and replacedby a
supporting concretebase.
Skidding equipment, including
skid shoes, push andpull units,
skid tracks andpower packs,
were then installed.Once all
the equipmentwas set up, the
mosquewas skiddedmore
than120metres to its new
location. Theprocess took less
than48hours to complete, a
spokesperson said.
Seehttp://bit.ly/1MUmmvn
for a videoof themove.
Mammoet’sproposal of themove
was to jackupand slide theentire
mosque to thenew locationusing
a jackingand skidding system
UK crane rental company
GH Johnson CraneHire has
bought two new CKE800G
crawler cranes fromKobelco
Cranes Europe. Adding the
80 tonne capacity lattice boom
units increases theKobelco
count in Johnson’s fleet to
18 units. The five added in the
last 12monthswere three
CKE1350G and two CKE1100G
crawlers. Paul Johnson, GH
Johnson CraneHiremanaging
director, said, “In total, we
will have upwards of 70,000
hours experiencewithKobelco
crawler cranes and have never
had a serious breakdown or
mechanical fault.”
