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INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014
MASTCLIMBERS
Partha Basistha
reports
for
AI
on the mast climbing
industry in India.
material handling division at mast climber
manufacturer Universal Construction
Machinery & Equipment India, says, “To
enhance the awareness of mast climbers, we are
holding seminars and product demonstrations,
along with holding training programmes as
the concept of their usage is still in a formative
stage in India.”
Universal is one of India’s biggest
manufacturers of mast climbing platforms. It
produces the Xygo series of machines at its
Shivare plant near Pune in Western India.
The platform has a maximum load of
1000 kg, while platform size is 10 m x 15
D
emand for mast climbing work
platforms is expected to grow in the
Indian infrastructure sector in the
coming years. A growing concern for safety, a
lack of skilled labour required for construction
in big metropolitan and smaller cities, and
easier erection compared to conventional
scaffolding techniques are believed to be the
major reasons for the growing demand among
Indian contractors.
Demand is also being helped by the
increased construction of high rise residential
and commercial buildings, aluminium and
glass claddings, external brick works, external
plastering and delicate material handling.
Construction of chimneys and cooling towers
at thermal power plants and ship maintenance
are the other major emerging applications of
mast climbing climbers in India.The Indian
government is supporting this by ordering
additional thermal power capacity.
According to industry estimates, the size of
the mast climbing sector in India is around 200
units a year at present.The future demand of
mast climbers will be determined by growing
the consciousness among contractors of their
existence and value.
AD Bhosale, assistant vice president,
Klimer Platforms recently supplied the Cleveland
Marble Mosaic Company with a Klimer monorail
system to provide restoration and repair work on
the Columbus Safety Building project in Ohio, USA.
Due to the building’s insulation being improperly
installed when the building was originally built,
all the limestone exterior had
to be removed for repairs to be
made. Cleveland Marble Mosaic
Company used a Klimer monorail
system to remove the large
pieces of limestone. Another
trade completed the spray foam
insulation and an additional trade
caulked and cleaned the building.
The Klimer product was used
over conventional scaffolding
and swing stage scaffolding to
increase production and safety,
reduce ties, reduce project
duration. All three trades safely
operated the equipment during
three work shifts.
SCAFFOLDING ALTERNATIVE
India climbing
m. Universal’s clients are primarily rental
companies. It has supplied around 80 units to
contractors Sahara Projects, ETA Bangalore,
Rajdeep Builders and Jackson Housing for
residential and commercial housing projects.
A programme of awareness for mast climbers
in India is also being carried out by Everest
Engineering Equipment India. It is carrying
out operators training for erection, dismantling
and maintenance.The company has entered
into a recent exclusive distribution tie up with
GJJ of China for marketing its mast climbers
in India. Under the marketing alliance, Everest
will be marketing GJJ’s SCP230/9D and SCP
200/1D single mast and twin mast platforms. It
will be also marketing ZLP 500 and 7LP 800
suspended platforms.
PV Ramdev, managing director at Everest
Engineering says, “The platforms have gained
popularity with Indian contractors, as they
can be promptly erected at sites with space
restrictions, mainly in bigger cities.Though
the initial investments may be higher than the
conventional scaffolding techniques, contractors
can have increased construction uptime as
a majority of projects in India are getting
constructed by engineering procurement and
through the commissioning of ever tighter
work schedules.”
Everest has supplied around 60 mast
climbers to Indian construction majors like
Larsen and Toubro, JMC Projects and others.
Everest is hoping to sell 100 units by 2014
to 2015.
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