Equipment Loading & Unloading at Difficult Sites

When the standard route does not work

Corridor widths, door openings, lift dimensions, lift capacity and turning radii are measured against the actual equipment dimensions during site assessment. If any single one of them falls short, the conventional route is not viable — and that has to be known before the site is committed to, not discovered on delivery day with a crane booked and a gantry on a truck.

A magnet or gantry does not negotiate. If the turning radius at one corner is 200mm short, the route is closed, regardless of how good the rest of it is.

Craneage and skating

Where a building will not take the equipment through conventional routes, the alternatives are planned as part of site logistics:

• External craneage through a temporary structural opening — a planned, engineered opening in the facade or slab, formed and reinstated as part of the works
• Skating the load across prepared surfaces, with load spreading where the slab needs it
• Temporary structural openings internally, where a wall is the only obstacle
• Load path preparation along the route, since transit loads concentrate into small contact areas

Each of these needs coordinating with building management, local authorities, and traffic requirements where public roads or external space are involved.

Permissions are part of the plan

Craneage that occupies a public road or external space typically needs municipal or traffic permission, and that has a lead time. Building management in a shared or occupied building will have their own conditions — working hours, lift usage, protection of common areas. We scope and coordinate these as part of the logistics plan rather than discovering them the week before.

Plan it before you sign, not after

An equipment ingress and rigging study during feasibility establishes whether a site needs this kind of solution at all, and what it would cost. That turns a hidden risk into a line item you can compare across candidate sites.