EoW May 2012

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EuroWire – May 2012 10
News
Corporate
Modular Wiring Systems, a subsidiary of
electrical cable manufacturer Tratos Ltd,
has designed, manufactured and supplied
modular power and lighting distribution
systems for Birmingham City Council’s
new flagship workplace.
Birmingham City Council’s new 10
Woodcock Street office, located next
to Aston University, is the council’s
largest single investment in a new staff
workplace in over a century and boasts
seven sustainability features, including
rainwater harvesting and a brown roof
for wildlife. It will be home to 2,200 fixed
desks over five storeys together with
a further 500 “touchdown” work areas
within the building to enable maximum
flexibility of the space.
Modular Wiring Systems has designed,
manufactured off site and supplied
multi-functional power and lighting
distribution systems with standard
Point-to-Point and switching and DALI
control for the new offices.
Unlike standard builds where the
distribution systems are installed from
the bottom up with cables running under
false ceilings, the Woodcock Street office
installation has been a top to bottom
installation.
Power is fed from above and cables have
been run through raised flooring as there
are no false ceilings. The second floor was
a particular challenge, with all cabling fed
under an acoustic canopy.
As a result of the unusual design,
flexibility of products and method of
installation was vital, which Modular
Wiring Systems was able to meet with
ease. In fact, so intuitive are its systems to
install that the contractor on the project,
who had never installed a prefabricated
distribution system before, was able to
undertake the work with minimal training
in a very short space of time.
This speed of installation was vital due
to the extremely tight schedule and
completion date.
Modular Wiring Systems – UK
Website:
Council’s flagship all lit up
▲ ▲ Birmingham City Council’s new offices
Heavy lift and transport specialist BigLift
Shipping successfully completed the first
job with its new super fly jib. Initiated by
Huisman, the first ever super fly jib was
equipped with special Twaron stay cables to
lengthen the crane to a radius of 55 metres.
The aramid fibre Twaron is lightweight and
five times stronger than steel. This results in
a reduced installation time while enabling
an increase in lifting height and outreach
during heavy lifting activities.
By using Teijin Aramid’s fibre Twaron in
FibreMax stay cables, ‘Happy Buccaneer’s’
new super fly jib extends the crane to a
maximum lifting capacity of 350 metric
tons at 35 metres outreach. The maximum
outreach and height of the heavy lift crane
are increased by 50%.
The Twaron stay cables have a rated
minimum breaking strength of 920 metric
tons. Specialist in lifting, drilling and
subsea solutions Huisman designed and
manufactured the crane and the super fly
jib, equipped with Twaron stay cables. They
are produced by FibreMax for BigLift’s heavy
lifting carrier‘Happy Buccaneer’.
Gem Wender, project engineer at BigLift:
“The specifications and conditions of
Twaron exemplify the suitability of these
fibres for heavy lift applications. Because
of the strength, flexibility and light weight
of Twaron stay cables, we were able to
significantly shorten and simplify the
installation of the super fly jib on the ‘Happy
Buccaneer’”.
The properties of Twaron aramid fibres used
in FibreMax stay cables ensure a number
of significant advantages. Twaron stay
cables offer smaller diameters, less weight
and higher strength, resulting in major
advantages in terms of easier handling,
increased safety, faster operations and
downsizing of constructions. Besides its
strength and flexibility, Twaron offers
long-term stability and performance. It
is resistant to severe weather conditions,
sustainable, and characterised by thermal
stability.
Christoph Hahn, director marketing and
sales of Teijin Aramid, said: “We are proud
to be in the position to support BigLift,
Huisman and FibreMax by applying Twaron
in their heavy transport lifting stay cables.
Twaron is a super strong fibre offering
many fantastic technical features with
which our customers can create many new
innovations on top of the many existing
applications. We are happy to share our
knowledge about aramid to help our
customers to develop new great products.”
This is the first time that an aramid fibre
such as Twaron has been used in a marine
heavy lift crane application that complies
to the requirements of Lloyd’s Register
as specified in Lloyd’s ‘Code of Lifting
Appliances in a Marine Environment’.
Teijin Aramid – Netherlands
Website :
Cables increase crane lift and outreach