Crane and surrounding area fabric maintenance and repairs

Benefits

• Undertaken by current crane incumbent, allowing areas to be identified during general day-to-day activities
• Carried out against agreed contract rates
• Minimise crane downtime, undertaking FABM works whilst crane is out of service for other maintenance works
• Ability to manufacture bracketry using asset workshop facilities, negating onshore workshop requirements

Challenge

Altrad Sparrows were approached to undertake fabric maintenance (bristle blast / sand, prime and paint) on various crane areas for a UK client, including the boom, A-frame, A-frame handrails, boom backstops, nav light stanchions, main frame and machinery house.

Due to the high saline environment offshore, corrosion is prevalent in crane structures and components. Fabric maintenance can minimise and slow down further degradation before major structural components require further, more intensive remedial works. As the current crane incumbent, Altrad Sparrows were the logical choice to undertake these works, as it complements our current crane mechanical maintenance and uptime, aesthetic and structural wellbeing responsibilities.

As the client’s current FABM team have overall responsibility for all platform fabric maintenance, crane remedial works were always moved down the priority list, due to the criticality of crane up time and the associated challenges of this being out of service for an extended period. It was often found that crane FABM works were started, but seldom completed due to other priorities.

Solution

• Altrad Sparrows planned FABM works to coincide with other crane mechanical or electrical maintenance, allowing for cost and time savings on multiple work fronts. Utilising different disciplines meant they could be run concurrently.
• FABM works undertaken by Altrad Sparrows also extended to surrounding areas; handrails, walkways, ladders, and stairwells, which can be further expanded to all platform areas.
• On-site fabrication using asset workshops was also seen as a plus, as the squad who mobilised also has the required skill set to undertake component manufacture.
• Part of our solution for the client was to nest fabric maintenance works around existing planned downtime, boat and bunkering operations, ensuring that disruption offshore was minimised. 24-hour working also resulted in the minimum number of days offshore with maximum efficiency. Our fabric maintenance teams are painters and fabricators by trade, who also have rope access ability, meaning access was possible to areas that normally require scaffold. This also offered a time and cost-saving by not drawing further on asset resources.
• This effective approach to undertaking fabric maintenance allows for ‘fallback work’ to be planned should the crane be required, or if the weather is out with limits to safely undertake rope access works. In this instance inboard / sheltered works can be completed; handrails, stairwells, stair treats, doors, kickplates, overhead beams etc.
• By undertaking additional ‘secondary’ fabric maintenance scopes and having access to other areas of the asset, further areas can be identified and if time allows, remedied during the campaign.
• With rope access being a primary cost and time saver in fabric maintenance works, it also allows access to hard-to-reach areas, giving the opportunity to look for, log and if safe to do so, remove potential dropped objects.

Summary

Integrated solutions

• Fault finding and repair

Capabilities/services

• Inspection/testing/rope access
• Site surveys
• Coating and painting
• Photographing/information logging
• Work order creation and close out.