In the five years the system has been on the market, Modulift has received countless contracts world-wide and assisted many high profile lifts. In order to offer a full service to customers as well as to accommodate the demands of companies operating across a diverse range of industries, Modulift owns two of the largest and most flexible compression test rigs in the world.
Based in Chard, Somerset, at the premises of Modulift’s main subcontract manufacturer, two test rigs that have been designed in- house to increase the scope of the company’s testing capabilities enabling it to manufacturer and test individual spreaders with a maximum span of over 50 metres and capacities ranging from 6 tonnes to over 3200 tonnes. This in-house facility offers many benefits including the flexibility to test any size spreader with minimal notice and a fast, efficient turn around time by eliminating the need for live testing. The concept of the Modulift test rigs is to simulate the in-service forces exerted on a Modulift spreader.
Owning the test rigs also makes the testing process far more cost effective, which in turn increases value for customers. The first test rig, developed in 2002, is capable of testing spreader load capacities of 800 tonnes WLL, provides a 300 tonne compression force and is currently used for spreaders up to 27 metres. By comparison, the second test rig, developed in 2007, presently provides a maximum capacity of 2000 tonnes WLL, a span of up to 12 metres and an 800 tonne compression force, which can be upgraded to a maximum compression force of 1200 tonnes which will enable spreaders of up to 3200 tonnes to be tested. Both test rigs can be expanded to offer 50 metre capabilities.
Due to the nature of the design, testing is not restricted to Modulift spreaders and with the use of modified adapters the test rigs can easily accommodate any existing or new spreader. In recent months, the company has undertaken a high volume of tests for a number of well known, international companies including the British Nuclear Group, Mammoet, Atlas Copco, Al Hammam Company for Saudi Aramco and Abnormal Load Engineering. The largest capacity spreader tested to date was for Al Jaber Heavy Lift & Transport LLC for a 9.5 metre Modulift 700 spreader with a load capacity of 1250 tonnes. Currently the shortest spreader was a 1.3 meter, 6 tonne capacity spreader. In addition to the two test rigs, Modulift also has three tensile test rigs designed specifically for testing drop links for Modulift spreaders. Modulift can test drop links with up to 100 tonnes capacity, in a short time frame.