Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Disruption mitigation | Final design review is a major step forward

    The generations of physicists, engineers, technicians and other specialists who have worked in nuclear fusion share a common goal, dedication and responsibility [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | Like grasping a bowl of cereal

    Contrary to the vast majority of ITER machine components, the modules that form the central solenoid cannot be lifted by way of hooks and attachments. The 110-t [...]

    Read more

  • Education | 13th ITER International School announced

    The 13th ITER International School (IIS) will be held from 9 to 13 December in Nagoya hosted by National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), Japan. The subject [...]

    Read more

  • Open Doors Day | Having fun while discovering ITER

    A public event on Saturday 13 April draws a big crowd. It was a beautiful, summer-like day on Saturday 13 April. Perfect for a journey into ITER. Nearly 800 mem [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | Increased awareness in a changing landscape

    The world of fusion research is changing fast, and world leaders are taking notice. The large public projects that occupied centre stage for the past decades ar [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Coil winding facility

Gantry crane passes load tests

However complex the science or sophisticated the technology at ITER, there is one simple activity that conditions future success—the ability to lift and manoeuvre exceptionally heavy loads during the project assembly phase.

A 540-tonne load, representing 125 percent of the crane's nominal lifting capacity, is attached to the beams for static tests. Dynamic operations followed at 110 percent in order to monitor the deformation of the beams. (Click to view larger version...)
A 540-tonne load, representing 125 percent of the crane's nominal lifting capacity, is attached to the beams for static tests. Dynamic operations followed at 110 percent in order to monitor the deformation of the beams.
With a nominal lifting capacity of 1,500 tonnes, the undisputed champion of ITER weightlifters is the double overhead crane in the Assembly Hall. Second on the podium is the gantry crane in the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility—a 30-metre-in-diameter steel structure supported by four hydraulic towers traveling on rails, capable of lifting the heaviest components of the ring-shaped coils throughout the last stages of fabrication.

Personnel from the European Domestic Agency and from crane manufacturer Ale Heavy Lift are overseeing the load tests. Europe is responsible for procuring 5 out of the 6 poloidal field coils required for ITER operation. (Click to view larger version...)
Personnel from the European Domestic Agency and from crane manufacturer Ale Heavy Lift are overseeing the load tests. Europe is responsible for procuring 5 out of the 6 poloidal field coils required for ITER operation.
Load tests for the gantry crane began on 16 February with static operations at 125 percent of its nominal lifting capacity of 400 tonnes. Dynamic operations followed at 110 percent in order to monitor the deformation of the beams. With a deflection of less than 119 millimetres, the tests were conclusive.

The bright red gantry crane was tested in three operational lifting configurations corresponding to poloidal field coils #2 and #5 (up to 342 tonnes, Ø 17 metres), poloidal field coils #3 and #4 (up to 385 tonnes, Ø 24 metres), and finally poloidal field coil #6 (396 tonnes, Ø 8.5 metres)¹.

¹ Poloidal field coil #6 (PF6) is being manufactured in China under a European contract but will be cold tested in the on-site poloidal field coil facility.
 
For more on the poloidal field coils click here and here.

return to the latest published articles