Heavydrive replaces a pane in a tight space on the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel

Within just half a day Heavydrive GmbH had replaced a 6.5m tall x 2.8m wide pane on the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel (Switzerland). The challenge of this project was that it had to be assembled under a 3m deep overhang. The 1.5 tonne pane also had to be inserted into a transom-mullion construction, and on a downward-sloping surface! What’s more, the frosty temperatures and strong winds didn’t make assembly any easier.

For this tricky project, the Tapfheim-based company delivered two vacuum suction systems to Switzerland: the VSG 1500 KMH with a lifting capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes, and the VSGU 1600 for the overhead assembly of panes weighing up to 1.6 tonnes. The VSGU 1600 was attached to the Heavydrive MRK 195.0 assembly crane. Using the overhead manipulator, the suction feature gripped the damaged pane in the centre, lifted it under the 3m overhang and took it out. Even the sloped surface, at an angle of about 15 degrees, didn’t pose a problem to the Heavydrive crane. The operator could balance on the sloped surface with the MRK crane’s four axles as well as a further three axles on the manipulator.