Fitting panes in a tight space in Basel

In Basel, Switzerland, Heavydrive GmbH installed a total of 50 panes on the St. Jakobshalle arena, nine of which weighed 1.5 tonnes with some measuring up to 1.2m x 3.1m and 2.8m x 6.5m.

The difficulty was that the façade elements had to be fitted at ground level under an 8m-16m overhang. The glass panes also had to be rotated by 90 degrees after being unloaded from the truck – and within a very small, tight space.

This is a difficult and time-consuming task for traditional solutions like telescopic forklifts and rotatable vacuum suction systems.

Heavydrive GmbH used the MRK 195 mini crawler crane with a 3-axle manipulator alongside the VSGU 1500 KMH and VSG 1500 KS vacuum suction systems.

Then a specialised crane operator with many years’ experience of tricky glass assembly projects could easily transport the glass panes underneath the overhang and turn and tilt them within the tight space. The extra-large panes were inserted into the mullion-transom system to the millimetre. Within just one day, the team had replaced the emergency glass with the new façade elements.