Ashtabula, OH -

Our ability to adjust to unexpected challenges and changes to an initial job strategy came into full effect while helping Aloterra Energy set up their production facility in an old industrial building in Ashtabula, OH. The job required us to offload and position six machines, each weighing in excess of 40,000 lbs.

The original plan called for the machines to be brought through a dock door that was going to be added to the building, along with a concrete utility road to access the new dock. This approach would have allowed the machines to be offloaded within 50’ of where they were to be positioned in the building, and provided a relatively straight path with no need to rotate or reorient the machines.

An uncharacteristic amount of rain prevented construction of the dock and access road, forcing the client to scrap the plan in order to meet their production date. The new plan required us to utilize the building’s existing dock, presenting a number of access challenges due to the configuration of the building and the footprint of our large-capacity forklift. The space simply was not designed to accommodate our massive lift and their 40,000 lb. machines.

This change in approach more than tripled the distance each machine needed to travel from offload point to final position in the building. Additionally, the new path required us to reorient each machine a number of times and contend with height and width clearance issues that would not have been necessary if the initial plan was executed.

Despite the challenges resulting from the change of plans, the skill set of our crew along with the utilization of some of our specialized equipment, allowed us to safely and successfully position each machine. At OBC Rigging, we pride ourselves on being able to adapt to the conditions we encounter. Every move has problems and challenges; a successful move is one where those problems and challenges are met head on, and not made to be an obstacle.