Oxygen tanks successfully installed

19th April 2019 By: Thabi Shomolekae - Creamer Media Senior Writer

In February machine moving and rigging specialist Lovemore Bros successfully installed new oxygen tanks at 27 provincial hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, after removing redundant oxygen tanks.

Lovemore Bros was awarded the contract from gas supplier Afrox and industrial gas supplier Air Liquide in November 2018.

Afrox won a State tender to supply oxygen to government hospitals throughout the country and contracted Lovemore Bros because of its experience in warehousing, unpacking new tanks, low-bed trailers for transport and cranes for offloading, explains Lovemore Bros director Bruce Lovemore.

“With some tanks weighing as much as 18 t, the precise calculation of crane sizes and rigging methodologies were implemented to ensure that each lift was carried out safely and timeously.”

Lovemore Bros used its large fleet of abnormal transport vehicles, as well as fully equipped crane trucks, complete with qualified rigging teams, to complete the task.

Lovemore notes that, owing to the importance of a continuous supply of oxygen at the hospitals, a timeframe of six hours was allocated for each site.

The contract took four months to complete, and it led to another contract for Lovemore Bros. “We were approached by the existing supplier to remove the old tanks and take them back to Johannesburg,” he says. The contract was completed incident free and on time.

To avoid any kind of incidents from occurring during the lifting or rigging of heavy goods, Lovemore Bros performs a virtual digital simulation of the lifts before the actual execution. Lovemore notes that, in so doing, problems and risks can be established before transporting equipment out to site.

He states that the company intends to support new projects in South Africa by positioning its depositories – from where it will mobilise – across the country.