Condra Cranes is preparing to deliver two overhead cranes to the work floor area of Paragon Steel Structures’ soon-to-be-completed rubber processing factory in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

The two overhead cranes, which were ordered in April, will be delivered in September, with installation and commissioning to be undertaken by Durban-based specialist Natal Cranes & Hoists scheduled for the same month, says Paragon MD Peter Hallowes.

He highlights the close and ongoing cooperation between Condra and Paragon to ensure that all details of crane design, delivery, installation and commissioning dovetail with Paragon’s ongoing construction of the end-user’s plant.

“Paragon is in the business of manufacturing and processing structural steel and platework. We move tons and we rely on Condra to carry this philosophy through to the lifting equipment needed for loading, offloading and fabrication processes. Cooperation has to be, and is, tightly coordinated,” he continues.

Paragon awarded the lifting equipment contract to Condra because of the company’s reputation for close cooperation and liaison during complex factory construction.

The companies had previously teamed up for new factory projects in Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, and Luanshya, in Zambia.

The two new electric overhead travelling machines, with a double-girder configuration, individual lifting capacities of 40 t and lifting heights of just over nine metres, are identical barring long-travel speeds of 31 m/min and 10 m/min to maximise production efficiencies.

The cranes will span the full 28 m of the factory floor, moving raw rubber from the receiving area to the processing area, before transferring processed material to different points in the plant for specific value- adding procedures.

Hallowes says that the contract for the new factory fitted well with Paragon’s corporate vision, which is to reliably, as far as possible, lighten the workload of heavy industrial environments.

When complete, the two new 40 t cranes will feature frequency drives on the hoists and cross-travels for accurate and easy load positioning, as well as walkways across the full length of their 28 m spans.

“The cranes would be hard-working machines that will need to perform durably and reliably. Though they are being built as Class FEM-2M machines, manufacture is being undertaken close to 3M standard because of the minimal periods during which these cranes are expected to stand idle,” a Condra spokesperson concludes.