Crane Runway Inspection and Maintenance
SDC has performed EOT crane and crane runway inspections since 1988. We have learned that crane runway and crane maintenance is about management of many thousands of deficiencies found during the inspection process.
Crane runway inspection and maintenance management is difficult which is the reason SDC developed a structural inspection and maintenance management system named SIMMS. SIMMS is a Microsoft Access database program that standardizes the entire crane runway inspection and repair process.
SIMMS has several management reports that help maintenance planners understand inspection deficiencies. Inspection data is mined and post processed to summarize deficiencies by priority for structures rated in good, fail and poor condition as shown on the transmittal report. The inspection report transmittal breaks down the deficiencies by priority code for a specific area of a plant. A cost module allows SDC to generate an order of magnitude cost estimate by priority code. The transmittal report here is for structures rate in poor structural condition. SIMMS can also track the inspection history for individual structural deficiencies. The history report shows how high priority crane girder cracks have propagated over time.
Crane Maintenance personnel have various ways of documenting the inspection findings and making repairs for the periodic and annual crane inspections required by OSHA. However, making crane runway structural repairs is much more difficult since they need to be locked out for a period of time.
EOT crane repairs can become extensive such as end truck replacements that are costly and require more valuable outage downtime. These repairs need to be coordinated with the crane runway repairs during annual mill outages. When both the cranes and runways are severely deficient and require major repairs, structural damage escalates due to additional stress on the structural elements.
SDC recommends development of a plant wide Critical Structure, Condition Based Inspection Program. Runway inspection and alignment surveys need to be performed during normal or monthly downturns to develop an integrated repair plan prior to a major repair outage. SDC is experienced in performing focused structural inspections during downturns.