One of Rowe Transfer’s more recent rigging jobs took place in Little Rock, Arkansas. We were brought in to relocate a cyclotron from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences health center down the road to a new building near the Carti Cancer Center.
Cyclotrons are used in many different medical applications from pharmaceutical manufacturing to proton therapy in cancer treatment. Rowe Transfer has moved several types cyclotrons over the years from 3MEV to 250MEV for various hospitals and institutions, and therefore are very familiar with the process. In fact, we placed this system in UAMS back in 2004. This time, however, was a little different….
For those of you who may not be familiar with our company, we are located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee experienced a snow fall that shut down a major interstate on the western side of the state heading toward Arkansas right around the time our transport drivers were bringing in the equipment needed for this job. Despite the hazardous road conditions, our drivers and equipment made it safely to Little Rock. This job required a large amount of equipment. We had varying types forklifts, multiple gantry cranes and Gizmo, a traksporter, with us. The location the equipment was being moved from was extremely tight due to the location of facility power, as well as public walkways and a loading dock area in the center of the facility. Gizmo came extra handy due to the small space. Once we were able to move the equipment from its original location, we had to come off a mezzanine area to load it on to the trucks. This required lifting the equipment between a rail and the ceiling leaving minimal rigging height for each piece. We specifically planned the job around the facility requirements of location as well as having to perform the work on off business hours.
Now we were on our way to the cyclotron’s new home next to Carti Cancer Center. As we mentioned earlier, it’s cold and there’s snow on the ground. We needed to cross the parking lot in a large fork lift, but if we did that the parking lot would be ruined. Luckily, we were able to use Gizmo again. We packed up the cyclotron, and Gizmo took it yards across the parking lot and around the building on a sidewalk to the location.
Moving cyclotrons is never an easy job, there’s a lot of planning and strategy that goes into each project. However, when the job has a lot of moving parts, as well as a few uncontrollable obstacles, we try to have contingencies for anything that can happen. That’s where Rowe comes in, if it were easy anyone could do it—but when plans change we accommodate the changes by planning for all contingencies?
Have a rigging job you’d like us to handle? Contact us HERE or give us a call at 865-523-0421.
