Barnhart, Fagioli, Burkhalter and Emmert International Win Coveted SC&RA Rigging Job of the Year Awards
(CENTREVILLE, Va. - May 14, 2019) - The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association announced the winners of the 2019 Rigging Job of the Year Awards on April 27 at its Annual Conference in Carlsbad, CA. Four SC&RA members –all demonstrating outstanding organization, skill and commitment to safety – were recognized for meeting some of the industry’s most complicated challenges and responding with superior professionalism. Barnhart Crane & Rigging, Fagioli, Burkhalter, and Emmert International all took home the prized award for the SC&RA Rigging Job of the Year in their respective categories.
Over $2 million: Barnhart Crane & Rigging Assembles one of the World’s Largest Presses
In February 2018, Barnhart Crane & Rigging completed a project whereby they received 37 press components from the Port of Long Beach, Calif., ranging from 250,000 to 732,000 pounds, transported the pieces over the road to the site and assembled one of the world’s largest presses. Innovation was the key to success as the team meticulously put together the various components of the press, a process which required multiple impressive lifts: eight pieces at around 700,000 pounds, two lifts at just under 3,000,000 pounds and one massive lift at 4,400,000 pounds. The Barnhart Crane & Rigging team designed, fabricated and load-tested over 40 custom pieces of equipment to meet the needs of the job. In total, 3,500 engineering hours were used to develop the execution plan for the project, which saw no damage, injury or illness claims.
$750,000 to $2 million: Fagioli skids a 997-ton GTG module as part of a stacking and de-stacking operation
In late 2017 and into 2018, Fagioli was called to execute the operation of stacking and de-stacking a 997-ton GTG module. After the necessary tests executed by the client, Fagioli de-stacked the module in 2018 in order to ship the two modules separately for their final destination. For the execution of the project, Fagioli came up with the idea to lift the module and skid it – hanging to the tower-lift system. Key equipment utilized included towers, strand jacks, PPU for strand jacks, skid shoes, forklifts, manlifts, a Theodolite and a water-level indicator. Precision engineering undertaken by 15 total Fagioli personnel, including five engineers, was of the utmost importance throughout all five phases of the project. Ultimately, both GTG modules were lifted, placed, skidded and set onto their new foundations without incident, with the Fagioli team monitoring every element from start to finish and zero-accidents for the project.
$150,000 to $750,000: Burkhalter widens and installs two railway bridges before lifting an active section of Highway 280, extending it, and setting it back down
In the fall of 2018, a four-way point of confluence between several different regional and commuter rail lines, known as the “Hole in the Wall,” stood before the next phase of the ongoing TEXRail commuter rail project outside Fort Worth, Texas. Burkhalter was contracted to widen the Hole to accommodate an additional rail line, and this meant they had to widen two rail lines and a section of Highway 280 above. They constructed the new bridges before moving them into place via a temporary bridge consisting of runway girders placed over the Hole in the Wall. After accomplishing this feat not once, but twice, in a work area with extremely minimal clearances above and below, Burkhalter then set out to lift a section of an active highway in order to lengthen it before setting it back down in place. Ingenious engineering and careful planning within the parameters of a work schedule (with barely any inoperative hours) made for a highly successful project.
Under $150,000: Emmert International finesses a tight jack-and-slide of two 168,000-pound thermal heaters
Last October, Emmert was challenged with moving two 168,000-pound thermal heaters across a pre-treatment facility in Freeport, Texas. Crafting a path of travel for the heaters involved navigating a complex web of obstacles, a feat accomplished with a custom-engineered self-propelled 120-foot track system. Jacking the 45-foot long heaters onto the 500-ton Hydra-Slide track required both force and grace, but Emmert was able to execute a successful project without incident.
Click here to see a photo of the winners.
Other Rigging Job of the Year entries included:
Rigging over $2 million
In May 2018, ALE completed a project in Lagos, Nigeria, which required lifting six modules onto an FPSO. The modules were lifted over the top of the FPSO and existing modules before being lowered into their final position. Lift weights were between 335 and 3,000 tons. ALE deployed its unique AL.SK350 crane and heavy-duty jib, the world’s largest capacity land-based crane, for its small footprint and large outreach. During the project, ALE broke an industry record by performing the heaviest ever land-based crane lift using a jib to lift a module weighing 2,810 tons.
Rigging $750,000 to $2 million
— In April 2018, Barnhart Crane & Rigging removed and replaced a vertical acid tank weighing 260,000 pounds using a fabricated lifting base in conjunction with a 500-ton slide system and 750-ton turntable. This enabled the tank to be moved in its vertical position through a clear pathway to a position where it could be extracted using a 600-ton crane.
— From January to March 2018, Emmert engineered a custom tower arrangement to lift and set six components – which were lifted 40 feet and traveled 35 feet to foundation pads – through a congested work area. Rough set and alignment of each component had to be performed while not interfering with existing building structure. No other work could be obstructed for installation.
Rigging $150,000 to $750,000
— Barnhart Crane & Rigging successfully and safely removed and replaced a 45,000-pound heat exchanger in tight quarters at an active, online plant in May 2018.
— Emmert engineered and lifted a move to set two neutrino reactors last August.
— From March to April, 2018, Irving transported and lifted two 238-ton refinery process modules into place at an oil refinery. The modules were loaded onto a barge via SPMT on New Brunswick, Canada’s Atlantic Coast, where tides can reach fifty feet. The job presented unique environmental considerations and a challenging equal-load lift.
— In April 2018, Omega Morgan lifted and set 20 structural steel and concrete columns at the ground level of Seattle’s 2+U high-rise building project last April. Steep grades, low allowable ground bearing pressures, trolley wires and road closure restrictions all presented significant challenges and required custom rigging designed to upright the columns with a single crane.
Rigging under $150,000
— Last September, Barnhart Crane & Rigging transported an electrical shelter box through a plant with significant height clearance issues before the box was offloaded by a crane and set onto its foundation. No incidents or injuries were reported during Barnhart’s tight but successful transport.
— In August 2018, Turner Industries used a unique hook-style cantilever beam to retrieve a velocity recovery ring from atop a flare structure 208 feet in the air – while the hydrogen flare was still in operation. In only four days, one-of-a-kind rigging hardware was designed and fabricated and a crane with over 250 feet of luffing jib was built.
For more information on SC&RA’s awards program visit
www.scranet.org/awards.