Bulk handling forces combine

Two bulk handling specialists have joined forces to combine their sixty years of experience to offer the sector a total-solution combining industry design expertise and established manufacturing skills.

Specialist hydraulic manufacturer, Advanced Actuators and engineering designers, Ashton Bulk, have already fulfilled two multi-million pound contracts together for major clients in the bulk handling industry. They are now specialising in wagon tippling technology offering a full consultation and design service, along with the manufacturing facilities, creating a turnkey service solution. Mechanical, hydraulic and electrical design, intelligence and control systems can now be provided under one contract making customers’ projects much easier to manage.

Managing director of Advanced Actuators, Chris Woodhead, explains: “We have found from working together in the past that we offer complimentary services and work really well together. We’re aware of a gap in the market for a one-stop-shop where consultants can find experts to deliver their entire bulk handling projects from consultation, delivery and installation through to testing and commissioning. In short, we’re offering the brains and the muscle under one roof.

“We’re seeing a growing trend towards the use of tipplers over bottom dumpers in industries such as power, steel and ports, wherever unloading and stockyard equipment is used. It can be very costly to buy and maintain a fleet of bottom dumping wagons and tipplers tend to be more cost-effective and able to handle trickier loads such as outsized, frozen or sticky materials. We’re now able to service that market from end-to-end.”

The two companies first worked together in 2017 to deliver high-capacity train unloading systems for projects in South Africa and Guinea.

Joe Dudman, projects director at Ashton Bulk, adds: “Since teaming up with Advanced Actuators, we can provide all the expertise that engineering consultants need in one place. By carefully selecting a supplier at specification stage, it’s possible to save significant amounts of money, simplify the process with less suppliers, and ensure longer lifespan of plant.

“Well-made and maintained equipment designed to recognised design standards should last for up to 40 years, but those who have chosen to buy cheaper products from China and India in recent years will find that they will be replacing them much sooner than they should and any downtime is going to be incredibly expensive. Therefore, it’s recommended quality plant is specified from the very beginning of a project to avoid delays and expenses associated with repairs and replacements.

“We’re a smaller partnership than some of the big players, and that allows us greater flexibility and we’re much more willing to travel globally and to remote locations to provide a truly personal service and reaction times you are less likely to receive from larger organisations.”

Advanced Actuators has clients in the oil and gas, bulk handling, power, water and nuclear sectors such as Shell, Petronas, EDF Energy and BP, supplying standard and bespoke hydraulic engineering and servicing across the globe, including Europe, India the Middle and Far East.
Ashton Bulk provides engineering design and project management solutions to the bulk materials handling industries throughout the world and have engineers with experience dating back 50 years.

Bulk handling forces combine

Two bulk handling specialists have joined forces to combine their sixty years of experience to offer the sector a total-solution combining industry design expertise and established manufacturing skills.

Specialist hydraulic manufacturer, Advanced Actuators and engineering designers, Ashton Bulk, have already fulfilled two multi-million pound contracts together for major clients in the bulk handling industry. They are now specialising in wagon tippling technology offering a full consultation and design service, along with the manufacturing facilities, creating a turnkey service solution. Mechanical, hydraulic and electrical design, intelligence and control systems can now be provided under one contract making customers’ projects much easier to manage.

Managing director of Advanced Actuators, Chris Woodhead, explains: “We have found from working together in the past that we offer complimentary services and work really well together. We’re aware of a gap in the market for a one-stop-shop where consultants can find experts to deliver their entire bulk handling projects from consultation, delivery and installation through to testing and commissioning. In short, we’re offering the brains and the muscle under one roof.

“We’re seeing a growing trend towards the use of tipplers over bottom dumpers in industries such as power, steel and ports, wherever unloading and stockyard equipment is used. It can be very costly to buy and maintain a fleet of bottom dumping wagons and tipplers tend to be more cost-effective and able to handle trickier loads such as outsized, frozen or sticky materials. We’re now able to service that market from end-to-end.”

The two companies first worked together in 2017 to deliver high-capacity train unloading systems for projects in South Africa and Guinea.

Joe Dudman, projects director at Ashton Bulk, adds: “Since teaming up with Advanced Actuators, we can provide all the expertise that engineering consultants need in one place. By carefully selecting a supplier at specification stage, it’s possible to save significant amounts of money, simplify the process with less suppliers, and ensure longer lifespan of plant.

“Well-made and maintained equipment designed to recognised design standards should last for up to 40 years, but those who have chosen to buy cheaper products from China and India in recent years will find that they will be replacing them much sooner than they should and any downtime is going to be incredibly expensive. Therefore, it’s recommended quality plant is specified from the very beginning of a project to avoid delays and expenses associated with repairs and replacements.

“We’re a smaller partnership than some of the big players, and that allows us greater flexibility and we’re much more willing to travel globally and to remote locations to provide a truly personal service and reaction times you are less likely to receive from larger organisations.”

Advanced Actuators has clients in the oil and gas, bulk handling, power, water and nuclear sectors such as Shell, Petronas, EDF Energy and BP, supplying standard and bespoke hydraulic engineering and servicing across the globe, including Europe, India the Middle and Far East.
Ashton Bulk provides engineering design and project management solutions to the bulk materials handling industries throughout the world and have engineers with experience dating back 50 years.

Floating cranes supply Vietnam with energy

Liebherr has delivered four transshipment cranes, type CBG 360, to its long-term customer Oldendorff Carriers for a major project in North Vietnam. In the coming years, the cranes, which excel through their reliability and high operating speeds, will be used for power generation in the region. Another three cranes of the same type will be commissioned in West Africa for handling bauxite.

Handling and transporting 100 million tonnes of cargo in 25 years: that is the goal of the NS2 project of Oldendorff Carriers, Germany´s largest bulk shipping company. To achieve this, Oldendorff Carriers’ fleet will work with Liebherr floating cranes. The core of the North Vietnamese project are the power plant´s 2 x 600 megawatt power generation units, which supply the region with energy. The CBG-series ensures a continuous turnover of material for the power plant’s operation. The deployed cranes are characterised by their long service life and low maintenance requirements, which is a decisive advantage especially on the open seas and in remote areas.

Long-term partnership

Liebherr and Oldendorff Carriers can look back on decades of cooperation based on partnership and trust. Like Liebherr, Oldendorff Carriers is a family-owned company that has been operating successfully on the market for many years. For the large-scale project to supply energy to North Vietnam, they were looking for a low-maintenance handling solution. “Oldendorff Carriers values the reliability of Liebherr products and is therefore also counting on high-performance Liebherr four-rope grab cranes, type CBG 360, for this major project,” said Jan Breckling, Senior Sales Manager for transshipment and ship cranes at Liebherr Maritime Cranes. “The CBG is a heavy-duty crane designed for continuous operation. The new equipment will therefore play a crucial and at the same time permanent role in our customer’s long-term transshipment project.”

Extended action radius

Each of the four CBG 360 floating cranes is installed on a 10-metre-long eccentric platform. This allows an extended operating radius of 46 metres for a lifting capacity of 30 tons. The maximum lifting capacity of 36 tons can be utilized at up to 40 metres. The improved positioning and outreach creates more operational flexibility and makes the unloading of the cargo holds even more efficient.

Captain Johannes van Dijk, Technical Director Projects at Oldendorff Carriers, said: “We needed a robust, reliable cargo handling system for our project in North Vietnam. For that reason we chose Liebherr CBG 360 cranes which are high-performance cranes designed for continuous operation.”

The first transloader, “Calypso”, with two CBG 360 cranes went into service at the beginning of 2021 and start of work coincides with Oldendorff Carriers’ 100th company anniversary. Like its sister vessel, it has a length of 145 metres and a deadweight capacity of 18,000 tonnes. In West Africa, the “Albert Oldendorff” with three CBG 360 is in operation for bauxite handling. This transshipment vessel is equipped with hoppers and a conveyor system, which leads to a faster turnover of the material. The cranes are installed side-mounted and directly discharge into the hopper conveyer belt system.

Floating cranes supply Vietnam with energy

Liebherr has delivered four transshipment cranes, type CBG 360, to its long-term customer Oldendorff Carriers for a major project in North Vietnam. In the coming years, the cranes, which excel through their reliability and high operating speeds, will be used for power generation in the region. Another three cranes of the same type will be commissioned in West Africa for handling bauxite.

Handling and transporting 100 million tonnes of cargo in 25 years: that is the goal of the NS2 project of Oldendorff Carriers, Germany´s largest bulk shipping company. To achieve this, Oldendorff Carriers’ fleet will work with Liebherr floating cranes. The core of the North Vietnamese project are the power plant´s 2 x 600 megawatt power generation units, which supply the region with energy. The CBG-series ensures a continuous turnover of material for the power plant’s operation. The deployed cranes are characterised by their long service life and low maintenance requirements, which is a decisive advantage especially on the open seas and in remote areas.

Long-term partnership

Liebherr and Oldendorff Carriers can look back on decades of cooperation based on partnership and trust. Like Liebherr, Oldendorff Carriers is a family-owned company that has been operating successfully on the market for many years. For the large-scale project to supply energy to North Vietnam, they were looking for a low-maintenance handling solution. “Oldendorff Carriers values the reliability of Liebherr products and is therefore also counting on high-performance Liebherr four-rope grab cranes, type CBG 360, for this major project,” said Jan Breckling, Senior Sales Manager for transshipment and ship cranes at Liebherr Maritime Cranes. “The CBG is a heavy-duty crane designed for continuous operation. The new equipment will therefore play a crucial and at the same time permanent role in our customer’s long-term transshipment project.”

Extended action radius

Each of the four CBG 360 floating cranes is installed on a 10-metre-long eccentric platform. This allows an extended operating radius of 46 metres for a lifting capacity of 30 tons. The maximum lifting capacity of 36 tons can be utilized at up to 40 metres. The improved positioning and outreach creates more operational flexibility and makes the unloading of the cargo holds even more efficient.

Captain Johannes van Dijk, Technical Director Projects at Oldendorff Carriers, said: “We needed a robust, reliable cargo handling system for our project in North Vietnam. For that reason we chose Liebherr CBG 360 cranes which are high-performance cranes designed for continuous operation.”

The first transloader, “Calypso”, with two CBG 360 cranes went into service at the beginning of 2021 and start of work coincides with Oldendorff Carriers’ 100th company anniversary. Like its sister vessel, it has a length of 145 metres and a deadweight capacity of 18,000 tonnes. In West Africa, the “Albert Oldendorff” with three CBG 360 is in operation for bauxite handling. This transshipment vessel is equipped with hoppers and a conveyor system, which leads to a faster turnover of the material. The cranes are installed side-mounted and directly discharge into the hopper conveyer belt system.

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