Rope and Sling completes inspections at Ferrybridge power station

Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) has this week completed the latest in a series of inspection and certification assignments related to lifting equipment at the Ferrybridge Power Station Multifuel 2 (FM2) project in West Yorkshire, UK. The Ferrybridge site, originally home to three coal-fired power stations, was decommissioned and is being upgraded to burn mixed fuel including biomass, fuel from waste and waste wood. The new FM2 power station will generate over 50MW of energy and is a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). RSS received its latest scope of work from contractor Đuro Đaković Holding d.d., a Croatian mechanical engineering group based in Slavonski Brod. However, it is a frequent visitor to the site and regularly provides products and services to other contractors. In this case, RSS was tasked with thorough examination of two, 127t capacity lifting beams and two 82t capacity lifting frames that had arrived by container from Croatia. Mick Gill, senior testing engineer at RSS, said: “Upon its arrival at FM2, our contact [Krešimir Marušić , project manager at Đuro] needed to ensure the equipment met the relevant standards and was safe to be put to work. We completed inspection of the four items within a day and presented the client with appropriate certificates.” Gill, who was part of a two-man team that also included Gary Coleman, site engineer, added that a key part of the process was checking Đuro’s drawings and calculation sheets provided with the equipment. FM2 followed the successful £300m first phase of the project (FM1), for which RSS also provided regular services to the site’s contractors. Multifuel Energy Ltd, a joint venture between SSE and Wheelabrator Technologies, opened FM1 in 2015, but RSS had been visiting the site for two years prior to that. Steve Hutin, managing director at RSS, said: “Ferrybridge has been the source of regular work over a number of years and we look forward to further developing relationships with the site’s diverse, international contractors and suppliers. Our Rotherham depot is processing orders [from FM2] on a daily basis and it’s not uncommon to have a four-strong inspection team representing us at the fast-moving project.” Gill concluded: “It’s always an honour to be called onto the site. Eventually, it will be able to process 675,000t of waste per year and we’re excited about playing an integral role in the varied lifting and material handling activities that the project demands every day of the week. It’s also encouraging that many jobs will be created by the site once operational.”