ALE prepare for first UK project using the Mega Jack 800

ALE are preparing for the award-winning Mega Jack 800’s first UK project in Lowestoft, Suffolk. The global heavylift specialists were given the scope of performing the lifting of components, multiple site moves of different sections of the jacket and topside, upending the jacket, jacking-up the jacket using the Mega Jack 800, before loading-out the jacket and topside The jack-up operation, which will be a first of its kind in the UK, will involve jacking-up the 954t jacket to 14m high using ALE’s Mega Jack 800 jacking system. The suction buckets will be positioned under each of the jacket’s legs. The Mega Jack 800 will then lower the jacket and hold it in place, whilst the suction buckets can be welded to the jacket by the client.

So far, ALE has performed the site moves of different components and the jacket is being prepared ready for the roll-up, using ALE’s AK912 crane, and jack-up operations using the, Mega Jack 800, in March 2016. Vytis Zygialis, Project Engineer for ALE who will be overseeing the overall project, commented: “We are now preparing for the jacking operation using our innovative Mega Jack 800 System – a first for the UK. As we will be using all of the cassettes to jack-up the jacket to 14m, we will also be bracing the Mega Jack 800 system for the first time. We will start to mobilise the equipment in February and are currently preparing the team for the rollup and jacking activities ready for March.” The Mega Jack 800 was launched in 2014 to bridge the gap in the capacities of the conventional 60-500t capacity climbing jack systems and ALE’s original Mega Jack system, that has a capacity of 5,200t per tower. So far, the Mega Jack 800 has been utilised in the Netherlands, Spain, Norway and Belgium.