Fairfield Engineering Solutions was tasked by the client with inspecting, reporting on, refurbishing, and commissioning one of their cliff-side access lifts. Due to the lift being located near a harsh coastal environment, this resulted in significant deterioration of both the mechanical and control systems. Additionally, there were signs indicating that the lift pit had experienced flooding, leading to the emergency brake seizing and surface rust forming on the winch drum.
The client gave Fairfield Engineering Solutions a purchase order to deliver a package which included some of the following works:
- Removal of old lift ropes and fitting of new ones, involving abseilers.
- Replacing gearbox oil
- Fitting a new emergency brake disc and stripping the brake unit to accommodate new pivot pins and disc pads.
- Fitting a new winch drive motor and centrifugal brake.
- Removal of the old cable reel and replacement with a new one.
- Fitting new safety limit switches, terminating the lift control cable.
- Wiring in new cables to a new enclosure to replace the existing damaged ones.
- Load testing of the system under both static and dynamic loads.
- Full commissioning procedure covering all modes of operation, including emergency and maintenance situations.
- Verify software.
When the procurement process began for the project, it was discovered that the replacement winch drive motor had a lengthy lead time. To mitigate this delay, a decision was made to source an alternative product to be used temporarily until the required motor arrived. Due to the lift being type-approved, it meant approval for the interim unit had to be obtained from the lift certifying company first. Once this was received, the lift could be put back into operation two months earlier than originally anticipated.
Load testing of the refurbished lift was conducted using IBC tanks filled with water within the lift and four load cells. The testing aimed to prove three different loads: a static proof load, a dynamic 110% load, and a dynamic 100% load.
All completed works on the lift had to meet approved standards and required inspection, sign-off, and certification by a nominated lift inspector
KEY DELIVERABLES & SUCCESS
After successfully refurbishing and recommissioning the access lift, Fairfield Engineering Solutions was subsequently issued purchase orders for completing the recommended six-monthly service packages.