BIG CARL BACK IN ACTION
Sarens largest ring crane the SGC250 is back in action doing what it does best, lifting another large steel ring for EDF at Hinkley point C.
The installation shows how building an identical copy of the first reactor drives efficiency and saves time. The ring was built 25% more quickly than the same part on unit one, requiring thousands of hours less labour to manufacture. This “replication effect” will benefit the identical Sizewell C project in Suffolk. The prefabricated ring, which is 47 metres in diameter and 17 metres high, forms a reinforced cylinder around the nuclear reactor.
The achievement is all the more impressive as the project deliberately switched materials and labour away from unit two during the pandemic when numbers on site were limited and suppliers were impacted. This allowed work to focus on areas most critical to the project’s schedule.
The optimum construction time between the two reactors at Hinkley Point C is around 12 months and this installation highlights this gap is being maintained.
