Overhead & Gantry Crane Inspection

Overhead cranes are the most-used and least-inspected lifting equipment on most sites. They run continuously, they are rarely visible from the floor, and the structure carrying them — the runway beams and their supports — is part of the building rather than part of the crane, so it frequently falls outside both the crane inspection and the building inspection.

Equipment covered

• Electric overhead travelling (EOT) cranes
• Single and double girder overhead cranes
• Under-slung and top-running cranes
• Goliath and semi-goliath gantry cranes
• Portal and semi-portal cranes
• Jib and pillar cranes
• Wall-mounted and slewing jib cranes
• Monorail and beam trolley systems
• Workshop and maintenance cranes
• Process and ladle cranes

Runway beams and supporting structure

This is where the significant findings usually are, and it is the part most often omitted. Runway beams carry the full crane and load reaction into the building, and a beam that has been modified, drilled, or had services hung from it is no longer the beam the crane was designed for.

• Runway beam condition, examined for cracking at welds and connections, distortion and corrosion
• Beam-to-column and beam-to-support connections, bolt condition and tightness
• Rail condition, wear, alignment, level, gauge and joint condition
• Rail fixings, clips and their security along the full length
• End stops and buffers, present, secure and adequate for the crane's mass and speed
• Evidence of unauthorised modification, drilling or attachment to the runway structure
• Deflection under load where the runway condition or history warrants it

Bridge, end carriages and travel

• Bridge girders examined for cracking, distortion, camber loss and corrosion
• End carriage structure, wheel condition, flange wear and axle bearings
• Wheel alignment and skewing, which drives rail and flange wear
• Long travel and cross travel drives, gearboxes and couplings
• Travel brakes tested for stopping distance and holding
• Anti-collision devices and travel limit switches, function tested
• Down-shop conductor bars, festoon systems and cable reels

Hoist, rope and hook

• Hoist mechanism, gearbox, couplings and drive condition
• Hoist brake and load-holding brake tested for holding capability under load, not merely observed to release
• Wire rope assessed against ISO 4309 discard criteria, or load chain against the manufacturer's stretch and wear limits
• Drum condition, grooving, spooling, minimum dead turns and rope anchoring
• Sheaves, reeving and rope guards
• Hook examined for throat opening, twist, wear and cracking, with magnetic particle inspection where condition or standard requires
• Safety latch, swivel and block assembly
• Upper and lower hoist limit switches, including the secondary limit where fitted

Controls and safety devices

• Pendant, radio remote or cab controls, including deadman and emergency stop
• Overload protection and load display, verified against known loads rather than assumed
• Isolation, earthing and electrical enclosure condition
• Warning devices, lights and travel alarms
• Access platforms, walkways and fall protection on the crane and along the runway
• Legible and correct safe working load marking on the crane and the hook block

Load testing

Proof load testing is carried out on new installations, after structural repair or modification, after relocation, after any change to the runway, and at the intervals your specification requires. Load is applied at the percentage above safe working load stated in the applicable standard, with deflection of the bridge measured and compared against the permitted limit, brakes and overload devices verified, and the structure examined after the test. Where a runway's condition makes load testing inadvisable, we will say so before the test rather than discover it during.

Standards applied

Inspection follows the standard specified by your contract or governing authority, most commonly ASME B30.2 for overhead and gantry cranes, B30.11 for monorails and underhung cranes, B30.16 for overhead hoists, B30.17 for cranes with underhung trolley and hoist, ISO 9927-1 for crane inspection, ISO 4309 for wire rope, and BS 7121 Part 2 where the client works to British practice. Manufacturer inspection and maintenance schedules are applied alongside.

When inspection is required

• Periodic third-party examination at the interval set by the governing authority
• On commissioning of a new installation
• After relocation, modification or alteration to the crane or the runway
• Following structural or weld repair
• After an overload, collision or derailment
• Where duty has increased beyond the classification the crane was specified for
• Before a facility acquisition or lease, as condition assessment

Accreditation and approvals

ITMAD is accredited to ISO/IEC 17020 as an inspection body, is an ADNOC approved inspection contractor, and is listed on the Abu Dhabi City Municipality register of Approved Third Party Inspection Bodies. Certificates are issued in the format required by the governing authority, including Dubai Municipality and the Dubai free zone authorities. Inspection is carried out at your facility across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern Emirates, scheduled around production so that access to the crane and the runway is available.

What you receive

• An inspection certificate in the format the governing authority requires
• A report identifying each crane by number, capacity, span and location
• Findings recorded component by component with photographic evidence
• Separate reporting on runway and supporting structure condition
• Defects classified by severity, separating what stops the crane from what must be monitored
• Load test results with applied load, measured deflection and post-test condition
• Colour-coded tagging applied on site
• Your equipment register updated, where we hold it