Strainstall welcomes JCM Scotload to the Group

JCM Scotload joined the Strainstall Group in February, and have already developed a good working relationship with Strainstall.  Founded in 1994 by Jim Murray and Mark Jones, and with 11 employees, JCM design and manufacture a range of load measurement instruments.  Their products include tensile, compressive and shackle load cells.  They also offer a repair service and have a hire section to satisfy both short and long term requirements.

JCM's product range is complementary to Strainstall UK's, particularly their load links, which are manufactured from aluminium alloy and offer a highly accurate and cost effective alternative to Strainstall's higher-grade stainless steel load cells.  In being able to offer JCM's products, Strainstall have increased the range of load cells that they are able to offer their customers.  JCM also benefit from the sale of their products into new export markets.

To date, Strainstall have sold over 20 load links, and the aim is to further increase sales by actively looking for new agents around the world to market both companies' load measurement products.

Strainstall marine division introduce two new products

The Dockalert Portable Laser Docking System has been designed as a portable tool to allow monitoring and logging of the speed of approach and impact speed of a vessel onto the fenders.  The system comprises a binocular laser vessel approach sensor, specifically designed for vessel approach systems, that is connected to a portable computer running pre-installed DockAlert software.  The DockAlert software handles the ship docking process and provides real-time information on the distance of the vessel from the fender line, the speed of approach into the jetty, and alarms in the event that the speed is outside operator selectable parameters.

When in use, the laser is mounted on a tripod that incorporates a 3-way head to allow alignment.  The system is powered from a battery mounted in a rugged carry case that provides up to 4 hours operation.  The carry case also incorporates a universal voltage battery charger, and for storage and transport, houses the laser sensor and portable computer.  The benefit of this system is that it can be moved to different jetties as and when required, and replaces the need for permanently installed systems for each individual jetty.  Alternatively, it can be used to carrry out initial assessments of berthing speed prior to the installation of a permanent Strainstall hazardous area berth management system. 

The second new product recently launched is the Laser Lift System.  Because in some parts of the world the variation of the height of the sea surface relative to the jetty deck between high and low tide is considerable, the Laser Lift System was developed to ensure that the Laser Distance Sensors are always pointing at the side of the moored ship.

They are mounted on platforms that automatically move up and down as the height of the sea surface changes, with the laser optical head being kept 2 metres above the sea surface.  An ultrasonic transducer mounted below the bottom of the platform measures the height.  This information is passed to electronics located in the laser lift trolley and winch enclosure and is used to control the platform whinch motor to raise or lower the platform as required.  A proximity switch is provided that limits the upward travel of the platform to prevent it colliding with the winch motor mounting frame.

Two systems have already been sold as part of berth management packages to oil terminals in Korea and China.

Strainstall Operations bridge project wins prestigious award

Strainstall Ops has been involved with the Weetwood Bridge project since 2002, when they were asked to provide a system to monitor the loads in temporary props.  The bridge in Wooler, Northumberland was built in the 18th century, and is a single span arched stone bridge, whose side walls were leaning outwards to an alarming degree.  The work at the time involved excavations for a geotechnical investigation and to find out the thickness of the walls and the make-up of the fill between them.  A temporary propping system was installed to restrain the walls during this excavation work.  Strainstall Ops fitted a monitoring system for the props to provide a real-time alarm (siren and strobe), so that personnel would be alerted to any potentially dangerous movements of the walls.

Following detailed investigations, remedial work was designed to restrain the walls with lateral ties and to replace the fill between the walls with lightweight concrete blocks, in order sto stop the settlement of the structure.

Strainstall assisted Northumberland County Council with the design, specification and subsequent installation of a permanent monitoring system to check on the success of the refurbishment works, with the data produced managed by Northumberland County Council.

The project was one of four winners in the 'Historic Bridges and Infrastructure Awards 2007', which was sponsored by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) and reported in NCE (New Civil Engineering), a weekly magazine for ICE that is issued to some 80,000 members.  One of the judges comments was "Brilliant - unusual features include extensive use of electronic monitoring and a commendable archaeological report".

Strainstall UK to supply berth management system to Kuwait LNG terminal

Strainstall have received an order for two jetty systems for the Mina Al-Ahmadi LNG terminal in Kuwait, consisting of 48 Quick Release Hooks with load monitoring, 2 laser docking systems, 2 large digit displays and environmental monitoring.

The berth monitoring system will be used to ennsure the safe mooring of Excelerate Energy's regasification vessel, Excelsior, which is a purpose built LNG carrier that also has the capability of regasifying its cargo.  This means that the LNG can be vaporised on-ship and fed at high pressure directly into the gas network.  The tanker will spend half the year in Kuwait and the other half at the Teesport Terminal in UK, where Strainstall installed a similar system last year.

Other orders for Strainstall marine division include 4 double and 4 triple 75 tonne Quick Release Hooks with capstans for the Tanjung Lansat Terminal in Malaysia; 2 single and 6 double Quick Release Hooks for Jurong Island oil terminal in Singapore; and 4 free standing capstans for the Dubai Dry Docks, which were custom designed to enable them to be set into the concrete so that they are level with the ground.

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