Category Archive: News and Events Post

Visit American Crane at Booth #14 at the NEI Used Fuel Management Conference

For nuclear power plant professionals, including fuel managers, compliance personnel, engineers, suppliers, contractors, and more, the Nuclear Energy Institute has created the must-attend Used Fuel Management Conference. The event will bring together attendees from all areas of the nuclear supply chain and include informational sessions to improve efficiency and management of used fuel in the nuclear industry.

The Used Fuel Management Conference will be taking place from May 6-8, 2014 at Renaissance Vinoy in St. Petersburg, FL. Each day will feature a continental breakfast before delving into the day-long schedule of activities. About 250 used fuel specialists are expected to attend, making it a great opportunity to network and show off products and services that support the growing nuclear industry.

As a leading provider of cranes, hoists, and other specialized lift systems for nuclear industry, American Crane looks forward to meeting with representatives from other companies in this field. We even supply failure-proof replacement cranes and trolleys specifically for dry spent fuel storage operations, which is especially pertinent to the Conference’s target audience. In addition, our trained staff is well-versed in the regular maintenance of plant cranes to ensure proper function when dealing with spent nuclear fuel storage.

American Crane will be exhibiting at Booth #14 at the Conference. Stop by to learn more about our products and services and how they can address your nuclear plant needs. You can also stay in touch by following us on Twitter. We look forward to meeting you!

Equipment Built to Withstand the Harshest Conditions at Hazardous Duty Locations

The oil and gas sector has been receiving a surge of attention thanks to its role in moving industry forward and bringing the U.S. back from recession. The sector has thus seen booming demand as energy requirements continue to increase, leading to a flood of opportunity and growing investment domestically. But this area of work is not for the faint of heart, and involves a very high degree of risk for workers. For this reason, it is vital to have the right equipment to support such hazardous conditions.

American Crane is continuously working to improve jobsite processes and ensure the safety of workers and equipment. Our explosion-proof equipment serves this need, as do our remote controlled cranes that are especially recommended for operations involving immediate danger. By keeping people out of the line of fire, they are better able to perform their job without risking life and limb.

Our custom designed and manufactured jib cranes can even include spark resistant components which enable them to be used for offshore drilling purposes. They are also engineered to withstand corrosion in the offshore marine environment. In addition, all cranes and hoists supplied to the oil and gas industry can be uniquely tailored for the hazardous conditions present in this field. These custom safety features have no impact on the functionality of the equipment, and only add to the product’s utility at hazardous jobsites.

For more information about the equipment we have available to serve the oil and gas sector, please feel free to browse our online materials. For more information about American Crane, watch our company video to gain a better understanding of our company and capabilities.

Custom Equipment Gets the Job Done Right

Shopping for big equipment to help with oil and gas exploration, outages at power plants, repairs on iconic bridges, and lifting components in the Aerospace Industry is no small feat. You need to feel confident about what you are buying and know that you are investing in equipment that will hold up under pressure and best suit your specific needs.

Our highly qualified engineering department produces innovative solutions that easily translate to drawings and manufactured fabrications and parts. Over the years we have created unique designs that have provided exceptional challenges with comprehensive solutions. Essentially, we can design and manufacture almost any welded fabrication or part that can be imagined to support a custom crane program. Check out some of our design capabilities that make it all possible:

  • Use of the latest 3-D design software
  • Fabrication and part testing capabilities
  • Quality assurance program
  • Inspection reports available, when required

 

We have the experience and expertise to meet your unique requirements and to move quickly from design concept to manufacturing.

Our manufacturing capabilities include:

  • Customization to your specific application

 

  • Procurement
              Commercial grade dedication
  • Fabrication including:
              Plasma cutting
              Welding to AWS standards
    Various epoxy/urethane nuclear coatings
  • Machining including:
              Numerous CNC and manual machine tools
    7″ horizontal boring mill with 30 foot horizontal travel and 13 foot vertical travel
  • Testing Services
              Acceptance testing
              Mock-up testing
              Load testing to 2500 tons
  • Inspection Services
              Visual weld inspection per AWS standards
              MT, LP, UT, & RT by ASNT-TC-1A qualified technicians, Coating inspectionFor additional information regarding your application contact us today at 1-877-877-6778 or email our sales department.

Proudly Announcing Increased CMCO Stock!

A little holiday present from us to our loyal customers…

American Crane has increased and added to our Columbus McKinnon stock inventory! It will now be easier than ever to view and purchase the trusted quality of your favorite CMCO brand parts. The newly added parts and equipment are valued over $800,000 and are available for immediate purchase. The reliable products you know and love such as the Coffing’s JLC Electric Chain Hoist and CM’s Man Guard Electric Chain Hoist can now be shipped on the same day that you order them! But state of the art new equipment isn’t all we’ve stocked for you… we’ve also collected more than 200 replacement parts to help you get your equipment up and running quickly, reducing downtime and aiding in repairs.

RELATED: CMCO Product Catalog

Adding these exceptional new products to our inventory is just another example of our commitment to quality and to supplying our customers with the best parts and equipment to fit their budgets. As always, our commitment to quality products, excellent customer service, and competitive pricing continues to set us apart as an exceptional supplier of the outstanding crane and hoist equipment.

Check out a product review of the CM Hurricane 360 here!

Shop online at Store.AmericanCrane.com or call us toll free at 1-877-877-6778.

American Crane Sponsors National Nuclear Science Week

Did you know that 18 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed per year in the United States, or that 20 percent of our electricity is generated by nuclear power? Nuclear science plays a much bigger role in our daily lives than many Americans are aware of which is why “National Nuclear Science Week” was created. From October 21st to October 25th, organizations all over the country, including the Department of Energy, partner to promote National Nuclear Science Week to help spread awareness about the technology and career opportunities in the field.

American Crane supported these efforts by contributing to The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During National Nuclear Science Week, the museum offered a week long program filled with educational activities for 673 middle and high school students and teachers throughout the Albuquerque Public School System. Sponsorship of the program enabled the museum to provide students with bus transportation and an agenda that included energy related activities that delved into the center of an atom, the Periodic Table, nuclear fuel, Nano science, magnetism and more. Focus areas were creatively turned into themed days entitled: “Get to Know Nuclear”, “Nuclear Careers”, “Energy Generation”, “Safety” and “Nuclear Medicine & Radiology”.

Lifting the Future of Spaceflight

From manufacture to completion, a space transport vehicle is made to launch and orbit, never to fall. One of these would be a billion-dollar space capsule weighing 10 tons.  The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is the latest hope of the U.S. space program for sending humans beyond Earth orbit and onto destinations far, far away. Since the retirement of its space shuttle fleet, the Orion is NASA’s only crewed space vehicle under a recent revamp of the program’s long-range plans, called the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The new strategy is to use the Orion Crew Module (or capsule), being built for NASA by Lockheed Martin Corp., and the Service Module, under development by EADS Astrium for the European Space Agency, to send crews of four to six astronauts on missions to orbit the Moon, explore nearby asteroids, and ultimately travel into orbit around Mars. NASA has scheduled the first flight of the Orion, called Exploration Flight Test 1, for sometime in 2014 aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket system. This will be an unmanned shake-out run to test the Crew Module’s avionics, heat shielding, and parachutes over two Earth orbits and a high-energy reentry in the Pacific Ocean. To work on the capsule (and eventually assemble the Orion and the Delta IV for launch), NASA is using a 25-ton ACECO custom crane (which we refer to, naturally, as the “Orion Crane”). Officially, the Operations and Checkout Building’s (O&C) Low Bay Crane is used by Lockheed Martin personnel to move the Orion around the facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Lockheed Martin moves the capsule through several workstations along the crane’s runway during final assembly, testing, and preparation for spaceflight. Our crane will also mate the Orion capsule to the Delta IV’s second stage, inside the O&C, and place this assembly on its trailer for transport to the launch pad. In the future, our crane will mate the Crew Module to the Service Module and then lift that assembly onto the transport. ACECO is currently building another critical lift crane for the Orion project. Lockheed Martin will move the existing O&C Low Bay Crane to the O&C’s receiving room to lift the Orion capsule off of the transport from their manufacturing plant. Our new crane will then be installed in the Low Bay of the O&C and become the new O&C Low Bay Crane. It is a 30-ton capacity crane and is scheduled to be completed in February 2014 at Plant 1 and installed in May 2014 at KSC. So one day we’ll be able to really say that we were the first to lift the Orion spacecraft off the ground. Photo (courtesy NASA): The Orion ground-test vehicle on a work stand in the Operations and Checkout Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Lifting the Future of Spaceflight Resources: www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Authorization_Act_of_2010 //store.americancrane.com/category/aerospace

Crane Buyer’s Guide Part 2: What is important to look for when buying a crane?

For the past 60 years, the CMAA (Crane Manufacturers Association of America) has published standardized guides for the selection of suitable cranes and crane equipment. These guides and specifications take into account a few key points to help buyers make the right match:

-The service that the system will be used for

-The frequency of use

-The speed required to match process parameters

-The buyer’s budget

The CMAA includes a detailed checklist for buyers to complete while they begin the selection process with a crane manufacturer. The checklist asks if key components of the crane are in compliance with the CMAA’s quality, safety, and value specifications. A “Crane Inquiry Data Sheet” will help narrow down the field to facilitate the perfect match of crane and buyer.

There are also specific service classifications so that the most economical crane can be purchased. They are Class A (Standby or Infrequent Service,) Class B (Light Service,) Class C (Moderate Service,) Class D (Heavy Service,) Class E (Severe Service,) and Class F (Continuous Severe Service.) Single girder cranes meeting Specification 70 can only be classified in categories A through D. Guides are available for Single Girder cranes, Multiple Girder cranes, and Below the Hook Lifting Devices.

Crane Buyer’s Guide Part 1: What is the CMAA?

The Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) has existed since 1955, but can trace its roots all the way back to 1927 when the Electric Overhead Crane Institute was founded to establish standardization and quality control within the crane industry. The voluntary organization is made up of over 30 Member Companies, which represent the industry leaders of overhead crane manufacturing. The CMAA is an affiliate of the Material Handling Industry of America and is committed to helping its members become marketplace leaders that provide high value and versatile solutions. Its mission is to provide the end-users, partners, and members of the crane industry with exceptional quality and value using:

  • Safety Advocacy
  • Engineering Specifications and Standards Development
  • Market Intelligence
  • Educational Materials
  • Member Professional Development
  • Recruiting and Developing a representative, active membership
  • Promotion and Enhancement of the CMAA brand

The CMAA has two very important specifications that help crane buyers, engineers, and architects select the optimal equipment for their needs. First published in the 1970’s, these are commonly known as Spec 70 and Spec 74 and have been updated as technology advances. Specification 70 outlines information for those interested in Multiple Girder Cranes, while Specification 74 focuses on Single Girder Cranes. Both specifications offer general information that can be checked with individual crane manufacturers to ensure you are purchasing the right product. The information in the CMAA specifications does not have the effect of law, but rather establishes advisory qualifications and technical guidelines. They can be helpful when researching proper clearances, offsets, tilts, runways, and more.

Stop By Our Booth!

Visit us at Booth 609 at the Utility Working Conference & Vendor Technology Expo in Hollywood, Florida this Sunday, August 11th through Wednesday, August 14th!

The Nuclear Literacy Project

Did you know that rocks, bananas, and even the human body contain natural radioactivity?

Many people simply do not know a lot about nuclear energy and nuclear power plants. That’s where the Nuclear Literacy Project comes in. They aim to educate the world about the positive aspects of nuclear energy and promote the facts about nuclear waste and radiation. Did you know that nuclear energy is also the largest source of carbon free electricity in America? One way that the Nuclear Literacy Project has found to promote these nuclear energy facts is through a venture called Nuclear Tourism, which documents travelers’ visits to nuclear museums and historical sites through a series of online journal entries.

“The Diary of a Nuclear Tourist” is written by individuals who travel all over North America and Europe to visit these fascinating sites and spread the word about nuclear energy. The “tourists” write about their experiences and what they have learned, as well as post pictures of their visits. American Crane is proud to sponsor one of the tourists, Suzy Hobbs Baker, who is a nuclear energy advocate and the executive director of PopAtomic Studios. The goal of her adventures is to help others understand how nuclear technology works and how nuclear energy affects our daily lives. Suzy wishes to explore the reasons that some countries have embraced nuclear technology and others have dismissed it completely.