Removal of Production Presses from British Ceramic Tile

When British Ceramic Tile went into administration, sadly ending its 100 year history, Projector Lifting were called in to assist specialist machinery haulage company Blackmores Machinery Haulage. As a specialist heavy lifting and machinery removal company it was our role to remove the decommissioned machines from the plant in Devon so that Blackmores could transport them away. There were six heavy presses situated in work pits weighing each between 83 tonnes and 27 tonnes, all of which had to be lifted and inverted prior to loading them to Blackmore’s dedicated heavy haulage vehicles. The process was a tricky one as the presses had a high centre of gravity and an extremely narrow base, making them very top heavy and completely imbalanced. The construction of the machinery meant that the jacking process required very precise control of each of the four hydraulic jacks that together made up the jacking system. Each one had to be raised from the pit and tipped very carefully before being completely inverted. Projector Lifting Service used two hydraulic gantry systems running in tandem, with the track sections placed parallel one outside of the other in order give complete control of the lift. Using remote power units to operate the hydraulic lift systems, the lift was executed to plan. The complete operation was completed within two weeks. Once complete the presses were loaded to Blackmores transport, secured and bound for their new home abroad. It was a sad day to see the demise of such a previously great company and the stripping of its multi-million pound operation.