Reid gantry assists solar pontoon

Modular floating pontoon supplier Northern Pontoon used a 3t-capacity lightweight gantry crane from Reid Lifting to anchor a solar power generation system on a UK reservoir.

The 7,200m2 system comprises around 3,700 pontoon modules and 3,520 solar panels, and will supply one megawatt of power, enough to supply 200 homes.

The Porta-Gantry crane from Reid was on site for a total of three weeks at intervals throughout the eight-week installation project at Langthwaite Reservoir in Lancashire.

Lisa Morris, sales manager at Northern Pontoon, said: “The gantry enabled us to drop the anchor blocks for the sea flex anchoring system. We used it to pull the ropes from the anchor block to a set tension to the attached floating array. This allows for the rise and fall of the structure. We found the solution online and, upon consultation with our contacts at Gap, the equipment was delivered to the site. We regularly source product from them and, once again, they facilitated a successful material handling solution; we would certainly consider implementing it again.”

Northern Pontoon sourced the gantry, chain block, and other equipment from Gap Hire Solutions’ Lancaster Plant & Tools depot.