Power Station Cooling Tower Access

The brief.

Konstruct was engaged to install a complete access system to the peak of the cooling towers at a QLD Power Station, across two towers in total. The access was built to allow the principal contractor to carry out remedial concrete works on the tower structures. The scope covered a ring scaffold and swing stage system at the tower crest, an Alimak hoist providing access from ground level, and the lifting of power cables and equipment required to support the installation.

The challenge.

A power station cooling tower is one of the more demanding access environments in industrial work. The structures rise to significant height, and their curved, tapering shells mean a conventional scaffold cannot be built up from the ground. The first problem was simply getting onto the tower at height, before any of the access system could be established. From there, a ring scaffold, swing stage and Alimak hoist all had to be installed on a curved structure, with power cables and heavy steel sections lifted into position rather than carried. Much of the system also had to be built in locations a scaffolding crew could not safely reach unaided. The full scope was then delivered twice, across both towers, on projects running four months each.

How we delivered.

Konstruct's crew began by installing anchors from a crane manbox, which allowed the team to exit the box and establish themselves directly on the cooling tower shell. From those anchors the swing stage was installed, followed by the ring scaffold. Power cables and equipment were lifted to height using Konstruct's Actsafe powered winches, while the Alimak steel sections were craned in and bolted off by the crew, who also installed the anchors tying the hoist into the structure. Throughout the build, the scaffold supplier ran materials up the Alimak and assembled the decks, while Konstruct abseiled down to install the sections the supplier could not reach safely. Even where cranes were used, the actual work was carried out by technicians on rope, and that flexibility let the team work more efficiently than the swing stage allowed. The swing stage itself was ultimately used for the concrete repair works.

The outcome.

Both cooling towers were fitted with a complete access system to the peak, delivered safely across projects of four months each. The completed system gave the principal full and stable access to carry out the remedial concrete repairs, with the swing stage serving the repair works directly. The job stands as a clear demonstration of Konstruct's ability to combine rope access, scaffold, crane and mechanical hoist on a single complex industrial program, with rope access the capability that made the rest of the system possible to build.