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Manitowoc 21000 crane holding 622,000 lbs test rig for Rx Head Tripod
Shown above are the 300+ ton water weights (9 total) attached under the Reactor Head Tripod
at three primary lifting points.  The tripod fixture is wrapped in white massilon cloth.

The purpose of all this is to enable the facility to remove and store the Reactor Head during
refueling outages without having to remove the Insulation from the head; and without having to
remove the Reactor Head Tensioning Flange Studs, prior to attaching the lifting tripod.
To do this, we had to ensure the tripod could handle the extra weight safely.  
The method to "upgrade" the tripod capacity is to install upgraded fasteners, then
subject the modified tripod fixture configuration to a load test at a designed value to include 
the increased load requirements so that the added weight of the insulation and Reactor Head 
Tensioning Flange Studs will be part of the qualification test loading weight. 

The cost savings will occur from the reduction of one day from critical path schedule!  It will no
longer be necessary to remove insulation and Reactor Head Tensioning Flange Studs, prior to lifting 
off the head via the tripod.  Part of the work during past outages was the removal of these items!

The feeding of the water into the bag containers takes about 4 hours using a 
2-1/2" fire hose connected to a local water header hydrant.  These water weights are 
precisely filled, as the team has a flowmeter device to monitor how much water is filled into 
the nine (9) test containers (water weighted bags suspended in two levels shown above.  The 
water weight test team knows the required volume, computed using a weight of water value 
at the measured bag temperature, therefore they can arrive at the desired test load by
filling the water weights accordingly to obtain the calculated volume needed to reach the 
test load weight. A valve is installed at each weight's feed manifold to close off the water inlet, 
once the test weight is attained.  After the tripod fixture is subjected to ten (10) minutes under 
622,000 lbs of load, then the water drain valves under each water weight are opened.  
The drain down process takes 2 hours.  The final test is scheduled for WED, June 6, 2001.

This photograph was taken by me from the DBNPS Personnel Service Facility Roof on 6/4/01 at 18:45.

This Manitowoc 21000 crane is one of two owned by the ALL Erection and Crane Rental Corp!

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