Crane rails are subject to significant forces and they are often expected to work day and night in all types of weather and environmental conditions. Inspection, care and maintenance are essential to ensure long and trouble free operating life.

Crane rails are subject to high forces that result in movements. This can cause problems. Sometimes; Inspection Care and Maintenance of Crane Rails Rails move along the track The foundations move due to settlement Uneven wear can cause misalignments Work at a university in South Africa and at steelworks has shown that the forces from cranes into structures can be significantly higher than those allowed for in the design. This is particularly if the rails have become misaligned. Fortunately complete failure of crane girders is now rare Preventive Maintenance Six or twelve-monthly inspections are desirable for trouble-free crane track installations. We offer attractive contract terms for undertaking this service, which will include a detailed examination, report and recommendations for correction where necessary. Inspections may also be required to satisfy insurance requirements.No. of picture required here Gantrail rail clips and pads are covered by our five year replacement guarantee providing certain terms are met. Gantrail offer a range of services for the care and maintenance of crane rail tracks including: Condition inspections and surveys Alignment and level surveys Problem investigation Rail profile grinding Rail weld repair and rail head repair by welding Uneven wear can cause misalignments Rail in Sewage Treatment Works needs new Fixings and Welded Joints Rail surveys use our own design of equipment

Rail installation tolerances Most countries have standards that cover the accuracy to which crane rails must be installed. In Europe there is an organisation FEM (Fédération Européenne de la Manutention) that has prepared rules for the design of cranes. These present requirements for rail accuracy that are similar to those of the individual countries national standards. www.fem-eur.com/ Summarising the FEM rules of 1998 the tolerances for crane tracks are (it is suggested that the full FEM rules or the national standard is checked) Span On span (S value in metres) up to 15 metres the allowable deviation is ± 3 mm On span greater than 15 metres deviation is ± {3 + 0.25 x (S – 15)} mm with a maximum of 25 mm Level Level of one rail relative to the other From theoretical position ± 10 mm One rail relative to another 10 mm Curvature maximum deviation of 2 mm in 2000 mm Incline of the rail rolling surface Longitudinally 0.3% Laterally 0.3% # Lateral deviation Maximum deviation in the horizontal plane ± 10 mm The curvature shall not exceed ± 1 mm in 2000 mm Rail joints It is recommended that rail joints are welded # It is Gantrail’s opinion that the accuracy of rail rolling and structural construction make the tolerance of 0.3% across the head of the rail to be un-achievable. Indeed as many rails do not have flat upper surfaces, this requirement is not practicably enforced. It should more realistically be applied to the top surface of the support for