Industrial Case Studies

Intermountain Rigging and Heavyhaul went above and beyond during an industrial rigging project at a high-profile generator plant in West Jordan, UT. The generator plant sits on a data center campus and consists of four separate buildings, each housing 18 engines and alternators.

At the start of the project, the IRH team was tasked with providing rigging services to set multiple generators weighing 42,000 pounds each, selective catalytic reduction (SCR)s, mufflers, and plenums for both exhaust and intake—tasks critical to ensuring the facility’s 72 engines and alternators continued to run seamlessly.

As the job progressed, the scope of the project expanded. IRH’s team of millwrights and fabricators (MIST) as well as their crating division stepped in to provide additional support. Under the customer’s supervision, the IRH team will also be supporting the commissioning of engines weighing 52,000 pounds each in the coming months.

Throughout this project, the IRH team has shown exceptional leadership, a commitment to safety, and proactive support to ensure the project could move forward without delay.

Project at a glance:

• Specs: generators: 42,000 pounds, 20 feet x 7 feet, engines: 52,000 pounds and 27 feet x 7 feet, SCRs, mufflers, and plenums
• The Job Site: A generator plant powering a data center. The plants consists of four separate buildings, each housing 18 engines and alternators
• The Task: Setting generators, SCRs, mufflers, and both exhaust and intake plenums. Additional services provided include: fabrication of a custom, steel plate, crate building, and commissioning of engines.

Integrated Industrial Rigging Services and Fabrication Workflow

IRH deployed a multi-departmental team to address both the planned rigging and the emerging workflow challenges.

Project Workflow

Setting up for safety: The IRH rigging team began work, establishing high safety standards with the use of site-wide signage.

Expert Moving: To set each engine or generator into place, the crew first backed a semi truck loaded with the unit down a dirt road to a 275-ton crane IRH provided through their subcontractor.

The crane then picked the unit using a custom spreader bar provided by the manufacturer. From there, the crew lowered the front end of the unit onto rollers and the back end onto the forks of a 60k Versa-Lift. They were then able to push the unit into place and use jacks to bring it down onto pads.

Ancillary Support: At one point midproject, the customer had an issue with a specialized machine component and the entire operation faced a work stoppage. The IRH team stepped up, calling in their MIST team, who fabricated a custom steel plate with picking eyes so work could resume.

IRH’s crating department also provided added support by designing and building custom crates for the engines and generators as well as temporary doors to close housing cells, protecting the equipment against weather conditions.

Ongoing support: As the project progressed, the scope of work grew and the customer has entrusted the IRH team to support the commissioning of engines under their supervision, as well.

Going Above and Beyond to Deliver Exceptional Industrial Rigging Services

While the project is still underway, the bulk of the tasks have been completed and the project is currently nine months ahead of schedule. The IRH crew’s proactive approach and ability to handle extra work outside the original scope has proven vital to maintaining timelines and has transformed a potential project bottleneck into a demonstration of adaptability.

Safety-First Machinery Rigging

The customer has been extremely appreciative of IRH’s services. In particular, the customer praised the IRH team for their use of safety signage, saying the well-placed signs made all the difference.

“Props to IRH. It’s little things like this that can have a big effect on culture.”

As the project continues, the team looks forward to this continued partnership and the extended opportunity to deliver exceptional services.