New crane is underway
The cylindrical support base for the crane was manoeuvered into place with skilful handling of the Wise machine by Peter Staff and his team. The base weighed 1.6 tonnes and needed a lot of careful thought and planning to move into position without incident.
Read on to see how the base structure to support the crane was constructed.
Work to create a base for the club's new hydraulic crane is completed. First the levels had to be reduced which involved a team with a digger and dumpers making a very large hole in the lower end of Hooker's Dock. Then the technical bit - eight galvanised screw piles were inserted using a digger with a special torque attachment. A metal cage of steel reinforcement was constructed around the tops of the piles. This took a team of six members two days to complete. Finally with a team of dumpers and a lot of manpower, 29 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the void to create a solid base.
The base was designed by Club member and structural engineer Steve Hooper, who has been keeping a close eye on the project all week. 
Other members who have put in many hours of work are Alan McDine, Steve Pitman, Mike Jury, Allan Castle, Ray Capp, Michael Keen, John Harvey, Vernon Taylor.
The site is now ready for installation of electrics and finally the delivery of the crane.
