IN Brief:
- The first of 11 GH Cranes units has arrived from Spain for installation by Sheffield-based PLS.
- The package includes cranes with capacities up to 250/50 tonnes and a 400-tonne tandem lifting beam.
- Remaining deliveries are planned at weekly intervals, with the full package onsite by year-end.
Sheffield Forgemasters has received the first of 11 overhead cranes for its new machine shop, beginning installation of the permanent lifting systems needed to assemble machinery and handle ultra-heavy components.
The crane was manufactured by GH Cranes in Spain and will be installed by Sheffield-based Professional Lifting Services. The remaining units are in production, with deliveries intended to continue at approximately weekly intervals until the complete package is onsite by the end of 2026.
The first delivery is one of two cranes with 150/40-tonne capacity. The wider package includes four service cranes rated at 200/40 tonnes and five cranes with 250/50-tonne capacity.
A tandem lifting beam will allow combined lifts of up to 400 tonnes. The cranes will span up to 35 metres and operate within the new machining facility at Weedon Street.
Permanent equipment now drives construction sequencing
The units are being introduced after installation of the crane rails and electrical feeds. They will become the first operational equipment inside the new machine shop and will be used during assembly of the major machine tools arriving later in the programme.
Harry McClean, project manager at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “The cranes are the first working elements of the new machine shop following installation of crane rails and electricity feeds and will be operational and in use as we work to assemble the new machines when they arrive.”
The sequence makes the overhead cranes part of the construction method as well as the finished manufacturing operation. Large vertical turning lathes and associated equipment cannot be brought into the building as complete machines; principal components must be lifted, positioned, and assembled within the hall.
Crane installation must therefore be coordinated with cladding, building services, temporary access, working platforms, machine bases, floor loadings, and delivery routes. Each unit also requires rail alignment, power integration, controls, braking, limits, testing, and certification before it can support machinery installation.
GH Cranes secured the contract following competition with four other manufacturers. The company was appointed to design and supply the full overhead-crane package, with Professional Lifting Services responsible for installation.
The main construction project is being delivered by McLaughlin & Harvey under a £210m contract. The 30,000 sq m building occupies a 16-acre brownfield site and is planned to house 24 major machines, including some of the world’s largest vertical turning lathes.
Earlier enabling and advanced works included piling, machine-base foundations, drainage, and storm-water attenuation. The steel frame began assembly in January and has since reached its topping-out milestone, allowing the programme to move towards cladding, permanent equipment, and internal infrastructure.
The crane package was originally procured before the current main-works specification was finalised. Earlier project material referred to a 35,000 sq m concept and 17 machines, while the current construction contract defines a 30,000 sq m building containing 24 machines. The latest project configuration is used for the construction description.
The machine shop forms part of Sheffield Forgemasters’ £1.3bn recapitalisation programme under Ministry of Defence ownership. A new 13,000-tonne forging line is also under construction, creating an integrated route between large forgings and finished machined components.
The facilities are intended to support UK defence manufacturing, including submarine programmes, while increasing domestic capacity for large, high-integrity components. The construction work is therefore closely tied to production capability rather than being a conventional speculative industrial building.
Heavy crane commissioning carries risks that are invisible once the equipment enters routine use. Structural and rail tolerances, hook approach, electrical protection, emergency systems, tandem synchronisation, and proof-load testing must all be completed before the cranes can lift machine components safely.
The rolling delivery programme also requires protected storage and installation zones inside a building where other trades remain active. A crane arriving each week will place pressure on haulage planning, lifting access, laydown space, and the handover of completed sections of rail and services.
The arrival is a separate stage from the earlier structural topping out. The building frame created the envelope; the crane package begins converting that structure into an operating industrial facility designed around machinery, lifting paths, and production flow.
Further crane deliveries will provide visible evidence of progress, but the significant milestone will be commissioning. Until the rails, power, controls, and lifting systems have been tested, the machine shop remains a building awaiting the equipment that gives it purpose.
