Scanclimber giant takes on the Eiffel Tower

Scanclimber has produced what it describes as the biggest transport platform in the world. It is being used to supply materials and equipment to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, which is undergoing €20 million renovation work.

Rebuilding the pavilion on the first floor of Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower is no mean feat, particularly as the available work area is small and access for equipment, materials and personnel is extremely limited.

Scanclimber’s custom-designed SC8000 Eiffel Transport Platform is being used as a work area at first floor level, as well as a transport device.

Bateg, the main contractor for the project, is renting the transport platform and a separate lift for personnel from France-based mast climbing specialist Sky Access. The hoist is a SC2032F model used in the refurbishment of the Eiffel Tower’s first floor restaurant in 2008 and 2009

The original idea was to use a smaller platform to carry out the work on one side of the Eiffel Tower, then transfer it the other side for the second half of the project. “But we realise it would be faster and easier to use the one platform with a ramp on either side,” Jean-Eudes Henry, Bateg’s construction engineer for the development.

Following intense negotiations with the City of Paris, it was decided that a larger platform could carry out all the work while meeting emissions and aesthetic requirements.

A majority of the platform is made from standard components, which drove down the potential cost and production time. It is based on standard twin mast Scanclimber SC8000 mast climbing work platform, which offers 8000 kg of capacity at 15.8 m in length and 1000 kg at its maximum 46.2 m length.

These dimensions were not enough to satisfy the project, so Sky Access and Scanclimber came up with a solution to use two twin mast SC8000’s with an additional middle platform extension placed between them. This provided a 24 x 6.5 m floor area and 9 tonnes of capacity.

For more on this project and the Scanclimber platform see the feature in January/February 2013 issue of Access International – out soon.