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Datrys were engaged to provide structural engineering for a double bridge beam gantry crane at Building 369, CERN. The crane supports ongoing upgrade works, handling equipment with a safe working load of 5,000 kg.
A cantilevered maintenance walkway allows safe access for engineers, while tight spatial constraints required careful control of deflection to avoid encroachment into the designated operational clearance zone beneath the crane.
Risk: Careful design minimized risks in tight spatial constraints.
Compliance: Design fully complied with EN 13001 and EN 15011 standards.
Technical: Advanced modelling ensured precise control of crane deflection.
Datrys undertook the structural analysis and section design. Initial modelling using CADS A3D Max calculated deflections, bending moments, and shear forces.
Results were verified through detailed hand calculations to ensure compliance with ultimate and fatigue limit state requirements. The crane was designed according to EN 13001-1, EN 13001-2, EN 13001-3-1, and EN 15011.
The design required close collaboration to manage torsional effects and connection detailing.
The crane features two 610 UB bridge beams tapering at either end to connect to 250 RHS end carriages. Stiffener plates were added at the tapered ends to increase local stiffness and improve fatigue performance.
The cantilevered walkway was fixed directly to the bottom flange and web of the bridge beams, introducing additional torsional loading that was carefully accounted for in the design to ensure serviceability.
Connection details were coordinated with the Mona Group to ensure practicality and compliance with the design standard.
The crane was successfully fabricated, installed, and load-tested by Mona Group, confirming the design’s performance. It now operates daily, supporting CERN’s upgrade works.
Experience from this project supported further development of our crane analysis workflow, including the adoption of Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis for enhanced torsion and fatigue modelling.
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