1 Tonne Beam Help

[Smirnoff69]

Hi Everyone,

I am putting an extension on my house (3 bed Semi) and we are opening up the back of the house to make it open plan. The steel calculations have come back and I have to put in a 8 m 305 x 305 118 Universal column which is 1 tonne in weight.

My problem is the restricted access I have to get round the back of my house only 800 mm gap down side of the house due to neighbours existing extension.

I am wanting some advice on the best way to get this beam into place safely. (I have enquired about a crane but when they came out to inspect they said it would be very difficult to get the size of crane required to go over the house into the road as not much access at front and it would involve blocking off road etc)

I have had it delivered and have managed to move it down the side of the house using rollers, scaffold boards and a hand winch.

My Plan now is to get some help to move it into place up against the wall to be removed before getting the extension water tight and supporting the wall with acrows and strong boys/needles.

Then I was going to get 3 S10 genie lifts and use them to get the beam up into places before supporting it with more acrows and the columns which it will stand on.

Any help/advice would be gratefully appreciated as everyone I seem to speak to just laugh at the size and just say good luck.

 

[kev25v6]

Could you use an engine crane or 2 to lift and move it around?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Could you use an engine crane or 2 to lift and move it around?

Please video it if you do.

 

[Smirnoff69]

Could you use an engine crane or 2 to lift and move it around?

It's not the moving it into position for the wall I'm too concerned about as I might be able to get hold of a manual hydraulic forklift and with the man power we should be able to get it in position nest to the wall, its the getting it up safe I'm worried about. Good idea with the engine crane tho.

 

[JohnD]

Maybe scaffolders could build you a frame suitable for running pulleys or a winch.

Otherwise a crane from the front, to lift it over the house. Might cost a bit.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

If you've got overhead clearance then some sort of scaff frame and 2 or 3 tirfors or manual chain hoists would be the best bet. Tricky bit with that method is swinging the thing in to position (if there's a wall 10mm above it then the slings will foul).

You could make like the Egyptians (4m scaff poles, pivot point 400mm from one end, short end under RSJ, heave, chuck blocks under lifted RSJ, lift pivot point, repeat) but it would be really really time consuming and a bit scary above a metre (on a stack of loose blocks....).

You could try the above but use some sort of triangle scaff arrangement to supply the pivot point and the support....... thinking on, if it was my place I'd build a scaff frame (probably ladder beam for the verticals and top bar of the 'goalpost' and loads of triangle bracing for rigidity. Use my tirfors or chain blocks to get the Beast slightly above the required height. Set 3 or 4 near horizontal tubes running through the gap (at 90 degrees to the beam), measured so tops of the tubes are a few mm above top of padstones. Lower the Beast onto the horizontal tubes. Slide the thing into place. EITHER use long levers to lift the Beast so it is tight to the wall above, pack between padstones and Beast OR use long levers to lift the Beast, remove horizontal tubes, relax levers so Beast sits on padstones, pack above Beast between it and wall it is supporting.

I'll try and sketch some of this if it sounds applicable- much more interesting challenge than my other homework for tonight (how to safely replace a knackered timber lintel above the front door- lintel is supporting soldier course, not sure if there are 2 lintels (full brick wall) or one retired railway sleeper in there, probably not a sleeper since the place predates trains but the thought still applies. Really don't want to have to shift the MASSIVE porch effort outside the front door.....)

 

[^woody^]

Lol. What a beam. Was it a proper engineer?

Can't you use two beams instead?

 

[Mattatooi]

You got any photos of where you are trying to put it and what clearance you have around it?

 

[Doggit]

I think Woodys got a very valid point; as most single skin walls tend to be about 11", it almost sounds as the the structural engineer as just decided that you need a 305 deep beam, so let's make it was wide as the wall, whereas 2 beams would have been more manageable, or a narrower beam would have been sufficient, with a steel plate in sections, placed above the beam. Can the beam be cut, and then welded with a reinforcing plate after it's in place. If it doesn't need to be was wide, can it be narrowed by a welder.

You're very likely going to have to do this one end at a time, and build a supporting pier as you go, but you'll need to go back to the engineer to get him to work out the pier size. Essentially, you all lift one side, and slide a couple of blocks under it, then go to the other end, lift, and slide 4 blocks under the beam, then back to the first end, and keep lifting it stage by stage, but you're piers have to be solid, and damned stable. You may also need to construct a wedge system using acrows to sop it shifting sideways - take an 8ft scaffold board, and fit blocks at each end, then angle the acrows into the beam so that it's held in place as it goes up. If you use 2 piers at each end, and you can use a 2 tonne jack on one pier to make the lift, and then increase the height of the second pier.

 

[Smirnoff69]

I think Woodys got a very valid point; as most single skin walls tend to be about 11", it almost sounds as the the structural engineer as just decided that you need a 305 deep beam, so let's make it was wide as the wall, whereas 2 beams would have been more manageable, or a narrower beam would have been sufficient, with a steel plate in sections, placed above the beam. Can the beam be cut, and then welded with a reinforcing plate after it's in place. If it doesn't need to be was wide, can it be narrowed by a welder.

You're very likely going to have to do this one end at a time, and build a supporting pier as you go, but you'll need to go back to the engineer to get him to work out the pier size. Essentially, you all lift one side, and slide a couple of blocks under it, then go to the other end, lift, and slide 4 blocks under the beam, then back to the first end, and keep lifting it stage by stage, but you're piers have to be solid, and damned stable. You may also need to construct a wedge system using acrows to sop it shifting sideways - take an 8ft scaffold board, and fit blocks at each end, then angle the acrows into the beam so that it's held in place as it goes up. If you use 2 piers at each end, and you can use a 2 tonne jack on one pier to make the lift, and then increase the height of the second pier.

Unfortunately I went back to the engineer (real one, recommended by building inspector) when the size of the beam came back but because the beam will have 2 existing beams going into it (One supporting the gable end of the house) he said the loads were too much for 2 beams so it had to be this big and also it was not possible to cut/splice and then weld bolt together onsite.

I have put on a couple of pics below and tried to show where the beam will go and also where the 2 existing beams are. I am going to remove the wall on the left where the arrow is so will have minimal access above that side. I have also put on a pic of the Beam (next to it is the baby 6m lintel for above bifolds).

Thanks
For all help (really is needed and appreciated!)

 

[tony1851]

Slightly off-topic, but this is another instance of an SE not really giving a proper engineering solution. A chimpanzee could probably pick a beam suitable to carry the load (allowing for stress/deflection etc) but getting it in place?
Perhaps the OP should ask the 'engineer' how he wouldpropose to position this beam, rather than just supplying some figures and then washing his hands of it.
The logical soution here would have been to either (i) detail a bolted splice to have the beam in two sections, or(ii) specify two parallel beams to be bolted or welded together once in position.

 

[tony1851]

he said the loads were too much for 2 beams so it had to be this big and also it was not possible to cut/splice and then weld bolt together onsite.

He has a valid point regarding the high point loads, which would probably rule out having two separate beams. But it would have been perfectly feasible to design and detail a shop-made bolted splice, say about 1/3 along the beam and away from the incoming beams.
As it is, poor engineering IMO.

 

[^woody^]

Perhaps the OP should ask the 'engineer' how he wouldpropose to position this beam, rather than just supplying some figures and then washing his hands of it.

Yes .... CDM would require the designer to think about how his design is going to be carried out. I'd go back to him with that, and see if it concentrates his mind a little more.

 

[Mattatooi]

How did you get on with this?