Efficiency improvements drive progress at Hinkley Point C

The world’s largest land-based crane, Big Carl, lifted the second of three massive containment rings from the bunker it was constructed in to a lay-down area close by.

Now being prepared for the final lift into the first reactor building, the 17m-tall ring with a diameter of 47m was built 36% faster than the first by teams using the experience gained during the construction of the first ring.

The prefabricated steel ring was constructed by Bylor – a Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues TP joint venture, and their Tier 2 Contractor Tissot. The steel ring forms part of the reinforced cylinder around the nuclear reactor and was constructed in factory conditions – one of the innovations to improve quality on the Hinkley Point C project. Prefabrication inside these bunkers reduces the need to work at height or in bad weather and the work can be completed and checked in a controlled setting.

Big Carl will lift more than 500 prefabricated steel and concrete elements weighing up to 1,600 tonnes.

"Our belief that we can do things better drives innovation at Hinkley Point C. As we build the first UK European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) we are learning and improving all the time. This is leading to improved productivity as we build Hinkley Point C’s twin reactors. We will use that experience to underpin our plans for two more identical reactors at Sizewell C.”

STUART CROOKS
HINKLEY POINT C MANAGING DIRECTOR

Liner ring two in numbers…

• Diameter: 47 metres
• Height: 17 metres
• Lifted weight: 308 tonnes
• Length of welds: 934 metres.