Air rising @OTAGT

The construction of one of the largest cooled propane tanks in Europe has entered a new stage. On Wednesday 20/05, the roof was brought to its final position by means of air rising.

Last summer, the consortium made up of Engicon nv (Geldof) and BAM Contractors was appointed to build a fully cooled propane tank in the port of Antwerp. Commissioned by Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal, the tank will ultimately be made available to Borealis.

The complete structure consists of a steel inner tank and a concrete outer jacket with a diameter of 83 meters.  To top it all off: a steel roof with suspended deck, which was pre-assembled and finished inside of the tank.

The roof and deck, with a combined weight of 930 tons, were brought to their final position by means of an air rising operation: both were lifted about 32.3 m with the help of blowers.  The speed of such an operation is +/- 200 mm / minute, which means that the entire operation took about 3 hours.

At the top, 20 welders waited to weld the roof to a profile that was pre-poured into the concrete shell.

May 25th, 2020