PTS Group, a non-destructive testing (NDT) specialist based in Stafford, is working with Mammoet, the Netherlands-based heavy lifting and transport company, to support safety, certification and compliance.
The companies have worked together for more than 20 years, and PTS has now started testing and inspecting around 500 items of equipment.
The work will take years to complete and will help Mammoet meet certification, legislative and regulatory requirements across the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Ed Roe, Director at PTS Group, said: “We have begun the huge task of supporting Mammoet in the testing and inspecting of their auxiliary equipment.
“We are thrilled the well-known worldwide company chose PTS to carry out this mammoth task and are hard at work on the project, testing the most critical components first.
“The ongoing quality and maintenance checks on all their auxiliary equipment will help Mammoet to maintain standards and ensure safety going forward while supporting the expansion and continued development of PTS Group as well.
“We will be testing the equipment on site in the yard and workshops at Mammoet’s depot near Stafford using various NDT methods to update certification and continually ensure the quality of the welds.”
PTS is carrying out ultrasonic testing (UT), magnetic particle testing (MPT) and eddy current testing (ECT) for Mammoet, building on years of production and repair work on components used in the company’s heavy-lift equipment.
Recent projects the companies have worked on together include the Lawley Middleway Viaduct in Birmingham for HS2, where Mammoet handled the movement of a 1,631-tonne bridge built at the roadside before being moved into place.
Mark Sadler, Managing Director at Mammoet UK, said: “This ongoing quality and maintenance testing is an important task for us to ensure the quality of our vast auxiliary equipment fleet, and we had no hesitation in choosing PTS Group to complete this project for us.
“Their proximity to our fabrication workshop in Staffordshire provides the perfect location for this vital testing to be mobilised from, and the scope they are completing will ensure that our equipment is safe to use on projects across the range of infrastructure sectors we service.”
Mammoet has broken a series of world records for the heaviest structures lifted and transported. The company engineers, builds and operates a fleet that includes the world’s strongest land-based crane, the SK6000, and more than 4,000 axle lines of self-propelled modular transporters, the global industry standard for heavy transportation, which it co-created in 1983.
PTS Group also works with businesses in the oil and gas, construction and nuclear sectors, among others, carrying out testing from its Stafford base and on sites across the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Bahrain.