Lifting and Construction

A Government Flying Service pilot remarked recently that if there was no such thing as a helicopter, it would have to be invented for Hong Kong.

The truth of this comment could not be made clearer than by the wide range of lifting and construction services offered by Heliservices: services that would be prohibitively expensive – or even impossible – without the helicopter.

Hong Kong's mountainous territory and many scattered islands pose special problems for the construction industry and the civil engineer. Without the helicopter, for instance, it would be necessary to build dedicated access roads to deliver equipment and materials to many new work sites, even for facilities that do not need permanent on-site staff, such as remotely-operated radio transmitter stations. A similar situation would apply to the construction of power lines across the hillsides. Our expertise, coupled with the many thousands of hours of experience of our pilots, turn the impossible into the routine.

 

After delivering construction equipment to a site, the helicopter can assist in its assembly and erection. It will then deliver materials and other supplies, and even the workers themselves when it is impractical for them to make their own way to the location.

A good example of Heliservices' special expertise is that of electricity pylon construction. First the foundation-digging gantry is flown in and assembled. Next ready-mixed concrete is flown in in a kibble and released by the workers as the helicopter hovers above them, just as if they were using a conventional crane. When this work is completed, a derrick is flown in.

Once the lower end of the derrick has been attached to a base plate, the other end is attached to the helicopter by a short line and the helicopter takes off in an arc to lift the derrick into position. Once the derrick is vertical, the helicopter hovers to hold it in place while the ground crew fix and adjust the securing cables.

In many instances, the tubes forming the lower leg sections of the pylon are flown in from a nearby temporary materials depot suspended from a chain. In one smooth operation, the pilot manoeuvres the lower end of the tube over its foundation hole and then descends until the tube reaches the bottom of the hole. The ground crew unclip the chain and the pilot immediately flies off to pick up the next leg section from the temporary depot.

Heliservices' former General Manager, John Simler, tells the story of a contractor who needed to lift a compressor a short distance up a hill to a microwave station. The contractor set up an elaborate and expensive system of lifts and pulleys, but the compressor was too heavy for this to handle. Heliservices was called in and in less than thirty seconds had lifted the compressor into place. Mr Simler estimates that the money the contractor spent on the useless pulley system would have bought thirty hours of flying time and a total lifting capacity of 400 tons of material.

Crew Training

Before a contractor can take advantage of the unique capabilities of the helicopter, his workers must be appropriately trained. A full training course is provided free of charge by Heliservices and it also sends one of its own loadmasters to supervise the contractor's staff on every job.

In addition to crew training and supervision, Heliservices will help the contractor find and set up a suitable temporary helipad and also advise him on the most efficient way to organise his loads to reduce flying time.

Heliservices has more than 20 years and some 30,000 flying hours experience in lifting work in Hong Kong. Our pilots are fast, efficient and safe. All have logged thousands of hours conducting lifting work.

For further information related to your particular needs, or to make bookings, please phone our Operations Department on 2488 1658/9, fax 2488 0086, or contact us by email.