We received a request to visit Queens Square Imaging Centre in London to assess the removal route and calculate the costs for the removal of a GE 450 MRI.
The MRI was located in the lower ground floor and access was via a narrow alley enclosed between two buildings. The alley had a height restriction and consisted of a 30 meter descent into a small courtyard. Inside the building, the magnet had to be lifted in order to skate it through a plant room and then lowered back to ground level outside before being moved through the courtyard.
Normally such a project would have been relatively simple, we could arrange a road closure, traffic management and provide a crane for lifting the magnet from the courtyard area once we had pushed it outside the building. On this occasion however the costs were prohibitive, and we had to investigate other methods of removing the system.
It was decided that the only safe alternative was to jack and skate the 5500kgs magnet from where it was situated, over a total of 50mtr using tirfor winches in the courtyard and an electrical winch anchored within a truck at the top of the ramp to pull the magnet up the 30mtr incline. Once at street level the magnet could then be loaded by tail lift.
After the initial site visit we made two additional visits to site with the customer to ensure all advance preparations would be in place and therefore on the weekend of removal there would be no unexpected surprises.
The process was labour intensive but by doing it this way we provided the customer with a safe removal that fitted within their budget.
