Koenen’s historic project started with a lucky find. “In Maastricht there used to be an old double lock in the Julianacanal, which was built in 1936 for the local coal-mining industry, but was too low for modern shipping,” he said.. “While bridges could be built higher, the lock was, in modern times, only used for maintaining the correct water-height in times of high water, and so was due to be demolished.
“In 2015, contractor Besix started work on building a new lock, which included a bridge to replace the road that was part of the old lock, connecting the villages of Itteren and Borgharen. I went to see the pre-fabricated bridge being installed in August 2016.
“During my visit, I noticed a large hoist, hanging on a big beam, in the pump building. A week later I went to see the site manager, whom by coincidence I knew through working as a service engineer at JCB Benelux, and asked him what the plans were for the building and the hoist— he explained that everything was to be scrapped.
“If I wanted the hoist, it was mine—the only catch was that I had to dismantle it myself.
“I’m no stranger to lifting and hoisting so that seemed a great project for me. I always wanted ‘something different’ in my garden and this would be ideal!”
Koenen describes himself as a longterm crane enthusiast; his father used to work at a crane hire company that used Gottwalds, Coles, Neal, Faun and many other different makes of crane. And so, he began the project.
“A few weeks after meeting the manager, I was granted access to the pump building and made an inventory of all the materials I needed to get it out. The hoist was hanging 30ft higher than floor level, and I had no idea as to the total weight.
“At the beginning of November 2016 I gathered the materials I needed—two chain hoists, a large ladder, a generator, electrical tools and so on—and began to dismantle the hoist.
“To start, I took the chain off in two separate parts, secured and lowered by the 1.5t chain hoists. Next was the housing.
The beam from which the hoist was suspended had a large piece cut out— probably to lift the old pumps out via the roof—which gave me the opportunity to slide the hoist off the beam.
“When I was up the ladder, next to the hoist and 9m up, I could take a good look at the size of the hoist for the first time—it is huge. So, with all possible safety measures in mind, I worked out a way to pull the hoist off the beam using one chain hoist, while lowered it with another.
“Firstly, I secured it using a few overrated old straps and when I pulled it sideways, it only fell around two inches into the straps. It was now no longer suspended by the beam but was hanging in the 4t straps. After connected the second 1.5t chain hoist, I lowered it to the ground.”
The process of removing the hoist from the building took a full day, after which Koenen arranged for a wheeled loading shovel to transport the parts up the slope to the road—the pump building was situated around 8m below the level of the road.
Engineer Marcel Koenen has salvaged and restored a hoist from a demolished canal lock
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