Straightpoint Wireless Load Shackles Installed at Royal Opera House

Straightpoint Wireless Load Shackles Installed at Royal Opera House Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop

 A dozen Straightpoint wireless load shackles have been installed by Rigging Services in the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop where scenic artists and craftspeople create the stunning sets and scenery for the world-famous Royal Opera House in London. The Production Workshop is located at High House Production Park, a centre of excellence for the creative industries in Purfleet, Essex.
The Rigging Services-branded load shackles are 3.25t capacity and feature bespoke multiple wireless load cell controller (SW-MWLC) software. They are installed on 12 overhead cranes, which travel on gantries and I-beams that cover the entire floorspace.

The load shackle installation represents a landmark project for both Rigging Services and Straightpoint. The Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop is a state of the art, purpose-built facility and home to scenic painters, carpenters and metalworkers. Here they make the designers' visions into reality, creating the many different sets that appear in the ballet and operas performed on the stages of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Bob Dean, national sales manager at Rigging Services, said: “The key requirement for the workshop was to ensure they didn’t overload hoists, which are a copy of those at the Royal Opera House, moving and turning the huge variety of set pieces and scenery for performances at one of the most iconic entertainment venues in the world.”

Previously, workshop personnel operated individually the 12 cranes with pendant controls but the capacity of the hoists were greater than at the Royal Opera House. This had the potential to cause build problems. Monitoring loads particularly in dynamic situations was a requirement. A useful addition is the ability to operate some or all of the hoists from one point which is much better from an H&S standpoint, as is being able to remove easily damaged individual pendants from the working area.

The team at Purfleet now has the capacity to safely record scenery weights and distribution as well as test for flying safety and behaviour. In short, it is safer and more flexible.

The load shackles are lightweight and manufactured from Crosby high carbon steel shackles. The SW-MWLC software allows simultaneous, wireless communication between the units and a personal computer, on which a resizable window displays a table of live data from up to 100 Straightpoint load cells. It is capable of displaying the value from a single load cell or the sum of multiple load cells, for example, which is suited to the nature of lifting at the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop.

Straightpoint director David Ayling said: “The entertainment industry is an area of growing interest for us, with the potential for applications to utilise load monitoring technology demonstrated by this installation for the Royal Opera House workshop. Using the SW-MWLC software, they can use a single hoist and receive accurate load information or operate all 12 simultaneously and be equally well informed about the lifting operation. The system is great for measuring and data logging dynamic loads as well as static weighing and monitoring due to its real time logging ability and high speed data rates between the load cells and the PC.”

The system notifies the operator when a hoist is close to capacity so they can address the situation prior to any overload situation occurring. Royal Opera House staff were present during the installation and test of the system during which Rigging Services and Straightpoint representatives outlined its extensive capabilities.

Ayling concluded: “It was rewarding to leave the load shackles and software in the capable hands of Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop personnel having already seen them experimenting with the system and rehearsing the different scenarios their operations may encounter. I am increasingly excited about the potential for our equipment in the entertainment sector.”