Data centers may be associated with servers, networking equipment, and digital infrastructure, but behind those systems is an enormous amount of heavy mechanical and electrical equipment.
Generators, transformers, UPS systems, switchgear, chillers, pumps, cooling equipment, batteries, motors, and other critical components all have to be delivered, installed, maintained, and eventually replaced.
Moving this equipment can become particularly challenging once a data center is operational. Forklifts may have limited access, permanent overhead cranes may not exist, and bringing a mobile crane close enough to the equipment may be impossible.
A portable aluminum gantry crane can provide another option by creating a temporary overhead lifting point exactly where technicians and contractors need it.
For data center construction, expansion, equipment replacement, and ongoing facility maintenance, this combination of lifting capacity and portability can be extremely valuable.
Data Centers Contain More Heavy Equipment Than You Might Think
The server racks may receive most of the attention, but a data center’s supporting infrastructure is what keeps those servers operating.
Depending on the facility, heavy equipment can include:
- Emergency backup generators
- UPS systems
- Transformers
- Switchgear
- Chillers
- Cooling towers
- Heat exchangers
- Industrial pumps
- Electric motors
- Battery systems
- Power distribution equipment
- Air handling and cooling equipment
Many of these components can weigh hundreds or thousands of pounds.
That creates a machinery-moving challenge both when the data center is originally constructed and years later when equipment needs to be repaired, upgraded, or replaced.
Why Portable Gantry Cranes Make Sense for Data Centers
A mobile crane is an excellent lifting solution when equipment can be accessed from outside the building. A forklift is equally useful when machinery is located in an open area with sufficient floor space.
Neither solution works everywhere.
Once equipment is inside a data center, access may be restricted by walls, electrical systems, piping, server infrastructure, security barriers, raised floors, cable trays, mechanical equipment, and other permanent installations.
A portable aluminum gantry crane can often be transported into the facility in individual components and assembled near the equipment requiring service.
Instead of trying to bring a large lifting machine to the load, the lifting structure itself can be brought into the work area.
Installing Heavy Equipment During Data Center Construction
Construction is one of the best opportunities to plan for heavy equipment handling.
Generators, electrical equipment, transformers, cooling systems, pumps, and other machinery must be positioned before the facility becomes fully operational.
Mobile cranes may handle many large exterior lifts, while forklifts and telehandlers can transport equipment through accessible portions of the construction site.
However, there is often a point where equipment must be precisely positioned inside a mechanical or electrical space.
A gantry crane can provide controlled lifting directly above the installation location.
This can be especially useful when machinery needs to be:
- Raised from a pallet or machinery skate
- Lowered onto a foundation
- Positioned over anchor bolts
- Aligned with piping
- Moved into a restricted mechanical space
- Positioned where a forklift cannot safely approach
Planning for Maintenance Before the Data Center Opens
One important consideration during data center design and construction is how heavy equipment will eventually be replaced.
Installing a 3,000-pound component during construction may be relatively straightforward when walls are open and large equipment has unrestricted access.
Replacing that same component ten years later can be an entirely different project.
By that time, the facility may be fully operational and filled with electrical systems, cooling equipment, security infrastructure, piping, cable trays, and other equipment.
Facility designers and operators should consider future lifting and equipment-removal paths when planning mechanical and electrical rooms.
A portable gantry system can also be incorporated into the facility’s long-term maintenance strategy.
Replacing UPS Systems and Electrical Equipment
Uninterruptible Power Supply systems are a critical component of data center infrastructure.
UPS equipment helps maintain power to critical loads during interruptions and provides time for backup generation systems to respond.
As data centers age or expand, UPS equipment and related electrical components may need to be serviced, upgraded, or replaced.
The challenge is that these systems are often located inside electrical rooms where forklift access is limited or impossible.
A portable gantry crane can potentially be positioned over or adjacent to the equipment, allowing technicians to lift the component and transfer it onto properly rated machinery-moving equipment.
When the available space is unusually restricted, EC&MW can also develop custom aluminum gantry cranes around specific dimensional and lifting requirements.
Transformer and Switchgear Installation
Transformers and switchgear can present similar challenges.
Large electrical equipment frequently needs to be placed precisely within electrical rooms while maintaining clearances from walls, panels, conduit, and adjacent equipment.
EC&MW has experience designing lifting systems for transformer handling and other specialized electrical applications.
Our custom workstation crane for transformer handling is an example of how a lifting system can be engineered around the specific dimensions and workflow of an electrical equipment application.
In a data center environment, the same principle applies: sometimes the most important specification isn’t maximum capacity. It is whether the crane can physically reach and safely position the equipment.
Gantry Cranes for Data Center Cooling Systems
Cooling infrastructure is another major area where portable lifting equipment can be useful.
Data centers generate substantial amounts of heat, making cooling systems critical to continuous operation.
Depending on the facility design, this equipment may include:
- Chillers
- Cooling towers
- Pumps
- Heat exchangers
- Air handling equipment
- Motors
- Compressors
- Fans and fan assemblies
EC&MW aluminum gantries are already used in applications involving rooftop chillers, HVAC equipment, pumps, motors, and heavy machinery, making data center mechanical systems a natural application for portable gantry cranes.
Replacing Large Data Center Pumps
Industrial pumps are particularly well suited to gantry crane applications.
A pump may be surrounded by piping and installed on a foundation that prevents a forklift from getting underneath it.
Maintenance personnel may need to disconnect the pump, lift it vertically off its base, move it clear of the piping, and lower it onto machinery skates or another transport system.
A gantry crane positioned above the equipment can provide the lifting point required to complete this process.
EC&MW manufactures T-Frame aluminum gantry cranes that can be particularly useful for pumps, motors, gearboxes, valves, tanks, and other equipment where a traditional A-Frame configuration may not fit the work area.
Replacing Generators and Generator Components
Backup generators are another critical component of data center infrastructure.
Depending on the facility, generator systems may be positioned outdoors, within dedicated generator rooms, or in purpose-built enclosures.
A mobile crane may be the appropriate solution for complete generator installation or replacement when there is sufficient exterior access.
However, maintenance involving individual generator components may require a smaller and more precise lifting solution.
Portable gantries can be useful for removing or positioning motors, alternators, pumps, cooling components, and other heavy assemblies when the application falls within the crane’s engineered capacity and configuration.
Working Around Existing Electrical Infrastructure
One of the biggest challenges in an operational data center is that the lifting environment cannot necessarily be changed to accommodate the crane.
Electrical cabinets cannot simply be moved. Walls cannot always be removed. Conduit, cable trays, piping, and active equipment may need to remain operational.
This is where custom gantry engineering becomes particularly valuable.
EC&MW has previously designed industrial gantry cranes around extremely limited floor space and immovable electrical panels.
For example, a custom 8,000-pound aluminum gantry crane was engineered with inward-sloping legs specifically to clear energized electrical panels while positioning the crane over the required load.
While that particular project involved a nuclear facility rather than a data center, the engineering challenge is highly relevant: sometimes the building cannot accommodate a standard crane, so the crane must be engineered to accommodate the building.
Moving Equipment Through Doorways and Restricted Areas
Another advantage of aluminum gantries is portability.
A fully assembled crane may not fit through a data center doorway, but the gantry does not necessarily need to enter the building fully assembled.
EC&MW’s portable designs can be transported in components and assembled at the lifting location.
For particularly restricted environments, removable-leg aluminum gantries can reduce the size and weight of the individual components that need to be transported through the facility.
This can be valuable when accessing:
- Electrical rooms
- Mechanical rooms
- Generator rooms
- Cooling equipment areas
- Basements
- Elevated equipment floors
- Restricted maintenance corridors
Protecting Expensive Data Center Equipment
Heavy lifting inside a data center requires more than simply supporting the weight of the load.
The surrounding environment can contain extremely valuable and mission-critical equipment.
Before any lift, the complete path and work area should be evaluated for nearby:
- Electrical equipment
- Server infrastructure
- Overhead cable trays
- Piping
- Fire suppression systems
- Raised flooring
- Walls and doorways
- Other operating machinery
The floor must also be capable of supporting the crane, load, and resulting forces associated with the lift.
All lifting operations should be planned and performed by qualified personnel using properly rated equipment and rigging.
Data Center Expansion Creates New Lifting Challenges
Many data centers expand over time.
Additional computing capacity can require additional electrical distribution, backup generation, UPS capacity, cooling equipment, pumps, and other supporting infrastructure.
Installing that equipment inside an existing operational facility is significantly different from installing it during initial construction.
Contractors may need to perform heavy lifts without disrupting adjacent systems or taking critical portions of the facility offline.
A portable gantry can provide a temporary lifting system that is brought in for the project and removed when the installation is complete.
Why Custom Gantry Cranes Make Sense for Data Centers
Data center facilities can vary considerably in layout, equipment, ceiling height, floor design, and maintenance requirements.
A standard gantry crane may work perfectly for one facility and be several inches too wide or too tall for another.
EC&MW specializes in custom aluminum gantry cranes engineered around specific lifting applications.
Custom requirements can involve:
- Specific lifting capacities
- Custom beam lengths
- Restricted overall widths
- Unusual Height Under Beam requirements
- Special leg configurations
- Adjustable heights
- Special caster configurations
- Restricted transportation dimensions
- Specialized hoist or winch configurations
EC&MW has even designed custom gantries around unusual facility safety requirements. One custom crane manufactured for Intel incorporated customer-supplied jacks into the height-adjustment system to accommodate specific employee lifting restrictions at the facility.
Planning a Gantry Crane for a Data Center
Before selecting a crane for data center construction or maintenance, gather as much information about the application as possible.
Important considerations include:
- Maximum equipment weight
- Equipment dimensions
- Available ceiling height
- Required Height Under Beam
- Required crane span
- Available floor space
- Floor loading limitations
- Doorway dimensions
- Elevator dimensions and capacities
- Location of electrical panels
- Location of piping and cable trays
- Required hoist and trolley
- How the equipment will be transported after lifting
- Whether the gantry needs to be moved while loaded
The lifting capacity is important, but it is only one part of selecting the correct crane.
Portable Lifting Solutions for Modern Data Centers
As data centers become larger and more complex, maintaining the mechanical and electrical infrastructure supporting them becomes increasingly important.
Generators, UPS systems, transformers, chillers, pumps, motors, and electrical equipment will eventually need to be installed, serviced, upgraded, or replaced.
When a forklift cannot reach the equipment and a mobile crane cannot access the building, a portable aluminum gantry crane can provide an alternative lifting solution.
EC&MW has manufactured portable aluminum gantry cranes since 1997 and offers more than 250 standard models as well as custom-engineered configurations for specialized industrial applications.
If you’re planning a data center construction project, expansion, equipment upgrade, or maintenance program, explore EC&MW aluminum gantry cranes or view our custom gantry projects to see how a portable lifting system can be engineered around your facility.
Don’t try to make the building fit the crane. EC&MW can help engineer the crane to fit the building.
