Data Center New Construction

PROJECT FACTS

Date of project: December 2023
Location of project: Douglasville, GA
Project: Data Center New Construction
Equipment Used: 900-ton Mobile Crane

MEI specializes in data center new construction, maintenance, and expansion projects. Understanding there is no time for down-time or failure on data center projects is not taken lightly. The MEI Atlanta crew was brought on to a data center new construction project to install four UPS units weighing 95,000 lb. each. This project was on a tight timeline. Partnering with All Crane, MEI utilized a 900-ton mobile crane and our crew only had 5 days to have this crane on-site due to there only being two cranes of this size East of the Mississippi River.

Data Center Supply Chain Issues Arise 

Despite planning and scheduling months ahead of time, supply chain issues arose, and the UPS units were delayed for six months. However, on-site data center construction continued, which lead to the pick-plan and crane footprint needing to be altered from the original plan. The need for the 900-ton crane came into play due to the furthest UPS unit pick becoming 135 ft. from the crane.

After the 6-month delay, the UPS units then arrived two days ahead of scheduled arrival date. To ensure the customer did not incur costs for two days of equipment sitting, our MEI team worked with ALL Crane to change the schedule and get the 900-ton mobile crane on the job site two days ahead of time.

Data Center Rigging In Action

Our MEI Atlanta team rigged all four UPS units in one day utilizing rigging tools including spreader bars, rolling blocks, and steel slings, to ensure the UPS units were lifted without damage and remained level during the pick. However, an issue arose where the bases of the UPS units were different than those previously installed. The anchor bolts had already been set on the concrete columns and would not fit, so the team was instructed to cut the anchor bolts out and push the UPS units off the building. However, this caused misalignment with other equipment because the UPS units were 16 inches off the building. Once the job was complete, MEI was contacted again by the data center general contractor and asked to come back to align all the equipment 2 inches off the building like the original plan. Our team went out the next day and re-set the UPS units to customer satisfaction.

Reacting quickly, tackling obstacles, and saving customers from incurring unwanted costs is the MEI commitment to our customers. MEI is always able to adapt to new plans and execute the job in a timely manner.

MEI Rigging & Crating has set 60+ pieces of equipment to-date at this data center new construction site.