Deep overhangs and awkward soffits on buildings can cause a dilemma when trying to install glass, but these troublesome areas pose no problem for GGR and our arsenal of lifting gear, as was expertly demonstrated on this glazing job at a house in Oxford.

A 3 tonne capacity UNIC URW-506 mini spider crane fitted with a GL-UMC600 Glazing Manipulator Head was hired to fit windows on two levels at this newly constructed private home which featured some deep soffits. As this compact crane has hard-wearing tracks and flexible outriggers, it could safely work on the site’s uneven ground.

The crane’s boom could lift each panel to the low angle needed to reach underneath the soffits and the GL-UMC600 robotic attachment precisely manipulated each glass unit into place. Able to rotate loads by 95°, swivel left and right by 40° and tilt by 120°, the accurate movements of this robotic head are controlled by a radio remote control. With the crane working at a 10 metre radius, the 434kg glass panels were fitted into their final position by men on the scaffold who used hand cups to make the last few tweaks.

The UNIC URW-506 mini crane has taken on other tricky glazing challenges for private homes using Hydraulica vacuum lifters to handle larger panes of glass, such as working from the rooftop of a house in London’s exclusive Belgravia neighbourhood and fitting glazed panels to the walls of Sheikh Khalifa’s luxury swimming pool at his palace in the UAE. For working around obstructions on building façades at higher levels, GGR’s range of Libro overhang beams provide a practical alternative solution.