Tie Down Technology: Textile Lashing Chains Making Cargo Securement more Efficient at Bay Crane

By Seth Skydel

Safe lifting and safe transportation of heavy items go hand in hand. Securing heavy cargo for transport over roads and across facilities, in fact, can often be as challenging or even more so than preparing items for lift.

At the Bay Crane Companies, those needs are all in a day’s work. The Long Island City, New York-based crane rental and specialized transportation services provider has been meeting the hauling and lifting requirements of its customers since 1939. Today, it operates from facilities in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

In the Bay Crane fleet are Kenworth and Peterbilt heavy- haul and specialized tractors, and a wide range of Fontaine and Doonan, double drop, step deck trailers, as well as Goldhofer modular platform trailers. The company’s crane fleet includes crawler, all-terrain, teleboom crawler, rough terrain, and both truck and rail-mounted cranes.

For Jesse Krum, transportation projects manager at Bay Crane, as important as choosing the right equipment for the haul is choosing the most effective securement devices for loads. Recently, he related, the company has been deploying Doleco textile chains, made of Dyneema webbing material, which can be used as a lashing chain or as a lifting chain. 

“We’ve been using Doleco textile lashing chains to secure heavy cargo, like large transformers, a 762,000-lb. generator and bridge beams,” Krum explained further. “One advantage we’ve found with them is weight savings. With clevis hooks, a 20’ length of the textile chain weighs 15.8 lbs. compared to 57.5 lbs. for a ½” Grade 70 steel chain.

“In addition, the textile chains have a working load limit of 22,000 lbs. compared to about 11,300 lbs. with a Grade 70 steel chain,” Krum continued. “That means each textile chain can often replace two steel chains, and those savings add up when you need only 40 textile chains instead of 70 steel chains to secure a load.”

Bay Crane has also found that the lighter weight textile chains have made some operations safer because the chains are easier to handle, especially on high loads. The design’s flexible textile chain-links can be connected to various chain components. The chain can also be shortened by attaching the hooks on a standard shackle to any of the links. 

When Bay Crane first purchased Doleco textile chains about 18 months ago, Krum acknowledged that despite a high rating for abrasion resistance there was some concern about their susceptibility to cuts from sharp edges on loads or during their application. That issue, however, was addressed with training riggers to only hook the textile chain to binders.

“For heavy hauls and crane lifts, it’s always about the safety of our teams and optimizing operations for our clients,” Krum stated. “That means being on the lookout for new technologies and new ideas, like textile chains, that can become part of the future of heavy-haul securement.”

Seth Skydel is a writer with 38 years of experience covering the trucking, utility, construction, and related markets.