Tesco has chosen an Easilift loading system for the loading bays at its store at Wick in Scotland. It was designed, built and installed by Easilift to meet Tesco’s specific requirements for what has been described as ‘Britain’s greenest supermarket.’
Given the geographical location of the store, the equipment had to enable the use of both standard trailers and double-deck trailers.
The project comprises two lifting platforms, one specifically designed to accommodate the fixed bed, high capacity double-deck trailers, loading pods, insulated sectional overhead doors and other associated equipment.
The two free-standing modular pods are installed on the outside of the building’s loading bays, flush to the external wall, minimising disruption and avoiding the loss of internal floor area. The fabricated side and roof frames are clad with insulated wall panels to create a sealed working environment.
One pod contains a lifting platform 4,000mm long x 2,650mm wide, with a 6,000kg capacity. It is designed to offload fixed bed double-deck vehicles and can accommodate 12 of Tesco’s standard wheeled cages, measuring 500mm x 850mm x 750mm, or ten cages plus a member of staff.
The scissor lift, housed inside the second pod, is designed to integrate with retail double-deck trailers and also standard height trailers. Measuring 3,200mm long x 2,650mm wide the pit-mounted lift has a lifting capacity of 2,500kg, which increases to 4,500kg when descending. It incorporates roller blind guarding at both ends, safety drop bar systems and has a 5.5kW remotely mounted power unit.
Easilift electrically-operated sectional overhead Powerdoors are fitted to the front and rear of each pod. Those in front of the pod measure 2,010mm wide x 4,900mm high and those at the back 2,600mm wide x 2,600mm high, all 40mm thick. They incorporate double-glazed acrylic vision panels. As part of the contract Easilift also supplied double-deck rubber bumpers, inflatable dock seals, two LED traffic lights, three sets of loading dock lights and fluorescent pod lights with each installation, plus composite electrical control panels fitted with an override facility and an isolator switch.
The 50,000 sq ft store is expected to have a 50 per cent smaller carbon footprint than a conventional supermarket of comparable size. The experiences gleaned from the store will be used in future developments as Tesco strives to cut its energy consumption per square foot in half by 2010 compared with levels in 2000.
