85-tonne motorised duplex slab tong for ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India
Heavy-duty motorised duplex slab tong designed to lift slabs up to 85 tonnes at temperatures approaching 1,000 °C across a demanding slab envelope — for one of India's leading integrated steel producers.
Client: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AM/NS India)
Challenge
AM/NS India — one of India's leading integrated steel producers — needed a heavy-duty motorised slab tong to modernise slab handling at a key production line. The tong had to cover a demanding slab envelope (widths 750–2,200 mm, lengths 4,200–12,000 mm, thicknesses from a single 260 mm slab up to three slabs stacked at 780 mm), lift slabs at surface temperatures up to 1,000 °C, and deliver 85 tonnes of safe working load reliably enough for continuous slab-yard duty. Tare weight had to be carefully managed so net payload on the customer's overhead crane wasn't compromised.
Engineering response
Engineering was carried out at our Wednesbury works, centred on a duplex jaw layout that delivers balanced clamping across the full 2,200 mm slab width. Motorised actuation gives precise, repeatable opening and closing, with protection and control integrated into the tong's electrical package. Structural sizing was verified across the complete slab envelope — from a thin single 260 mm slab through to the worst-case 85-tonne, 3×260 mm stacked load at up to 1,000 °C — with conservative safety margins applied throughout, and materials selected to cope with radiant heat loading.
Outcome
The finished tong has a tare weight of 24,750 kg, deliberately engineered to support the 85-tonne SWL without eroding the customer's usable crane capacity. It has been delivered to AM/NS India and has taken up duty on a key slab handling line at the plant — further demonstrating Somers Handling's capability to deliver technically complex, heavy-lift equipment for the most demanding parts of the global steel industry.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AM/NS India) supplies slabs, plates, coils and finished long products to customers at home and overseas. As part of a modernisation programme for slab handling at a key production line, AM/NS India approached Somers Handling for a heavy-duty motorised slab tong capable of lifting the full variety of slabs rolled at the plant — including hot slabs at surface temperatures approaching 1,000 °C — with the rated strength, electrical control and operational reliability needed to work safely at the upper limits of the slab envelope.
Designing for the worst case, not the nominal
The tong was sized for the combination case the brief demanded — an 85-tonne stacked-slab load (3 × 260 mm slabs) at up to 1,000 °C across a 2,200 mm width. That combination governs the structural member sizing, the jaw geometry, the actuation torque, and the radiant-heat treatment of contact surfaces. Working from that worst-case envelope and applying conservative safety factors throughout gives the customer a tong that is comfortable, not stretched, at its day-to-day duty.
Key features
- Duplex jaw arrangement providing balanced clamping across slab widths up to 2,200 mm.
- Motorised actuation for precise, repeatable grip control in continuous service.
- Full 85-tonne SWL rated across the complete slab envelope.
- Engineered to handle slabs at temperatures of up to 1,000 °C.
- Rated for slab and stacked-slab loads up to 780 mm thick (3 × 260 mm).
- Tare weight optimised at 24,750 kg to preserve crane payload headroom.
- Electrical and mechanical package engineered for the duty cycle of an integrated steel plant.
Outcome
The 85-tonne motorised duplex slab tong has been designed, manufactured, factory-tested and delivered from Wednesbury, and has since taken up duty on the customer’s slab handling line. The project continues Somers Handling’s track record of delivering heavy-lift equipment for the most demanding parts of the global steel industry.
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