Wireless load monitoring technology from Broadweigh played a key role in supporting the safe installation and ongoing monitoring of Pin Drop – the iconic inflatable sculpture suspended above the Southbank Centre during the venue’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Installed by West End Rigging and manufactured by Glow Inflatables, the 20m-tall structure was suspended more than 20m above ground level on London’s South Bank across the May Bank Holiday weekend.
For the rigging team, the challenge extended beyond lifting the structure into position. Due to the inflatable’s scale, exposed riverside location and constantly changing environmental conditions, keeping track of the forces acting on the rigging system throughout the installation was an essential part of the project’s safety planning.
To support this, West End Rigging deployed Broadweigh’s wireless load monitoring technology to provide live data from multiple rigging points throughout the installation and operational period.
Howard Dandy, Technical Director at West End Rigging, explained: “An inflatable structure of this scale behaves very differently from a conventional static load. Because of the surface area involved, wind loading becomes a major consideration, and the forces acting on the system can change very quickly depending on weather conditions.
“Using Broadweigh allowed us to monitor load behaviour in real time throughout the lift and across the duration of the installation. Having immediate visibility of how the structure was reacting meant we could make informed operational decisions at all times.”
The installation’s position beside the Thames and between surrounding buildings created particularly complex wind conditions, with the potential for turbulence and rapidly changing forces acting on the suspended structure. Broadweigh’s wireless ecosystem enabled the WER team to monitor load distribution remotely without introducing additional cabling into an already busy public environment.
Matthew Youngs, Marketing Manager at Broadweigh, commented: “Projects like Pin Drop demonstrate how load monitoring has evolved from being a specialist tool into an increasingly important part of modern rigging practice. The ability to monitor live forces across multiple points gives riggers and production teams valuable information that supports both safety and operational confidence, which is critical. In environments where wind, movement or dynamic loading can affect a structure, having accurate real-time data allows crews to respond quickly and maintain control throughout the installation.”
The original lift operation was postponed due to strong winds before the structure was successfully raised the following day, once conditions improved. Throughout the weekend, teams remained on site, continuously monitoring both environmental conditions and the live data being generated through the Broadweigh system.
Howard concluded: “We’ve had Broadweigh load cells and the Handheld as part of our rigging toolkit for quite some time now, and it gives us real peace of mind. It’s always disappointing when conditions mean you have to delay a lift, but the alternative simply isn’t worth the risk; safety has to come first every time.
“Broadweigh gives us the confidence to work right up to our operational limits while clearly showing us when those limits are being reached, allowing us to make safe, informed decisions in real time.”
