July 2014 | CranesBlog

USITC judge upholds Manitowoc complaint against Sany

A USITC has issued a final initial determination in Manitowoc’s complaint against Sany, saying that the American crane manufacturer has shown certain products infringe its patents, and that they have shown misappropriation of trade secrets.

The case relates to the two companies’ competing floating counterweight systems. Manitowoc claims that Sany’s system used on its SCC8500 infringes on a patent, US 7,546,928, relating to a mobile lift crane with variable position counterweight. The system was implemented by Manitowoc on its Model 31000, and later on its MLC300 and MLC650 cranes launched at ConExpo.

The full decision has not yet been made public, but a notice promises it will within 30 days. The current notice explains that the administrative law judge has issued a final initial determination on whether there was a violation, and a recommended determination on the remedy that may be appropriate in the event that the USITC finds that there was a violation.

The administrative law judge’s determination is subject to appeal by the federal appeals court. USITC determinations do not result in money damages. Instead, complainants can make a parallel claim in a district court, which Manitowoc is doing in Wisconsin. That case will resume on 23 July.

Manitowoc and Link-Belt help students park

Two Manitowoc crawler cranes and a Link-Belt crawler have completed a 15-week lifting job on a new six-storey car park at Florida International University.

Crane Rental Corporation provided two 300t Manitowoc 2250 crawlers and a 200t Link-Belt HC-248H5 for the project, which involved lifting more than 2,600 prefabricated concrete components. The heaviest component was a 74,000-pound shear wall.

The Manitowoc cranes had 100ft of main boom and 100ft of luffing jib, while the Link-Belt worked with 200ft of main boom.

The 2,400 space car park, built by Solar Erectors, is the sixth at the university’s main campus and will help serve 54,000 students.

New Irish crane hire firm adds Liebherrs

Newly-formed Irish lifting services company BCS Crane Hire Ltd has added a 60t Liebherr LTM 1055-3.2 and a 200t LTM 1200-5.1 crane to its fleet.

BCS (Bill Cussen and Sons) recently set up operations in Limerick, Southern Ireland, following a management split at Cussen & Co Crane Hire which has seen the Cussen family pull out and set up on their own.

BCS said the addition of the cranes to its existing 90t LTM 1090-4.1 would help it to offer customers a comprehensive crane hire service.

Brian Lang, Liebherr Ireland sales manager, said: “The formation of a new crane hire company in Ireland provides evidence to the recovery in the economy and the steady return of growth.”

Kobelco wins CKL1000i crane orders

Kobelco Cranes India is making inroads in the Bangladesh infrastructure development sector with the export of two CKL1000i lattice boom crawler cranes to Abdul Monem Ltd (AML) Civil engineering and building specialist AML deployed the cranes at the Jaydebpur-Mymenshing flyover project for the erection of 70t girders in a tandem lift.

Both units will continue on this project for four months lifting 125 girders before moving to the Padma Bridge project where 670 girders are to be erected.

Kobelco Cranes India, the Indian production and sales subsidiary of Japan-based Kobelco Cranes Co Ltd, said the good number of infrastructure development works ongoing in Bangladesh, together with some mega projects to follow in the coming years, meant the country was a good market for construction equipment.

Projects will include power stations, highway construction, railway bridges and a metro system.

Six new Liebherrs for BKL

German crane rental company BKL Baukran Logistik has taken delivery of six Liebherr mobile cranes for its newly-opened site in Ingolstadt.

Three out of six new Liebherr cranes have already been delivered to Ingolstadt – a 60t LTM 1060-3.1, an LTC 1045-3.1 and an LTM 1130-5.1. The other three cranes – an LTM 1095-5.1, an LTM 1100-5.2 and an LTM 1200-5.1 – will be received before the end of 2014.

The cranes feature load capacities ranging from 45-200t, while the LTM 100-5.2 has the VarioBase support system, designed to enable safe crane operations with any support base.

The Ingolstadt site is BKL Baukran’s fourth German operation and gives the company a presence in the centre of Bavaria.

Davis Crane in big Terex truck crane order

North Texas based lifting company Davis Motor Crane Service has signed its largest-ever Terex order for a single crane model.

The company has ordered five 40t Terex T 340-1 cranes from Terex distributor Scott-Macon Equipment to help it access confined job sites in northern Texas while achieving high lift capacities. The order represents an upgrade of Davis Crane’s fleet of 35t truck cranes.

The short 10.8m unit’s length and narrow 2.4m driving width allows navigation of the congested Dallas-Forth Worth market streets and northern Texas region, while the 28.7m telescopic boom length and maximum tip height of 44.8m gives capabilities for use on multi-storey building projects in downtown markets.

Keith McKee, general manger of Davis Crane, said the T 340-1 gave the company the ability to provide a 40t class truck crane without going to a boom truck. He said the construction industry still preferred a truck crane over boom trucks.