Crane industry news Archives | Page 21 of 37

First MLC165 for Mexico’s plastic industry

A Manitowoc MLC165 heavy-duty crawler crane has been sold into the Mexican market for the first time, to service the country’s growing petrochemical industry.

The 165t crane was purchased by rental company Grúas Villarreal for the Ethylene XXI plastic production project, set to begin in early 2015 and due to produce more than 1m t of polyethylene annually.

General manager Cynthia Villarreal said: “We know we can depend on Manitowoc cranes for complex projects such as the Ethylene XXI. The MLC165 was the best candidate because it’s a crane that’s quick to set up and can work on all sorts of lifting jobs.”

Villarreal also purchased a 600t Manitowoc 18000 crawler crane — now the highest-capacity crane in Villarreal’s fleet.

Sennebogen crane builds harbour wall

German construction company Aug. Prien is using a Sennebogen 6130 HD duty cycle crawler crane on a pontoon at a harbour in Hamburg.

The 6130 HD is working on the creation of the new Elbbrücke quarter, one part of the ongoing HafenCity Project. This involves around 3,500 sq m of the harbour basin being filled in to produce space for a subway station and building development.

This area will be enclosed and protected from the sea by a 160m-long mixed sheet pile wall, with the crane installing the king piles. Conventional ramming was not an option as an installation method, says Sennebogen, due to the vibrations produced and the sensitive caisson foundation of the nearby Elbe bridge.

Liebherr upgrades flat-top crane

Liebherr has introduced its 172 EC-B 8 Litronic flat-top crane, based on the established 160 EC-B model.

Lifting capacity has been increased by 15%, with the 172 EC-B 8 capable of hoisting 2,100kg at the jib head at a radius of 60m, and an 8t maximum capacity.

The new model also features a new jib erection concept. The load hook and trolley remain on the jib pivot section during transport, eliminating erection work for the trolley.

The hoist and trolley travelling ropes can also be easily reeved, a particular benefit when erecting the jib in the air, says Liebherr.

Grove cranes powering LGN construction

Australian crane company Universal Cranes is using two 120t Grove RT9130E-2 rough terrain cranes to build an on-shore LGN (liquefied natural gas) facility in Darwin, northern Australia.

The cranes, which are regularly operating with their full boom length of 48m, arrived at the construction site at the start of 2014 after being transported 3,500km across the country. They will continue installing an underground network of piping and equipment for at least the next two years, working for Leighton Contractors.

The development, which is now more than 50% complete, is called the Ichthys project and combines an off-shore facility and an 889km-long gas pipeline, as well as the on-shore LNG plant. The project is being managed by a joint venture between the main contractors GC Corporation, KBR and Chiyoda Corporation, and is estimated to cost more than A$10bn (US$8.8bn).

The cranes feature Grove’s Full Vision cab, designed to offer cool and dry working conditions in a site location where humidity regularly reaches 83% and monthly rainfall exceeds 420mm.

Nick Morris, engineering and sales manager at Universal Cranes, said: “Our Grove units are known for their ease-of-use, but their rugged design and durability are also key. This job site is a mix of heat, sand and sea – the cranes must endure the lot. And we are happy to report that they are performing admirably.”

Liebherr crawler completes steep Alps

A Liebherr LTR 1060 crawler crane has tackled the 40% gradients of the Swiss Alps to extend a railway tunnel.

Switzerland-based crane company Clausen Kran used the LTR 1060 to navigate the steep inclines and tight bends at an altitude of 2,020m, to extend a tunnel on the Gornergrat railway in Zermatt, in the Wallis region of Switzerland.

The tunnel is being extended to allow a ski run to be built over it, which will host FIS (International Ski Federation) events.

The LTR 1060 completed the 920m route — which had an ascent of 180m — without ballast at a gross weight of 38t, and with the boom angle at 20°. The hook block was also secured, to prevent it from swinging.

Due to the narrow track, the crane had to manoeuvre with its crawler chassis retracted. . The narrow crawler track meant, however, that the steerability of the crane was severely restricted as a result of the poor ratio between the crawler length and the track width.

To allow the vehicle to be steered in the tight bends, 1m lengths of square timber were placed under the inner crawler chains to act as pivots. Another recommendation from Liebherr was that the direction of travel of the crawler chassis should be selected so that the chain drives were at the rear, to ensure that the crawler chain remained taut on the ground at all times.

Geri Clausen, owner of Clausen Kran, said: “We have lots of sites where this highly-manoeuvrable crane is simply perfect.”

Ethiopian expansion for China’s XCMG

Chinese crane manufacturer XCMG has displayed two QY25K-II cranes at an exhibition in Ethiopia, where the company’s cranes are also currently completing the construction of a shopping centre.

At the recent Eleventh International Construction Machinery Exhibition, held at the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, XCMG’s local division also showcased its ZL50G loaders, XMR082 rollers, and GR180 and GR215 graders.

XCMG’s QY25K-II cranes are currently working on the ENDA shopping centre construction site in the city, one of a number of similar projects launched by the Ethiopian government in recent years. XCMG’s cranes are also being used on the National Grid Project in the country, initiated following rapid growth of the national economy.

The Chinese manufacturer, meanwhile, has also adapted its QY25KS truck crane for arctic conditions. The crane has passed Russian OTTC certification and is suitable for operation in temperatures down to -40°C.