A crawler crane overturned on a wind farm in Janneby, near Flensburg, Germany, last Friday during severe gale force winds.
The crane, a large Liebherr owned by Sarens, was fully rigged with around 100 metres of boom and back mast. All of which went over the back over the crane in the high winds.
No one was injured in the incident and fortunately the boom missed three turbine tower sections which were awaiting installation.
Georg Diesch, president of Liebherr Cranes Inc in the USA has been promoted to managing director of Liebherr Hydraulikbagger, in Kirchdorf an der Iller, Germany, after 11 years in job, with Daniel Pitzer replacing him.
The Kirchdorf factory manufactures Liebherr wheeled and crawler excavators and material handling equipment. It was the company’s first facility, set up by Hans Liebherr and the place where he built the first Liebherr tower crane.
Pitzer took over as president at the start of the month, and assumes responsibility for the distribution of Liebherr All Terrain and large crawler cranes in the USA. For the last nine years Pitzer has worked at the Liebherr mobile crane plant in Ehingen, Germany, managing sales to several English speaking countries.
Pitzer said: “I’m looking forward to take over this new role and to work with my team to further strengthen our relationship with our customers in America.”
Diesch added: “I would like to congratulate Daniel on his promotion and am very pleased that we have a very motivated and knowledgeable professional taking over to continue Liebherr’s success in the USA.”
Myanmar contractor Shwe Taung Development has taken delivery of three Liebherr 280 EC-H 12 tower cranes.
The first of the three cranes was supplied to help with the construction of the Twin Centro development in Yangon, Myanmar. The location of the project site meant that the crane needed a shortened jib, which was designed especially for the project, a company spokesperson said.
The Twin Centro development, on Baho Road in Sanchaung Township, is made up of a 16 storey apartment building, complete with a pool, recreation centre and garden. Shwe Taung is the owner and developer of the project.
Mike Tay, sales manager at Liebherr Singapore’s tower crane division, said, “The development is on a particularly busy road, opposite one of Yangon’s leading hospitals, and the twin tower blocks are located very close to the road. Shwe Taung asked us to modify the jib to prevent it over-sailing the road.
“The standard configuration for this model is a jib that extends to a maximum 75 m and, although they needed the maximum load lift of 12 tonnes, they required a shorter jib. Together with our partner, Octagon International Services Co Ltd, responsible for promoting Liebherr tower cranes and providing aftersales and training, we found the ideal solution for the site by providing a jib with a maximum 40 m length and a tip load of 7.6 tonnes.”
As a result of the changes, the maximum load of 12 tonnes will be handled in 2-fall reeving and can be taken out to 26 m, Tay explained.
The crane has been positioned between the two towers, allowing it to service all the lifting requirements for both towers. The project is due for completion in late 2015.
Crane operator Christopher Graham, 39, was seriously injured when his crane flipped over backwards down an embankment in Brick, South East New Jersey on Saturday.
The crane, a five axle All Terrain, was working on a new overpass on the side of the Garden State Parkway when it went over backwards and down the wooded embankment throwing the operator clear. He was airlifted to hospital and was said to be in a stable condition, with leg and head injuries.
The crane appears to have lost the right rear outrigger beam which in combination with a sinking front outrigger might have been the cause. An investigation is ongoing.
Gilley Crane and Jack Daniel’s recently came together when Gilley Crane was tasked with lifting two boilers weighing more than 100,000 pounds each at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. The plan required each boiler to be lifted twice at a 28-foot radius in a confined space.
“At one end of the lift, we had to work around a fenced-in lot nearby other equipment, while at the other end we had to work around rebar sticking up around the boiler base,” explains Gilley Crane Owner, Robert Gilley.
Working in the confined area, Gilley Crane’s crew needed a compact crane with good maneuverability. Having only a two-day window to complete the project, the company needed a crane that offered fast mobilization, quick setup and efficient operation.
Gilley Crane selected their new Terex Explorer 5800 all-terrain crane, purchased from its Terex Crane distributor in Cleveland, Renegar-Driggers Machinery Co, Inc. Gilley Crane’s four-man crew quickly roaded the Explorer 5800 crane plus full counterweight the 30 miles from its Manchester yard to Lynchburg. It required four additional transports to move the crane’s 154,800 pounds of counterweights to the project site.
Powered by a 12.7-liter, 550-hp Tier 4F (Euromot Stage IV) engine, the crane has the power to quickly make it to the jobsite at speeds reaching 53 mph. Once on-site, engine speed and power is reduced to 1600 RPM and 275 hp respectively, providing ample capacity for proper crane operation while reducing fuel consumption.
In total, the project required eight lifts to move and place the two boilers and bases. The 20-foot-tall by 25-foot-long boilers and 10,000-pound bases were first placed onto trailers and moved approximately 200 yards to their final location. Working with 55.4 feet of main boom at a 28-foot radius, the Explorer 5800 delivered more than enough capacity to lift and position the boilers and bases.
Gillespies Crane Services in Australia added its first crawler crane to its crane rental fleet. It is a 350 tonne capacity Liebherr LR 1350/1 lattice boom model.
Commenting on his move into the crawler crane market, John Gillespie, Gillespies Crane Services managing director, told IC, “Our 1997 model Liebherr LTM 1400 was due for replacement and we wanted a larger capacity crane due to increasing client demands for us to make heavier lifts at longer radii. We considered all options with larger capacity all terrain cranes but our road regulations meant that this required removal of the boom and outriggers. We choose the LR 1350/1 for its excellent lifting capacity, compact dimensions, and its easy transportation and assembly on sites. We can assemble the crane in the same time as a large all terrain crane. The LR 1350/1 is now the largest lift capacity crane permanently based in Sydney.”
At the time of writing at the end of 2014 the new crawler was at work on the Barangaroo Project in Sydney. It was configured with 72 metres of S2 main boom with 27 m of derrick mast, 38 tonnes of belly counterweight, 125 tonnes of counterweight on the crane and 180 tonnes on the ballast tray.
The job required the lifting of Super T beams weighing 45 tonnes, plus 10 tonnes of rigging, for a total lift weight of 55 tonnes lifted to a radius of 54 m. At this radius the crane was well within its capacity of 69 tonnes, said Reg Eggleton, Gillespies Crane Services business development manager and heavy lift specialist.
Lend Lease Engineering, Gillespies’ client, was very happy with the outstanding capabilities and the performance of the crane and the operating crew, the crane company said.
Gillespies Crane Services has been in the mobile crane rental business for more than 60 years, since 1950, operating a fleet of road registered cranes that today includes all terrains, articulated cranes and city class rough terrains.
